The Duet(79)

My mouth dropped and his features softened just barely. I could see a piece of the carefree Jason I’d come to love at his ranch.

“She always did try to fight my battles for me.”

His jaw clenched. “I don’t think you need anyone helping you. You’re using my past to push me away all on your own. If you want us to be over, that’s your decision, but I didn’t take you for someone who gave up so easily.”

I shrugged, staring down at the carpet, searching for an explanation that wouldn’t come.

He left without another word.

I wanted to shout at him. How dare he push the blame onto me in this situation? He was the one who didn’t want “complicated”. He was the married one.

…



A stagehand came to get me a few minutes later, after I’d wiped the stray tears from my eyes. I followed him blindly, trying to collect my thoughts so that I could actually concentrate during the rehearsal.

I saw Jason when I was halfway up the stairs backstage. He was already on his mark, adjusting the monitor in his ear so that he’d be able to hear himself practicing. I looked down at my own monitor, adjusting the wireless receiver in the back pocket of my jeans.

There were a couple dozen people sitting in the audience at the Staples center. The show’s producers, assistants, stagehands, costume designers, sound engineers, set designers. They were all there to watch rehearsals, which meant they’d be the first group of people to watch Jason and I sing together. Lovely.

“How’s it going?” the choreographer asked us as I stepped up to the gray ‘X’ taped onto the stage about two feet away from Jason. My microphone was set up in front of the mark, and my guitar was resting on a stand next to it. With everything else going on, getting to use my own guitar felt like having a security blanket.

I shot Jason a side-glance. “Been better,” I replied, aware that our conversation was easy to hear by everyone in the audience.

“I think I’d have to agree,” Jason said, gritting his teeth and staring down at his guitar in thought.

The poor choreographer had no clue what to say to our responses. “Alright then, let’s run through the song once. I’ll get a feel for the sound, and then we can adjust things as we go. This is going to be a stripped-down performance. The two of you together is flashy enough so we won’t need to add much else.”

We nodded and started strumming on our instruments to warm up and test our sound monitors. I took a few breaths, relaxing my fingers over the fretboard.

The choreographer moved to the back of the stage and the house lights dimmed as the lighting crew focused a spotlight on Jason and me. I’d warmed up in my dressing room with my voice coach, but being out there was a different ball game. Even at Jason’s ranch, I’d never given it my all. We were always strumming in his room, singing quietly and playing softly.

It was finally time to put our hearts into it.

…



Later that night, LuAnne called me. I was in the middle of staring aimlessly into my refrigerator, hoping that dinner would magically make itself, when her name lit up my phone screen.

“Lu? Is that you?” I asked, like an eighty-year-old. Side note: why do we still not trust caller ID?

“Brooklyn! How are you? Did I catch you at a good time?”

Her voice was so good to hear— it was almost as good as having her there in person. Almost.

“Yes. Yes, what’s up? Is everything okay?” I’d given her my number before leaving Montana, but I hadn’t expected her to call to catch up so soon.

“Everything is great,” she said. I listened to her feet shuffle across the floor before she spoke up again. “I’ve just been thinking about a few things, and I’m calling because I doubt Jason is going to give you the full story about his past. He’s so weird about things, never likes to admit that he’s a good man deep down. If his mama were still alive, she’d be calling you herself, so I’ll have to do it for her.”

I frowned, trying to keep up. “What are you talking about LuAnne?”

She sighed. “Just give me five minutes and I’ll explain it.”

I took a seat on my sofa, happy that for once Cammie wasn’t at my condo. I settled in and LuAnne started her story, filling in pieces of Jason’s life that he may not have ever told me himself.

“Jason and Kim were good friends growing up. They were both quiet, smart kids in a small town so it wasn’t a surprise that they got along well. After high school, Kim got pregnant by some boy from out of town. I don’t know all the details, but I do know that she went to Jason before she told anyone else about it. Apparently she was on her own with the baby. Big Timber isn’t the most progressive town and her parents were old fashioned. As you can probably guess, Jason wanted to help Kim. He loved her as a friend, so he did the right thing.