Chapter 3
“ B lue!”
His head snapped up and he found himself staring straight into the eyes of one very angry rhythm guitarist. “What?”
Gary leaned in toward him and hissed from between clenched teeth, “What the hell, man? What are you playing? We just played that one five minutes ago! Where’s your head, up your ass?”
“Um, sorry. Preoccupied, I guess,” he said as the other guys glared at him. “What are we supposed to be playing?”
“‘Life in the Fast Lane.’ Get it together, man!” Gary growled.
“Sorry, sorry. Take it from the top,” he said, his cheeks burning.
He’d never made a mistake like that before.
There was no doubt they’d be asking him what he was thinking about when they took a break.
How was he going to tell them he was thinking about a tiny baby in a basket?
All he’d felt when Anne walked out the door with that basket was relief.
But that had worn off quickly, and now all he felt was fear.
How was she? Was she okay? Was she giving Anne and the kids a hard time?
And what about when he picked her up after he left the bar?
Would she cry all night? Make a mess? Stink up the place?
Puke something up? He didn’t know how to handle some of that stuff.
They hit the last note of the song and Blue hustled through the exit door. He stood in the alley behind the bar, his phone in his hand, punching numbers as fast as he could. “Hello?” a timid voice answered.
“Who is this?” he asked, almost breathless.
“This is Polly. Mr.Blue?”
“Yeah. Sorry. I expected your mom to answer the phone,” he said, taking a deep breath and letting it out in a long sigh. “Is she there?”
“No. She ran out to the hardware store to have a key made. Are you okay?”
A little frisson of panic ran down his spine. “Oh, yeah, I’m fine. How’s Indigo?”
“She’s good. She got fussy a little while ago, but Mom fed her before she left and she’s asleep now,” Polly told him, sounding like a small grownup.
“Is she okay? For real? She’s okay, right?” Blue asked again, feeling like a broken record but unable to stop himself.
“Yeah, she’s fine! Stop worrying. Mom will be back in just a few minutes and I’ll have her call you if you want,” the girl offered.
“That’s okay. I’ll be on stage by then. But thanks, Polly. As long as she’s okay…”
He heard Polly release a tiny giggle, but he didn’t have the energy to be offended. “Everything’s fine. Nothing to worry about. Actually, she’s a really good baby.”
“Okay, well, talk to you later. Thanks, Polly,” he remembered to say.
“You’re welcome, Mr.Blue. Bye.” With that, the phone went dead. God, he hoped everything was all right. Turning to head back inside, he almost ran smack into Devon.
The lead guitarist fixed him with a piercing stare. “Okay, Wallace, let’s hear it. What’s going on? Somebody leaning on you for a gambling debt? Got a girl knocked up? What’s got you so damn uptight tonight?”
“I, um,” Blue started, then realized he didn’t know how to tell anyone what was going on without sounding certifiably nuts. Oh, well, might as well get it over with , he thought. “I’ve got a baby.”
Devon’s eyebrows hiked up. “What do you mean, you’ve got a baby?”
Blue wanted to shrink and crawl under the nearby dumpster. “I’ve got a baby. An ex-girlfriend left her on my front porch this morning.”
For a few seconds, Devon just stood there, mouth gaped open, and then he started to laugh hysterically.
“Oh my god, Blue, you really had me going there for a second! Somebody left a baby on your doorstep! That’s priceless!
” He gasped for breath and just kept laughing―until he caught sight of Blue’s face.
“Oh my god,” he whispered, “you’re not kidding. Somebody left a baby on your porch.”
“Yes. Somebody really did leave a baby on my porch. Turns out she’s my baby,” Blue replied, feeling his face burning again. It sounded fucking ridiculous, especially since it was true. “I didn’t know anything about her until this morning.”
“Oh my god. You’re not joking. Where is she now?” Devon asked.
Before Blue could answer, the door opened again and Gary stepped out. He took one look at Devon’s face, then at Blue’s, and asked, “Okay, what the hell’s going on?”
“He’s got a baby,” Devon announced before Blue could say a word.
“No. I don’t believe you,” Gary said. “You’re making that up.”
“I wish I were, but I’m not. Old girlfriend dropped her off in a basket on my porch this morning before I got up. She did a ding-dong-ditch and when I got to the door, there was nothing there but a baby in a basket with a note.”
