His Pretend Baby Read online

  “That’s all right,” I hear Colin say. “I performed here enough times, I know the place by heart. Plus, Keith was there, too. No way I’m getting lost considering how many times he’s worked this place.”

  I look over my shoulder and see Colin, still dressed in the Johnny Cash t-shirt and jeans he wore for the entire concert. Guess he isn’t one of those musicians who believes in costume changes. Not that he needs to. The extra sheen of performance sweat makes the thin t-shirt cling to his long, lean body in way I’m sure his female fans found more than a little appealing by the time he was done with his concert.

  He’s got an older guy with him, I notice, with sandy brown hair even longer than Colin’s. Except his hair is a lot frizzier and comes with a bald spot on top. I assume this is Keith, because I recognize him as the guitar tech who switched out Colin’s guitars and violins during the concert.

  As if to prove I got his job title right, Keith comes over to the catering table and says. “Let’s see if this chicken’s really as good as you say it is, Fairgood. I still don’t think there’s anything that’ll beat that plate we had in Texas.”

  I can tell by the size of Keith’s potbelly that he takes his chicken very seriously and, most likely, his beer, too.

  “It’s better,” Colin assures him. “Came straight from the daughter of the best cook I ever met.”

  Somehow I know who he’s referring to without having to ask.

  “Josie made this for you?” I ask him.

  Colin looks at me, like he’s just now realizing I’m in the room. Then he says, “Yep, she delivered it to the backstage door herself.”

  I can tell by the triumphant smile on his face that he thinks this means he’s all but got her in the bag.

  And that makes me bold. I suddenly have got to taste this woman’s chicken, so I take a drumstick from the pile and bite into it before anyone can tell me otherwise.

  From the immediate silence that greets this move, I know I’m the first person who’s ever violated this particular rule of Colin’s.

  “I told her the rules,” Ginny whispers to Colin, sending me an exasperated look.

  Colin’s eyes narrow for one hot, angry second, but then the lazy smile comes right on back. “You know what, Ginny? I’m going to make an exception this time.” To me he says. “Let us know what you think of Josie’s chicken.”

  “It’s pretty good, actually,” I say with an approving nod. “And I’m very particular about my fried chicken, so that’s some kind of compliment coming from me.”

  Colin raises his eyebrows.

  “Pretty good?” he repeats. “Josie made this herself from her mom’s recipe. And lemme tell you, I been all over the world, but nobody makes fried chicken like Josie’s mom did.”

  I take another bite and shrug. “You may have been all over the world, but if you think this is the best fried chicken you ever had, that’s just because you haven’t had a plate of my grandma’s chicken. She makes it with a big dinner pretty much every Sunday from April to the middle of October, when it stops being warm enough to eat outside. We have family members from all over West Tennessee come in just to have a piece.”

  Colin inclines his head. “Did she teach you how to make it?”

  I finish off the chicken leg and deposit the bone in a nearby trashcan. “Actually, I don’t give folks that information,” I answer, wiping my mouth and hands on a napkin, which I also toss in the trash. “Otherwise they might start harassing me to make them plates, like they stay harassing my grandma—that’s how good her fried chicken is.”

  Colin steps closer to me, and suddenly his “I ain’t poor no mo’” cologne is all I can smell.

  “Maybe I’ll add that into our agreement,” he says. “If you want me to produce your demo, you’ll have to make me one plate of fried chicken.”

  Having him standing this close, smelling this good, makes a series of somersaults go off inside my belly. But instead of giving into the fear and stepping back, I lift my chin.

  “Like I said, maybe I know the recipe. Maybe I don’t.”

  He squints down at me, eyes glittering just like they did that long ago night in Alabama. “I’ll find out what you know one way or another,” he tells me, his voice quiet and deep. “Trust me on that.”

  I think of the secret I’m keeping from him, the omission about the real first time we met, and a shiver runs down my back.

  Luckily Ginny chooses that moment to say, “Colin, there’s a question about Kyra’s outfit. I’m thinking maybe she should change into something a little more striking.”

