Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
M anny started talking, and Orrin aimed his phone to record.
Lily turned in her chair to pay attention.
She thought Manny looked ten years older since his heart attack.
There was a lot more white in his hair, and his face seemed thin and tired.
But he was smiling, thanking the communities of Mad Bull’s Bend, nearby Quinn, and all Quinn County for their years of friendship and fun in his molasses-thick Texas drawl.
“And y’all know how much I love this place, folks, and all y’all, too. I couldn’t retire and heal from what happened to me, to heal my heart, if I didn’t trust the new owner completely,” he said, looking across the room at Ethan.
Lily got a little choked up. God, she was glad she hadn’t killed him.
“But I know this place’ll be aw’right,” he said. “’cause I’m giving the keys to one of our own. Ethan Bubba Brand.” Then he shoved the mic into his back pocket and started a slow clap.
Everyone joined in the applause, albeit half-hearted, and Ethan looked Lily in the eyes.
“You’ve got this,” she said. “Face that nightmare head-on. Look around the room. These people want to be behind you. Now go tell ‘em what they need to hear. That you’re exactly who they always thought you were. Orrin’ll get the video for your manager. Two birds, right?”
“How do you always know what to say?”
“Trust me, I don’t.” It was an automatic reply, straight from her gut. She wanted Ethan, of all people, to know who she really was. She didn’t know the right thing to say. Her mom had, though. She’d just said what she thought the first Lily would have said.
He gave her a nervous nod, got up, and made his way to where Manny was standing. He did not need to climb up on the box as he stood a head above most people in the room.
He said, “Hey, folks,” and he waved awkwardly.
A few people waved back, but most just watched him, waiting.
“Y’all know my story. As a baby, I was left on the doorstep at the Texas Brand and adopted by Garrett, who married my aunt Chelsea.
That’s the happy part of the tale and the part I don’t mind sharin’.
But there’s a dark side to my hist’ry. The gossip rags got that part right.
The man who sired me was a full-on criminal. ”
A murmur rolled like a wave through the crowd. Lily got out of her seat without forethought and wove carefully and slowly through the patrons toward where Ethan and Manny were standing.
“And it’s true what you’ve read—that he…he killed my mother.”
This time the murmur was louder. Lily pushed a little more aggressively. No one was seated, everyone had risen on their feet to see and hear. She navigated between bodies and tables and chairs, trying to keep an eye on Ethan as she went. He looked shaky.
“’Course, I never knew him. I was knee-high to a grasshopper, I didn’t know much of anything. But now, well, he died in prison. And he named me in his will, but I’ve already declaimed it or disclaimed it or however you say it in legal terms. I don’t want his blood money.”
People muttered, and Lily heard snippets.
“Sure, he can afford to turn it down…”
“…could’ve done some good with that kinda money.”
“I knew he’d never take it. He’s a Brand, through and through.”
She stopped moving, because she’d broken through the crowd to the three feet of open space between her and Ethan.
She turned, though, to see who’d spoken last. A reed-thin man with a handlebar mustache and a face like a baseball mitt sent her a wink and she knew it was him.
He worked at the feed store, she thought.
Arthur…something. Bryce, that was it. Arthur Bryce. He had Ethan’s back.
Lily moved closer to Ethan, out into the open space between them. He saw her and relaxed visibly. He wiggled his fingers at her, so she went up to stand beside him.
“What happened with this place is a little bit different,” Ethan began.
“Yeah, it’s different aw’right.” Manny reached up to pluck the mic right out of Ethan’s hand. “I sold it, an’ now it’s yours. What the people want to know, Bub—Ethan, is what you’re fixin’ to do with it.”
Manny and Ethan locked gazes for a long moment and Lily held her breath.
Then Ethan’s chin lowered so slightly it was barely a movement at all.
And yet, it spoke volumes. He was taking Manny’s unspoken advice to leave out the details of how the cantina came into his hands. It was nobody’s business, anyway.
Manny handed the microphone back to Ethan and said, “Tell ‘em, son.”
Ethan took it. Lily squeezed his hand.
“What I have in mind is to grow this place into a top-notch, full-fledged honky-tonk.”
Silence. Lily cupped Ethan’s hand with her own, pulled the mic down low where she could reach it, and said, “And he’s keeping the tacos.”
Applause burst out, swelling until she thought it should lift the rafters. Lily took the microphone from Ethan’s hand, found the button and turned it off, then handed it to Manny to put away.
