Chapter 8 #3
“Toady!” Anne barked, and Blue doubled over with laughter. “That’s, oh,” she told her son, then looked sheepishly at Blue, “I’m sorry. I did say that before.”
“I gave you plenty of reason to. Sorry about that,” Blue said, snickering.
“Yeah, well, that’s sure the truth,” she replied with a laugh.
“But there’s something you have to do.” Blue waited until both kids were looking at him. “There’s something going on that you don’t know about. Somebody called social services and they might try to take Indigo away from me.”
“No! We won’t let that happen! I’ll get my cape and sword and kill them all!” Toady yelled, bouncing up and down on the sofa.
“No. That wouldn’t be helpful. But what would be helpful would be to keep the news about me and your mom quiet for a while, at least until we make them go away,” Blue explained.
“Yeah. We can talk about it at home, but not with anyone else anywhere,” Anne added.
“Okay. So it’s a secret until those people go away,” Toady said.
Blue nodded. “Yes. Exactly.”
Polly seemed much older than her years when she nodded. “We can do that. We won’t tell a soul. But you have to promise to tell us when it’s all over.”
Anne patted her hand in reassurance. “We’ll do that.” She started to say something else, but Blue’s phone started to ring.
“I don’t recognize this number.”
“Then you’d better take it,” Anne told him.
Blue stepped out onto her front steps and answered the call. “Hello?”
“Brent Wallace?”
“Speaking.”
“This AlexWynn. From Tidal Wave? I wanted to talk to you about the song and the rest of your repertoire. Could we meet somewhere tomorrow?”
“Sure, I suppose. I’d have to bring my daughter with me. What time and where?”
“Murphy’s Coffee and Cake on Fountain Avenue at three?”
Blue knew exactly where that was. “Sounds good. See you there.”
“Thanks. Oh, and if you’ve got more songs, please bring them.”
“Sure thing.” Blue ended the call and stood there. What the hell? Apparently the guy was serious.
He stepped back into the house to a frantic Anne running in ten different directions.
“There’s leftover lasagna in the refrigerator.
I put a load of clothes in to wash. Please put them in the dryer when they’re finished.
And do your homework,” she barked at the kids.
“And you,” she said, stepping in front of Blue, “you behave yourself.” Reaching for her bag, she said, “Oh, and who was that on the phone?”
“Long story. Tell you later. Go to work.” He kissed her forehead. “Be careful. I love you.”
“I love you too,” she whispered into his collarbone as he hugged her to him.
“I love you too,” Toady mimicked, then opened his mouth and wagged his tongue around. “Glak, glak, glak,” he yelled, trying to make an open-mouthed kissing sound but sounding more like he was retching. “Gross!”
“Shut up, Toady. They’re in love,” Polly said, her eyes all dreamy.
“Man, I think we screwed up by saying anything to these two,” Anne said, chuckling against Blue’s lips.
He slapped her ass and grinned. “Go to work. Talk to you later.”
As her car pulled away, he looked at the two kids. “Homework. I’ll take care of the laundry.”
“There’s enough lasagna here for you too, Mr.Blue,” Polly said, pulling the container out. Then she put it back and turned to look at him. “Do we have to keep calling you Mr.Blue?”
“For now, I think you should stay in the habit, but as soon as the coast is clear, I don’t care what you call me as long as you call me for supper,” Blue said with a laugh.
“He’s gonna be a funny dad,” Toady said innocently.
But Blue caught his comment. I hope I’m a good dad , he told himself. One glance at the sleeping baby in the carrier and he knew he was well on his way.
Apparently Anne forgot about his phone call because she never asked about it after she got off work that evening.
Blue was sort of glad. He didn’t want to tell her and then have her disappointed.
But he hadn’t forgotten. He’d spent about three hours researching AlexWynn, and he’d discovered something important.
The guy was no fake. He was about as high on the mucky-muck scale as anyone could be in Nashville.
There were pictures of him all over the internet with all the Tidal Wave recording artists, mostly at big-name awards programs. Even more important to Blue, there were pictures of him with songwriters at the awards programs too.
It seemed Tidal Wave had a habit of hiring highly successful songwriters, and Blue wasn’t just impressed. He was hopeful.
He left at two thirty the next day and made his way down the city streets toward the coffee house.
Pulling into the parking lot at ten before three, he was surprised to see AlexWynn’s car already there.