“So where is she now?” Devon asked again.
“With my next-door neighbor. She’s keeping the baby until I get done here,” Blue said, and a pang of guilt shot through his chest. It was really unfair to expect Anne to do that, but she’d offered and he hadn’t had any other options, at least not as far as he could tell.
“What the hell are you going to do with a baby?” Gary asked, mirth dancing in his eyes.
“I’m going to take care of her, I guess,” Blue said, staring down at his feet so they wouldn’t see the fear on his face. He knew it was there; he could feel it, and he knew they could probably see it too.
“Wow,” Devon said, “that’s got to be quite a surprise.”
“Yeah. I’ll say,” Blue mumbled.
“I’m surprised you didn’t bring her to the bar with you. You know, so we’d believe you,” Gary said, snickering.
“Couldn’t. I don’t have a car seat, and it’s a law that you have one for kids,” Blue said by way of explanation.
“Since when did you start caring about the law?” Gary asked, his voice oozing with sarcasm.
Blue just shrugged. “I dunno. I guess since my neighbor said I couldn’t take her in the truck without a car seat.”
“You gonna listen to the neighbor lady? Do what you want!” Gary said.
“But I don’t want her to get hurt. And if I had a wreck, she could get hurt,” Blue said. He was starting to get a little pissed. “Why don’t you cut me some slack, man? I’ve had a shitty day.”
“Whatever do you mean?” Gary singsonged, and Blue cut his eyes to see Devon’s narrowing in Gary’s direction.
“I mean, people go out and pick up babies off their porches all the time, man. You know, go out and get the paper, pick up the mail, and drag a baby in on the way back. It’s an everyday occurrence, right? ”
“Gary, back off, man. He’s had a rough day,” Devon said before Blue could answer.
“Next thing we know, you’ll be driving a mommy-mobile and going to play dates,” Gary mocked.
Blue could feel his heartbeat start to pick up, and his hands involuntarily fisted. “Shut the fuck up, man. I’ve had just about all I can take. If you want to keep being a shit, I can―”
“Whoa-whoa-whoa!” Devon yelled and stepped between Blue and Gary.
He turned toward Gary. “Shut the fuck up and get your ass inside,” he said, pointing toward the door.
“I don’t want to hear another word.” Gary snarled, then turned and stalked off, unwilling to challenge the ex-MMA fighter.
“You okay?” the huge man asked as he turned back to Blue.
“Yeah. Thanks, but I could’ve handled it,” Blue said, feeling his heartbeat starting to slow.
“But you can’t take care of a baby from inside a jail cell. And don’t pay any attention to that asshole. Is there anything I can do to help?” Devon asked, and Blue was shocked.
“N-n-n-no,” he stuttered, unable to believe that somebody like Devon would offer to help him. “I mean, I don’t know what it would be. I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to work and have somebody keep the baby. I mean, I don’t have any relatives or anything.”
Blue was even more surprised when Devon clapped a hand on his shoulder in a friendly gesture. “Well, if you think of something, don’t hesitate to call me. I’ll do what I can. I don’t know much about babies, but I’d give it a whirl if you needed me.”
“Thanks, man. I really appreciate it. If I think of something, I’ll let you know.”
“Guess we’d better get back inside, huh?
We’ve got two more sets before the night’s over.
God knows you need the money now!” Devon said and stepped to open the door, holding it open so Blue could make his way inside.
The whole trip up the back hallway, Blue’s head reeled.
He had friends he’d never known he had. The day had been full of surprises, and this was just the latest.
During their next break he started to call Anne, then realized it was almost midnight.
She probably wouldn’t appreciate that, and he wouldn’t blame her.
He took his beer and made his way out into the alley to stand in the cool night air.
In less than a minute, the door opened and Devon joined him, taking a smoke and making small talk.
Byron came out too, and the three men stood and joked for a few minutes before going back inside for the last set.
Gary had apparently taken his break outside the front door, and he joined them in a minute, being careful not to let his gaze meet Blue’s eyes.
The last half of the last set was their original music.
Devon had written a song six months before that sounded a lot like something Ed Sheeran would sing, and he’d surprised them with his voice―it was unbelievably good.
Gary had one that sounded like a Ray LaMontagne song, and everybody seemed to like it.
Byron didn’t sing, and he didn’t write, so that was that for him.