  Colin looks over my outfit. “Nah, I like the dress. It’s nice. Simple.” His eyes trail up to my now bright red hair. “Like the new hair, too. I thinks she’s dressed just right for this,” he tells Ginny without taking his eyes off me.

  “Thanks,” I answer, confusion wrestling with all the alarm bells going off in my head. Ginny’s in on the scam, so why is he eyeing me all hungry like Keith when he first saw that pan of fried chicken? Is he some kind of method actor? Rehearsing for when the girl he really wants get here?

  A smart phone beeps somewhere in the distance, and I see Ginny tap her Bluetooth to talk to the person on the other end.

  “Josie’s arrived backstage,” she tells us after a short exchange.

  “Tell them to hold her there,” Colin says to Ginny. “I’ll come meet her.”

  To me he just says, “Showtime,” before leaving with Ginny.

  My heart sinks as I watch them go. I am really not at all looking forward to playing this part when he comes back. Especially since it’s for the benefit of a woman, who I’m hard suspecting won’t even care that Colin has a girl.

  “More chicken?” Keith asks me, his mouth full.

  “No, thank you,” I answer, suddenly not hungry at all, even though I haven’t had anything but that one drumstick to eat since right before I drove all the way down here from West Tennessee.

  I go sit on the couch and try to ignore all the bad feelings this situation is riling up inside of me. I don’t have long to fight with myself over it, though, because less than ten minutes later, Colin comes walking back through door. Without Josie.

  “Josie had to go,” he tells me, before I can ask. “She works at a domestic violence shelter, and I guess there was some kind of emergency. The director got called away, so she has to step up tonight.”

  So that was why her attention had been so divided during the concert. A new respect for Josie rises up inside of me and makes me feel guilty for my earlier thoughts. It wasn’t that she’d moved on to another dude while she kept Colin dangling, it was that she was a true do-gooder, through and through.

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” I say to Colin.

  Then I wait with baited breath, hoping he’ll say something like, “Yeah, that’s too bad. But maybe it’s for the best since my plan is kind of stupid and insulting to Josie’s intelligence. Let’s just call this whole thing off, and of course, I’ll still produce your demo since you kept up your end of the bargain.”

  But instead of saying that, his face sets into a grim, determined line.

  “I made brunch plans with her for tomorrow, to talk about me possibly making a donation to her shelter,” he tells me. His eyes meet mine. “So I guess you’ll be staying at my place tonight.”

  6

  Colin’s “place” turns out to be one of the penthouse suites at the Alabama Grand, the tallest and swankiest hotel in all of Birmingham. Following Ginny, I walk into a bunch of rooms filled with the kind of delicate, eye-catching furniture they use to sell magazines like Home Décor You Could Never Afford. Maybe that’s not a real magazine, but you get what I’m saying. Where Colin’s staying now doesn’t remotely look like the servants quarters of some rich family’s house. Everything about the suite is practically rapping “started from the bottom, now I’m here” with a fully produced studio beat behind it.

  I feel seriously out of place as Ginny shows me around. Too country to be kickin
g it with all this pretty carpet and ultra modern furniture. At the same time, I can’t help but think about how Josie will react to this place. Josie might not be in love with Colin yet, but do-gooder or not, she definitely will be a little bit impressed by how far he’s obviously come.

  “Sorry about the accommodations,” Ginny says after she finishes the tour at the sitting room’s sofa bed, which is where I’ll be sleeping. “It’s pretty much the best you can get in Birmingham, which isn’t exactly known for having five-star hotels. But Colin puts up with it because Alabama’s his home state. I hope you can manage to make yourself comfortable here.”

  Well, I don’t know about comfortable, seeing as how I’ve never so much as set foot in the sort of place that even offers penthouse suites. But as for the rest, I tell her, “I’ll be fine, thanks. The only thing I’m worried about is finding some pajamas.”

  “Maybe you can make use of one of the hotels robes,” Ginny suggests. “But we will have to look into getting you another dress for tomorrow.”