He unlatched Indigo’s carrier from the car seat base and carried her into the shop with his diaper bag over the other shoulder.
Alex seemed surprised to see him with a baby. “Well, hello there! And who do we have here?” he asked, leaning down to get a good look at infant.
“This is my daughter, Indigo.” Blue waited while a young employee set up a child seat holder, and once he had the carrier in it, he sat down.
“Would you like some coffee?” Alex asked.
“No, that’s okay.” I don’t have any money for their coffee , Blue thought. He’d looked at the sign when he walked in and it was expensive.
Alex patted him on the shoulder. “Nonsense. Come on and drink something with me.”
Blue sighed and shrugged. “Okay. Columbian roast, black.”
“Good choice.” He watched as Alex went to the counter, ordered, and then came back to sit down. “Could I see some of your other work?”
“Sure. I brought my binder with me. It’s full of songs.” Blue pulled it from the diaper bag and handed it to Alex.
“These are good,” Alex said, flipping through the pages. “I mean, I’m a musician myself, and I can hear these in my head. And they’re really, really good.”
“Thanks. I’ve been doing it most of my life,” Blue told him.
Handing the binder back, Alex sat back in his chair and said, “So I’m not going to beat around the bush.
HankChamberlain is very interested in your work.
But the game has changed.” One of Blue’s eyebrows shot up and he waited what seemed like forever before Alex said, “He doesn’t want to write with you. He wants you to write for him.”
This is not happening , Blue told himself. I’m imagining this . He couldn’t think of anything clever to say. All he came out with was, “I see.”
Alex thanked the server as she set their coffees on the table.
“So here’s what we’ve come up with. We want to pay you up front for at least three songs, and he’ll choose.
Then we’ll put you on retainer for more.
They may come out of your current catalog, or they may be new things you write.
” Alex pulled a folded letter-sized piece of paper out of his pocket and slid it across the table to Blue.
“It’s all broken down. Payment for the first song, then retainer for one song every quarter, more if you’ve got them.
Each additional song will be a bonus. He has to like them and agree to record them before you’re paid.
But we already know he wants to record the one you sang at the bar.
” Blue sat stone still. “Well, go on,” Alex said. “Open it.”
Blue took the paper and unfolded it. When he looked down at the figures, he blinked a couple of times. No. That wasn’t possible. It had to be a mistake. “But this is―”
“A lot of money.” Alex laughed loudly. “Yeah, I know! It is a lot of money. And if songwriting comes easy for you, then you could make a lot more. Oh, and we have other artists who are always looking for new material, so if he passes on a song, we might be able to find someone else who’ll like it and you’ll get paid for that too.
But Tidal Wave has a long-standing reputation for paying writers well.
Sure, we need singers, but if all they have to sing is crap, we get nowhere.
The songwriter is every bit as important as the singer. What’s your initial reaction?”
Blue could barely breathe. Without really thinking how he sounded, he murmured, “I think I just pissed myself.”
Alex exploded with laughter. “Oh my god! Don’t do that!
” He just kept laughing while Blue’s head reeled.
“So I’ve got a check with me for the initial amount.
That’s for the first song. You can sign this offer and then we’ll draw up an official contract.
I’ve got a copy, so you sign mine and I’ll sign yours.
When it’s all settled, we’ll have to fly you to Nashville to sign everything else. Interested?”
The roar in Blue’s head was abating and he had something he had to force out. “Under one condition.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
He took a deep breath and glanced down at his sleeping baby before he said, “That song? The name can’t be changed. It has to always and forever be Indigo’s Lullaby. I won’t compromise on that.”
Alex gave him a gentle smile. “Before I leave here, I’ll make a picture of the two of you together to show to Hank. Once he sees that, I think he’ll be fine with it.”
“So where do I sign?” Blue asked, and Alex pointed to a line at the bottom of the page.
As he signed it, Alex signed the other copy and handed it to Blue.
In seconds, the documents were signed and Alex handed him a check.
“Here you go. I’ll be in touch in a few days.
In the meantime, do something nice for yourself and for that baby.
Take your wife out to dinner. The Tidal Wave family is proud to have you as one of ours.
I see great things in your future, Blue. ”
“Thank you, sir. Thank you so much,” Blue said, shaking Alan’s hand and waving as the man left. He opened the envelope and looked at the check, and the room started to spin. Keep your shit together, Wallace , he told himself.
