Tate (16 page)

“Were you looking forward to me getting here because you want me, Maisie?”

“Don’t embarrass me,” she said with a shy smile.

“So that
is
why,” I teased.

“Tate?” Her serious look made me wonder. “That article made me think…”

“Don’t think, Maisie,” I said and pulled her playfully into my arms.

She smiled and continued. “I have to, it’s what I do. I can’t stop thinking – about us. I do want you, Tate, but I want all of you. I need all of you. Are you ready for that? Are you ready for that whole girlfriend thing? It’s a commitment. I want us both to be sure. This has all happened so fast…”

“It hasn’t been fast for me, Maisie. I had to wear you down,” I said, trying to lighten the moment. “I’m sure.”

“I told you, the good in my life seems to come in brief moments…”

Suddenly, my heart spoke before I could hold it back. “If I thought you’d say yes, I’d ask you to marry me right now. I don’t want to think of a day without you.”

“I’m not ready,” she replied with a sigh.

“I didn’t ask,” I said, and held her closer.

“I want you to know this,” she said. I looked, and her eyes filled with tears. She choked back a big gulp. “I love you, and I don’t want to do anything to mess this up. You’re important to me.”

“I know, Maisie. I feel it right here,” I said. I grabbed her hand and thumped my chest with it. “I’m ready to be your partner, Maisie. I want you in my life.”

“I want that, too.”

***

We’d been seeing each other for three months and I was dreading what was ahead. I’d be hitting the road in three weeks. I’d done the talk show and radio circuit, being gone a day here and there, and I’d done a few small gigs at malls and small events in local bars, but now it was time for the big deal.

“This will be so exciting for you,” she said as it got closer, but her eyes told a different story.

“Four out. Two back. Repeat. That’s what I agreed to. I’m not going to kill myself to do this. I need to keep my life intact, but I have to go, this was the agreement. You can go with me,” I said, and waggled my eyebrows at the suggestion.

“You have adoring fans waiting for you,” she smiled. “I have my work, too. I’ll hate those four weeks, but I’ll be here waiting each time you come back – wanting you. I knew this day would come, I just didn’t stop to prepare myself for the feelings,” she said, and started to cry.

“I knew it too! GO WITH ME!” I yelled.

“I can’t.”

“Yes you can, Maisie. You can. You can send sketches to Dion or whatever you need to do. We’ll get whatever you need to make that happen. Go with me!”

“Tate, I can’t. I’ll come when I can, but I can’t just pack up and leave everything behind. This is my livelihood.”

“Maisie, I’ll take care of you.”

“No. I can’t do that. You can’t do that,” she said, tears still streaking her cheeks.

“Yes, I can. I want you with me,” I insisted. “I’m ready for a commitment from you.”

“What? I’ll be here waiting on you. I’m not giving up on us, I’m just freaking out a little because you’ll be gone.”

“I want a promise,” I said strongly. My heart was full of her. We were at my place and I ran to my bedroom. When I returned, I dropped to my knee in front of her. I opened the ring box and removed the contents. It was a vintage setting.  The band was filigree with butterflies cut into the platinum. The diamond was a raised two-carat round cut.

“Marry me, Maisie.” I didn’t ask, I commanded.

“You’re crazy!”

“I am. I’m crazy about you. I mean this. Marry me. I’ve never been this sure of anything in my life. We can go tomorrow morning!”

“I’m not spontaneous like that. I need to think,” she said.

“Don’t think.” I was still on my knees holding the ring. “Do you love me?”

“I do,” she said, the tears coming heavier and faster.

“That’s all you have to say.”

“That I love you?” she blubbered.

“No. I do,” I said.

“Tate…”

“Maisie. That’s all that matters. We love each other.”

She didn’t say anything. I waited.

“When you come home for the two-week break. The second time,” she said, softly.

“You’ll marry me?”

“Yes. I’ll be proud and happy to be your wife.”

“Jesus, Maisie. That’s like three months.”

“I told you, I’m not spontaneous,” she said. I took her hand and slipped the ring on her finger.

“It’s beautiful, Tate. It’s big,” she smiled, “but not in a gaudy way. It looks old. I love the butterflies.”

“They are to remind you that you are coming from the darkness into
my
light – escaping your cocoon. I want to spend every possible minute there is in a day with you. I want to wake up every morning and see this beautiful face looking back at me. I love you, and I’m ready for this.”

She wrapped her arms around my neck. I rose from my kneeling position with her in my arms. “If we have to wait, will there be a wedding?” I whispered in her ear.

“No, but you can dress pretty if you’d like,” she said as she leaned back to look at me, her eyes filled with emotion.

“Are you ready for me to have Audra release a statement?”

“Can we wait? Even though I’d climb a mountain and shout it to the world, I’m not ready for all the craziness that will come from that yet. I don’t want to tell anyone - not even Carlene or Dion. Get out on the road and let’s settle into that, and then we can tell them.” She admired the ring once more and asked, “Can I slip this back in the box? You can know that I will put it on, but not yet. I will feel the commitment until we’re ready to tell everyone.”

“I’m not happy about that, but if it will make it easier for you, OK. I won’t wait long, Maisie.” I meant it. I was ready for the world to know that this woman was going to be Mrs. Tate Morrow.

“I love you, Tate,” she said when I kissed her. “I love that I can feel your smile when your lips touch mine. Every time you do a Bible verse comes to my mind.”

“A Bible verse?” I asked as I kissed her again.

“Song of Solomon, I can’t remember the chapter, I just know this. ‘I have found the one my soul loves’.”