  Oh yeah, tomorrow. I’d temporarily forgotten about the brunch with Josie. Forgotten or deliberately tried to put it out of my mind. One of those.

  “I’ll set an alarm,” I tell her. “Get up early and go shopping for something.”

  “No, no, no,” Ginny says. “I’ll take care of the dress, keeping in mind Colin’s notes about simplicity.”

  She pulls a cloth measuring tape out of nowhere and straps it across my chest.

  Her eyebrows go up when she sees the number. “You’re very well endowed.”

  Yeah, I might not be as thin as Josie with her willowy frame, but my other assets, namely a big set of tits and plenty of ass, have attracted enough attention over the years to make me glad I usually wear scrubs to work. Especially for those male clients who don’t know how to keep their hands to themselves. I swear, some days I think Viagra is a curse sent straight from the devil himself.

  “I’ll also keep that in mind,” she says. “See you at eight, bright and early.”

  “See you,” I say to her back, a little sad to see her go.

  The truth is I’m not used to being alone. I’ve always stayed with my grandma between live-in gigs, and now being somewhere all by myself feels, I don’t know, wrong, I guess. Like sitting on the marble steps, waiting for Rose Gaither’s son to arrive. But this time I don’t have a guitar.

  I turn on the TV for some “company” as my grandma likes to call it when she leaves hers running while she’s going about her day.

  The first Star Trek reboot is on Fyos, which is my favorite cable channel, but one I hardly ever get to watch at home with grandma, since she has a hard rule about not watching anything with aliens or monsters or any other mess that don’t make sense. So soap operas and talk shows, yes. Sci-fi, no.

  I curl up on the couch, figuring I’ll watch this one movie, then go find that robe Ginny mentioned, unfold the bed, and go to sleep.

  At first, it’s a little hard to concentrate after what happened tonight and what might happen tomorrow. But eventually the story draws me in, just like it always does. I’m really enjoying what’s got to be at least my eighth viewing of this flick, when a voice above me says, “Star Trek, huh?”

  I look up and there’s Colin, standing at the top of the sunken living room steps, in a fresh t-shirt—this one features a black-and-white image of a man I think might be Woody Guthrie, playing the guitar. He’s also switched out his white Stetson for a wide-brimmed, black cowboy hat that casts a long shadow over his face.

  “Hi,” I say, my eyes going to the foil catering pan tucked under his arm.

  “Hey,” he answers. He hesitates at the top of the stairs, but then decides to come sit on the couch, too.

  “I was planning on taking Josie out for a nice dinner tonight after you left,” he tells me, setting the foil catering pan down between us on the couch. “But I guess cold chicken and a movie will do.”

  However, he wrinkles his nose at the conversation Kirk and Spock are having on the TV.

  “Like Star Wars better myself. Josie and me used to spend all day in the backyard when we were kids, re-enacting the big Luke-Vader fight.”

  I don’t even ask who played Vader, because I already know.

  “Yeah, Star Wars had some really good fights. But Star Trek’s got good fights and good characters. Star Wars is all about the battles, and Star Trek’s all about the people.”

  Colin takes the top off the foil catering dish, unleashing the good smell of Josie’s fried chicken.

  “Stars Wars is about the people, too. Anakin, Luke, Yoda—they’re people.”

  I take a piece of chicken, not bothering to wait for another invitation. It’s been a long day and I’m powerfully hungry.

  “Yeah, but Star Trek’s more about the people. Plus, I like Spock more than I like Yoda.”

  Colin grunts and takes a bite of chicken. “Why don’t you flip around a little?” he asks with his mouth full. “Star Wars has gotta be playing somewhere. Always seems to be no matter what hotel I’m at in the world.”

  “What are you not understanding about ‘I’m watching Star Trek?’” I ask him.

  “Last time I checked, this was my hotel room, and you’re here on my dime. I think that’s gives me the right to choose.”