He could barely wait to show that check to Anne.
The sound of her car in the driveway woke Blue and he stumbled to the door. He opened it just as she turned the knob and she stepped inside, then turned and kissed him immediately. “Wow. A guy could get used to this,” Blue mumbled against her lips and kissed her again.
Anne tossed her bag onto the chair by the door and toed off her shoes. “Hey, where were you before I went to work? I was going to tell you goodbye but you weren’t home.”
“I’ve got something to show you. Come over here and sit down.” Blue was so excited he wasn’t sure how he’d fallen asleep before, but now he was wide awake.
“What? Did you get a job?” Anne asked, her voice measured so as not to wake the kids.
“No. Well, sort of.” Leaning forward, he pulled the envelope out of his back pocket and handed it to her. “Look.”
She glanced up at him and chuckled, then stuck her fingers inside the envelope and pulled out the check. One look and her mouth fell open. Blue got a little concerned. He was pretty sure she wasn’t breathing.
“Well?”
She stammered a little before she squeaked out, “W-w-w-what is this?”
He plucked the check from her hand, put it back in the envelope, slipped it back into his pocket, and took her hands. “This guy came to the bar. He works for Tidal Wave Records. They liked one of my original songs, babe. They want to buy it, and they want me to write more.”
“You’re kidding!” she cried out.
“Shhhh! You’ll wake the kids!”
She swallowed hard and stared at him. “You’re kidding!” she whispered.
“No. I’m not. There’ll be more where that came from. They want me to write songs for HankChamberlain.”
Anne’s eyes went wide. Then she squinted at him. “Get out. You’re messing with me.”
“Does that look like I’m messing with you?
I’m not messing with you. That’s real. The guy’s name is AlexWynn, and now that we’ve discussed it, they’ll probably fly me to Nashville to meet with Hank and sign me as one of their writers.
He even said if I write a song and Hank doesn’t want it, they have other artists who probably will.
I showed him my binder of songs and he liked them, Anne. He liked them all.”
She took his face in her hands and asked, “You sure this isn’t some kind of swindler?”
“I don’t know. I’m going to call the company and talk to someone.”
“I think you should have Glen call for you,” Anne said just before she gave him another kiss.
“Maybe I should.” Blue dropped back into the sofa and reached out an arm. “Come here.”
When she snuggled down into his side, Blue wrapped an arm around her and stroked her hair with his free hand.
God, she smelled good, and she was so warm and soft.
They just sat that way, quiet and almost completely still, until they both nodded off.
Indigo woke them up about an hour later, crying and fussy.
“I’ll take her home and put her to bed,” Blue told her, gathering the baby’s things up.
“I’m so proud of you, Brent.” When he stopped at the door and turned, Anne stood there, inches from him, and he reached out to touch her face. “I told you things would get better.”
“You were right―they are. See you in the morning, babe. Good night.” With a little peck on her lips, Blue ambled down the steps and across the yard to his house.
By the time he was inside with the door shut, Indigo was almost screaming, and it took him twenty minutes to get her calmed down.
He fed her, changed her diaper, and dressed her for bed.
When he was finished, he got himself a soft drink and sat down in the rocker with her.
As he rocked her, he started to sing her song, and he smiled as he sang and watched her eyelids droop.
And what I’d do for you
Is everything,
Everything.
We’d never be apart,
I’d give you my heart.
There’s nothing I wouldn’t do.
As he sang the chorus the last time, he looked down at Indigo, but he thought of Anne. Then Polly and Toady slipped through his mind. The baby wiggled and he told her quietly, “You’re my family, little one. I love you.”
Family. That was when it hit him―he had a family.
A strong, beautiful woman who made him stronger and three kids who loved him.
Five people. That was a real family! God, he couldn’t wait until that social worker got finished working him over and he could finally be with Anne and the kids without worry.
Indigo was breathing quietly, her face the epitome of peacefulness. After brushing his teeth and slipping out of his clothes, he crawled into bed. In a flash, he reached for his phone and sent a quick text: You’re probably already asleep, but I just wanted you to know that I love you.
Seconds later his phone pinged with a message: I love you too.
Blue smiled and sent another: Will you be my family?
The last thing he saw before his eyes closed in sleep was her reply.
Too late, Wallace. I already am.