Tate (30 page)

“She was working her way quickly up the ranks at a newspaper, but the stories started to dry up. She had a connection with an insider in the business who she paid to feed her gossip. She exaggerated the story and filled it with non-truths. The paper caught on to what Pauline was doing, discovered her source and made a deal with him.  The District Attorney’s office was on to a New York City councilwoman involved in some shady dealings. They were about to bring charges on the councilwoman when the paper contacted them about Pauline. The D.A.’s office contacted the councilwoman and offered her a deal to lessen her charges if she’d aid in their ploy to catch Pauline in the act.

“Pauline released a front-page story based on the false information she’d been provided. Pauline fabricated the article with ‘facts’ from the details the source gave her. When the story came out and they approached her about the false information, she turned on the source. It was big news at the time. They’d investigated the other stories she’d released and had a mass of charges to bring against her. She pled guilty to defamation of character for financial gain. She served two years in prison. When she’d done her time, she went into hiding. She’d done her time, so no one questioned her whereabouts.

“Based on what we’ve been able to dig up, and we aren’t done, she’d worked hard to stay away from the attention. It seems she was getting things in place to reemerge as Audra Davis. We’ve been quietly meeting with those she’s represented since then – she’s been squeaky clean. She hasn’t reported anything that wasn’t true about Maisie, but we’re looking at everything now. We’re focusing on the break-in. We were never able to match any of the prints from the scene, but I have a friend that has access to a larger data base who is digging deeper.”

Both Ami and I were sitting there with our mouths hanging open. I’d done background on Audra through Daniel. He saw my expression and began an explanation.

“When we did background, we looked into Audra Davis of the Star Bright Managing Firm. There was no reason to dig beyond that. You read her credentials, glowing reviews and testimonials, and we would have never questioned that, until Maisie brought her concerns to light.”

I still felt like I’d put Maisie in a bad place because I didn’t have Daniel dig further. She saw through me.

“Tate, she’s had the likes of Danny Bartles, Ami, Johnny Main and Patsy Long under her management with no concerns. Until you.”

“She saw you as
the
big deal, Tate,” Daniel added. “She wanted big things for you so it would mean bigger things for her. You not following her plan, bringing Maisie into the picture when it was her goal to build a Nashville power couple between you and Ami, threw a wrench in her plans. So digging up things on Maisie to keep her in a negative light, while keeping your name in the public eye, became her plan. That’s what we believe.”

I was about to get up when Maisie held up her hand to stop me. She looked at Daniel before she continued and he nodded his encouragement.

“We want to feed her a story,” she said, and I watched Ami’s face as she realized this would be her part of the plan.

“Whatever you need,” Ami spoke up.

“Tate,” Maisie looked at me with a big smile, “are you ready to be a father?”

“What?” I asked, shocked. “Am I going to be?”

“Someday, I pray, but for now we just want Audra to think you are,” she replied.             

“Give me the details you want shared,” Ami said.

“Not just yet. We have to set the scene,” Daniel said.

“Thank you, Ami,” Maisie said. “This is important to me. To us,” she added, looking my way.

“Just give me the word,” Ami said, checking her watch. “I have another engagement, but I’ll be waiting for your call.” Before she reached the door to the office she turned back to Maisie. “You can trust me.”

After she was gone, I went to Maisie. “I’m proud of you.”

“It was all Maisie’s doing,” Daniel said. “We were at a stall. This was huge,” he said. “As soon as you have your story, we’ll move. If I hear anything on the fingerprints I’ll be in touch, but I’ll wait to hear from you.”

“What if she tells Audra our plan?” I asked.

“Then we know she’s in Audra’s court. That will weed her out as well,” Daniel replied.

“But I don’t think she will,” Maisie added.

***

“Let’s take a trip,” I said, over dinner.

Maisie looked up and smiled. “Hold on, let me guess,” she replied, and put her fingers to her temples, closing her eyes. “I’m smelling turkey, oh, and wait – there’s pumpkin pie, that’s the other smell. I see a table filled with family and a mama’s boy carving the turkey.”

“Seth,” I added, with a grin. “Seth carves the turkey, not the mama’s boy. We haven’t been there in too long.”

Maisie rose from her chair. She came to where I sat and I scooted my chair back, holding my arms open to allow her to sit on my lap.

“I’d love that,” she replied.

“You can come back pregnant.”

“What if I do?” she asked.

“It’d be the second happiest day of my life.”

***

Maisie

It was cold and blustery when we arrived in Oklahoma, but the welcome and love of my new family warmed my soul. As the plans for the holiday feast were unfolding, Fay brought me to the table to sit with Popie. Gabby was far more interested in football with Tate, Seth, and the boys.

“What Thanksgiving traditions do you have?” Fay asked me. I saw Tate watching me from the sofa in the living room.

I thought a moment before I replied. “I’m going to see what traditions you have and add my own new ideas as Tate and I grow forward.”

“Grow forward,” Fay repeated. “I love that.”

“I do too,” I said, and saw Tate beaming.

“Don’t you have a special recipe that you’d like to make?” Popie asked, encouraging me.

“Well, Granny used to make this broccoli casserole that I love,” I remembered.

“I love broccoli,” Tate yelled from the other room.

“Me too,” shouted Aiden, but we all laughed when Quinn let out a very loud “Blecch!”

“So, Quinn, we’ll have squash casserole too,” Fay said. “Tell me about your broccoli casserole.”

“It’s broccoli and bacon…”

“Bacon!” Tate yelled. “I love it already!”