  I harrumph. “I saw a TV in your room when Ginny gave me a tour of this place.” I take my own bite of chicken to emphasize my point, but then I end up closing my eyes in appreciation, because the chicken is so, so good. Again, not as good as my grandma’s, but I have to give it to Josie, she really put her foot in this here chicken, and I’m hungry, so it is hitting the spot exactly.

  Another mark on the board for Josie, I think. She’s good lookin’, she’s a do-gooder, and she’s a good cook. Definitely the kind of woman who’d make any man a better than fine wife.

  That passing thought blooms into an idea for a lyric. I reach over to my purse, and pull out my moleskin journal, glad I packed it even though I didn’t bring my guitar on this trip.

  “What’re you doing?” Colin asks me around his own mouthful of chicken. The question’s casual. But I can feel his curious eyes on me as I write.

  “Writing down some thoughts that maybe ought to be lyrics,” I answer.

  “So I can turn it to Star Wars?” he asks, reaching for the remote.

  “No, absolutely not.” I grab the clicker before he can get to it, and put it on the other side of me.

  “You’re not a nice woman,” he tells me, snatching up another drumstick from the pan sitting between us.

  “And you’re not a nice man,” I shoot right on back, without looking up from my journal.

  I sense rather than feel him go still beside me. “What makes you think I’m not a nice guy?”

  With a sinking feeling inside my chest, I belatedly remember the pre-concert montage, including a snapshot of Colin’s recent People Magazine cover feature, which had been titled, “The Nicest Bro in Country.” On the way over here, Ginny had gone on and on about how everybody liked Colin. His staff, his fans, reporters, even rappers cited him as one of the coolest, most laid back guys on the planet.

  Colin, I re-realize way too late, still hasn’t recognized me as the girl from that long ago night at the Lancer mansion. But other than what had happened between him, Mike, and me, I have nothing to base what I just said on.

  “I dunno,” I answer, carefully closing my journal and replacing the elastic band around its cover. “Just a guess.”

  “Just a guess,” he repeats. His voice is a little harder now. Not so easygoing. It sends a chill up my back. No, not a chill. That’s the wrong word.

  His voice sends a strange, hot heat through me. One that makes it hard not to shift nervously under his blue gaze, much less meet it.

  “Is ‘just a guess’ why you’re blushing now, Red?” I hear him ask beside me.

  Ugh, stupid nervous tic! I’ve never been one of those light-skinned girls who went around wishing she looked more black, bu
t this blushing situation is making me incredibly jealous of Josie’s nut brown skin.

  Another possibly good lyric, but this time instead of writing it down, I desperately try to relieve the tension with a joke grenade. “Alright, alright, if you want to watch Star Wars so bad, you can have the couch and I’ll take your big ol’ bedroom tonight. Seriously, I don’t mind.”

  Colin chuckles, and to my great relief, the sexual tension goes down a few notches.

  “Nah, I’ll watch Star Trek. I like this one anyway. Not as much as I like Star Wars, but it’ll do.”

  It’ll do. I slide a quick look over at him, wondering if that’s how he feels about my company tonight. The original plan was that he was supposed to be going out for a fancy dinner with Josie, after I conveniently left with an excuse about having to catch a flight back to Nashville for a label meeting.

  I take another drumstick, thinking this meal’s not the only thing serving as a replacement for something much better tonight. The cold chicken is definitely not dinner at a five star restaurant and I’m definitely not Josie. But I guess Ginny was right about what Colin was willing to put up with. Cold chicken and watching Star Trek with me will do for him, at least for tonight.

  Now why that makes me feel so bad inside, I don’t know. I don’t want to know. I take another bite of chicken and watch the movie, trying my hardest not to think about it.

  7

  That Other Night

  “Honey, pumpkin, sweetie pie, c'mon. Don't do this to me! I need you!”

  “No!” I answer, crossing my arms. I don't let myself look at my mother as I say this. She doesn't often use terms of endearment on me. So when she does, it makes it hard to deny her a thing. Especially when her large brown eyes are set on beg, like they are now.

  But I try to stand firm this time. I tell her, “I'm not going out there with you.”