“I was fixing’ to introduce you and tell ‘em how long it’ll be closed and whatnot,” Ethan said.
“Why not end on a high note?” she asked. “We can put the details out tomorrow.” She took Ethan’s hand and pulled him back toward the table.
He turned his hand around to clasp hers, though. She glanced back at him, surprised. Their eyes met, and his were full of something. He was probably grateful for the moral support.
They arrived back at the table to a smattering of applause from the family. Orrin said. “I sent the video to your phone. Decided not to live-stream, just in case. I suggest you cut it after you say, ‘I don’t want his blood money.’”
“Killer line,” Drew muttered. “You nailed it.”
“I don’t know. It feels like I should tell ‘em how I came to own the cantina.”
“Since when does everyone in town need to know the details of your business?” Baxter asked.
“Anybody goes digging, it’ll come out,” he countered.
Maria said, “Oh, come on, you’re not all that famous, Cousin. Nobody cares.”
Willow nodded hard. “People will forget all about it in a few weeks. Especially if you put out another hit song.”
Lily had a mouthful of taco, so she couldn’t chime in. It turned out she had room for one more after all, and a fresh platter had been delivered in her absence.
“Chances of that are slim,” Ethan said. “I’ll be too busy with this place for the next few weeks to record. And I haven’t written a word anyway.” Then he took a big bite himself.
Lily swallowed, drank some sweet tea to clear her mouth, and then said, “You don’t need a new song. You have a whole album full of songs. Just release one as a single. That’s a thing, right?”
“Sort of. I mean, I don’t release it, the producer does, but?—”
“’Home,’” she said. “That’s your next hit.”
“What makes you think?—”
“Because it’s my favorite song on the whole album.”
For a moment it felt as if they were alone in the room, eyes locked, hers, she imagined, brimming with excitement. His were alight with hope. “You think?”
“It is a dang good song,” Trevor said, from somewhere outside the spell between the two of them. “You know, I think it might be my favorite, too.”
“You have my album?” Ethan asked, as he shifted his gaze to his cousin.
“Of course he has your album,” Willow said. “We all have your album.”
Maria said, “I have it in vinyl and MP3.”
Drew added, “I give it to friends for birthdays.”
Baxter, the eldest, leaned forward in his seat. “Wait, Ethan did you think we didn’t have your album?”
“I didn’t know, I guess.” He was genuinely touched, and there was red creeping up his neck and into his face.
It crossed Lily’s mind for the dozenth time that he was the best-looking man she’d ever seen, even when he was blushing hot.
“Thanks,” he said. “That means a lot. I guess I’ll call my manager.”
“We can do some pushin’ on social,” Drew said, “Maybe get a little momentum goin’.”
“Yeah,” Orrin added. “I can set up social media accounts for the honky-tonk, too, if you want. All the usual places. It’s the perfect time, you bein’ in the press right now.”
“And once what you just said goes viral,” his sister put in, “you will be even more.”
“We can help with that, too,” Orrin said.
Lily saw the way Ethan’s brows furrowed. In the year since she’d met this family, she’d never heard anyone offer an opinion or advice to Ethan on his musical career until now. And it was good advice, at least to her novice mind.
She finished the last taco she could possibly hold, knew for sure there was sauce on her face, and put her hand on Ethan’s shoulder, whispering, “You need a media budget to pay those two.”
Ethan looked gobsmacked. “Honestly, I didn’t think you were payin’ any attention at all,” he said. “Much less full of ideas.”
Willow heaved a sigh, met Maria’s eyes, then rolled hers. “We always got the feelin’ you didn’t want our input,” she said.
“What gave you that feelin’?” he asked.
She shrugged. Trevor said, “Mainly because you don’t talk that much about it when you’re home.”
Ethan shook his head in self-deprecation. “I didn’t want to come off like I was braggin’ all the time, you know?” he said.
“Braggin’,” Willow said, shaking her head. “Well, now that we’ve got that out in the open, I have a few ideas about your next album cover.”
Amazing what a little communication could do, Lily thought
The cantina looked entirely different the next morning.
It was empty and spotless, the chairs were flipped over, atop the tables.
The ‘Closed’ sign hung crooked in the front window.
Ethan stood in the middle of the open floor looking around.
What the hell was he doing? What did he know about running a business?
He should be writing and touring to test out songs for the next album.
He was supposed to have been doing those things ever since the first album had dropped. “At least now I’ll have an excuse for my failed career.”
“You’re twenty-nine years old, Ethan,” Lily said.