I laughed out loud and continued. “And cheddar cheese and cream cheese.”

“YUM!” Aiden added to the shouting.

“Then we have our menu set. Let’s go grocery shopping,” Fay announced.

***

We sat down to eat the feast we’d prepared, and Seth began a prayer of Thanksgiving. As I listened, I felt myself go back in time, recalling memories of Granny and me sitting at the small table in her kitchen eating a turkey breast roll roast with Stove Top stuffing. The biscuits and broccoli casserole were homemade but the pie was always Mrs. Smith’s. This was a new experience for me. When I felt Tate’s leg brush mine, I looked at him and smiled. It seemed a lifetime had passed and I was enjoying this new life, falling deeply in love with my new family. I loved the idea of family and thought again about the “news” we were about to let Ami share with Audra.

Later, as we lay in bed, I rolled closer to Tate and rested my head on his chest.

“Share your thoughts?” he asked, kissing the top of my head, a habit so endearing that sometimes it swelled my heart so big, tears leaked from my eyes.

“We need to tell your family about the pregnancy news before we go through with this plan. I don’t want them unaware.”

“Mmm hmm,” he murmured in my ear, his fingers drawing circles on my back. “Maisie?”

“Yes?”

“I meant what I said.”

“About?” I questioned.

“If you really were pregnant, I’ll love building a family with you. I know it will be hard at first, remembering…”

“I don’t go back anymore, Tate. Just forward.”

“I love you, Maisie.”

“I love you too, and I’m grateful…”

“Grateful?” he whispered in my ear, interrupting me.

“Yes.” I raised my head, so that even in the darkness, I could look in his eyes to allow him to
feel
what I was about to say. “Grateful. I never knew, nor could I have imagined what butterflies feel like. Thank your for giving me that feeling.”

***

Tate

The next morning, before the boys were up, we gathered at the kitchen table. Mama poured coffee and we began one of my favorite things – conversation about life. Sometimes the miles kept us from sharing all of life’s little stories and this time was always a time to catch up with each other.

Popie and Seth talked about the boys and all the things that boys do. Gabby talked about work with hardly ever a mention of dating, or even a man, in her conversations. I knew someday she’d settle down with a man in her life. Everyone proudly talked about my tour and music. Maisie revealed conversations with her father that led to more knowledge of the family she never knew existed.

“I’m glad to be off the road for a while. Maybe Maisie and I can finally enjoy ourselves,” I said. “It’s not that we haven’t, it’s just been so hectic and surrounded by all the bullshit that we’ve had to contend with the past months.”

“It seems the interest in Maisie has subsided since the magazine article,” Gabby observed. “That picture of you in the field is gorgeous, by the way,” she added.

This was the lead in that Maisie needed. “I’m glad you brought that up. I’m still cautious, waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

“What do you mean?” Popie asked.

“I just mean that I don’t think it’s over. Something will trigger more interest as soon as they figure out what the next thing is.” The tone of her voice had all the Morrow women looking at her in question. “We believe we’ve discovered the source of the information that’s been shared.”

“Wonderful!” Mama exclaimed.

“We have to do something to fish them out to prove it,” I added.

“Like what?” Seth asked.

She took a deep breath, but Maisie Morrow was clearly in control of this situation. “I want you to hear this from us, and I want to start by telling you that it’s not true. We’ve concocted a story that will reveal two things. First, confirming if Ami Woodson has had any part in this. Jealousy triggered that whole thing when she came to the shop and hit me. Later, she confessed that the song
Cinderella
was about when Tate took me to Disney. She was jealous, and Tate’s manager, Audra Davis, seemed to add fuel to that fire,” Maisie said. “We believe, based on some facts that have been shared with us, that Audra had a part in all the news that’s come out since Tate and I got together. We’ve talked about the benefit the negative press has been to her career so we’re trying to catch her.”

“How?” Mama asked.

“We’re telling her that I’m pregnant…” Maisie said, and before the words completely passed her lips, Mama and my sisters were yelling with joy.

“Wait! Wait! I’m not!” Maisie jumped in. “We want to see what happens when Audra hears this news.”

“But…” Popie pouted.

“Someday, just not now,” Maisie said. “Ami agreed to tell her the story when we get back, and then Daniel will bring some of Audra’s past into the picture. That’s all we can tell you right now. We just didn’t want to blindside you.”

“But we can hope,” Popie said, and I smiled.

***

Maisie

When we returned home from Thanksgiving, I was busy getting Trisha Yearwood’s dress for her Christmas Special ready. Her fitting was in a few days. I was also busy preparing for when Ami came in for the adjustments to her dress. Daniel insisted on having a recording device in my office and scheduling the appointment when Dion was there, but April wasn’t.

I wanted to get Trisha’s visit behind me before we set our plan to catch Audra in action. Over the last few months, Trish and I talked many times. I’d sent sketches for her to look over, and she came to town just before Thanksgiving for her initial fitting. What we showed her thrilled her.

“It’s absolutely the most amazing dress anyone has ever made for me!” she announced when I zipped it up.

“I can’t wait to see you in it on the Christmas Special!” I told her.

Everything was in place. Ami’s appointment was on Tuesday. She knew this was the day I would tell her what news we wanted her to share with Audra, and she made sure Audra knew about the appointment.

“Dress first,” I said when she arrived. She seemed anxious.

Dion rounded the corner with the dress and just the look on her face let me know the dress pleased her. As we checked the fit, I broached the subject of our story.

“Are you sure you’re ready for this? I asked, as Tate came in the door.