I noticed that the teardrop necklace no longer hung around her neck. It appeared that she really was letting go of the past.

***

Packing, planning, and rehearsals kept me busy. Maisie continued her regular schedule at the shop. We didn’t talk about the tour; I knew she was dreading it. I was too.

The first show was in Memphis on Thursday night and Maisie was there. It was huge. I opened for Macon Bentley, and it was a blast. Maisie sat backstage with Audra. The crowd was fun. When I sang
I’m A Guy
they all sang along. When I sang
Make you Mine
, I looked and she had moved to the edge of the stage where I could see her. She smiled and I knew the emotion that I felt came through my words.

I saw you there

That smile you try not to share

The eyes that shine

Just want to make you mine

All mine

I feel your heart

When the show was over and I walked backstage, Maisie seemed out of sorts.

“Audra doesn’t like that I’m here,” she told me.

“What do you mean?” I asked her, as we headed to the hotel.

“She told me that your career was important and you need to concentrate on that, not me. I’m ‘a distraction’.”

“She said that?” I asked, surprised. She nodded. “You
are
a distraction, but not to my career. When I’m singing, I visualize you sitting in the front row singing along.”

“Then let’s get me a seat there next time,” she suggested.

I made a mental note to talk to Audra.

“Oklahoma City in three weeks,” I whispered in her ear later, as I held her. “We’ll stay with Mama.”

“I can’t wait,” she said, and drifted off to sleep. The next show was in Jackson, Mississippi and we’d made plans for Maisie to stay the night. The crew had already left, and the tour busses would head that way early in the morning.

***

I didn’t want to use what small amount of time I had with Maisie to talk with Audra, so I called her after Maisie left for home.

“The show in Memphis was great! We’re on our way, Tate,” she said when she answered.

“Listen, I want to talk to you about something. Maisie will be joining me every chance…”

“Not a smart move,” she interrupted me.

“Not your call,” I said. “I want her with me as much as she and I can work it out. You will make her feel welcome if you’re around. Got it?”

“Whatever you say.”

“Good, then we’re on the same page. This is important to me.”

Maisie and I talked every night after each show. She wanted to know about it and I loved sharing it with her.

And then it all went to hell in a hand basket.

***

Two weeks into the tour, we were in Tallahassee, Florida. A loud banging noise woke me. I stumbled my way to the door and found Audra. She pushed through the door of my coach and shoved a newspaper in my face. She was in town for a meet and greet before the next show.

“This, Tate! This is exactly what you do not need! I don’t even know how to address this!” she yelled.

I took the paper, wiped the sleep from my eyes and saw the headline.

Maisie Bolden’s Tainted Past

Below that was a picture of us from the CMAs. I skimmed the article. Words like
gold-digger, coke whore, and illegitimate child
seemed to jump from the page. I didn’t say a word to Audra. I had something far more important to do. I dialed Maisie’s number. There was no answer there, or at her shop. Next, I called Carlene.

“I’ve been trying to reach her ever since I got the call,” Carlene told me. “I had Dion go by the house and she’s not there.”

Audra was pacing, chomping at the bit. When I hung up from talking to Carlene, I called Deidre. “Book me a flight to Nashville. First available,” I barked.

“Tate! You have a show tonight!”

“Cancel it. I have a life. She’s not answering the phone and Carlene said she’s not at home. I’m not talking to you about this until I talk to Maisie.” I quickly turned and started chucking my clothes in a bag, Audra ranting the whole time.

“You can’t do this! You’ll ruin everything we’ve been working for!”

“Watch me,” I said as I pushed past her. “I’ll happily go back to Wet Willie’s and forget any of this ever happened as long as Maisie’s with me. I told you, I don’t care about this business. It’s not something I ever considered a possibility, it’s something that happened. Maisie happened along with that. That’s what’s important. You figure out the business side of this. That’s what I pay you for.”

My phone rang and I pounced on it. “Deidre?”

“She left a message on my voicemail at work.”

“What did she say?” I yelled.

“That I needed to go get Sadie.”

“That’s all?”

“Yes,” she said in agreement. She gave me my flight details, and I called for a cab.

“I’ll take you. If you have to do this…” Audra started, but I cut her off.

“I’ll take a cab. I need to think.”

“Tate…”

“Audra, I mean it. Until I figure out what’s going on with Maisie, none of this matters. You can release a statement and say that I’m not coming back until I figure this all out. Don’t dance around the situation. Play on the drama and say that this is why I’m leaving the tour. I’m serious. I want to know what benefit someone thinks they’re receiving from such personal devastation.”

***

When I landed, Deidre had my truck waiting in the valet parking lot. As I drove, I called her. “Hey,” I said when she answered. “Anything?”

“I’ve got Sadie, but nothing from Maisie. Carlene’s anxious for you to call her.”

“I’ll call you later.”

I dialed Carlene. “I’m back.”

“She’s not answering the damn phone. Come to my house,” she said frantically.

When I arrived, I watched Carlene. I saw the worry and strife all over her face. “That story never should have come out. She’s not strong enough for this.”

“Yes she is, Carlene. Listen to me,” I said, taking her by the shoulders. “She’s stronger than you think. She just needs guidance, but first, we have to find her. Do you have any ideas?”

“She left a message on my assistant, Maria’s, voicemail. She said she had to go away for a few days. Maria said she could tell she was crying. I swear I can’t imagine where she could be. She’s turned the damn phone off. It goes straight to voicemail when you call,” she said, her voice full of uneasiness.