"Red, I just got a phone call from Charlie. Says he's coming up here tomorrow"
Reba just fiddled with her mic and replied with a short "kay"
"Aren't you gonna ask why?"
"I know why Carter...he's bored and lonely"
Bill looked towards the band who had been pretending to tune their instruments whilst listening in.
"You guys excuse us for a minute?"
He gave them a look that said "if you don't move your asses now, I'll move 'em for ya".
They scuttled off towards the cafeteria muttering to themselves, whilst walking past Reba giving her looks of sympathy. They knew about the trouble she and Charlie had been having, mainly due to the fact that most of their intense arguments had taken place on the road, in a bus that was moving so they couldn't really go elsewhere. She knew they hated living in that atmosphere, so when Charlie had decided to up and leave every so often, they felt a sense of ease on the bus. They were able to have a few laughs with Reba and mess around without having to walk on eggshells most of the time.
And it wasn't just the band...Reba herself found that she was more carefree when Charlie wasn't around, a sure sign that something wasn't right in their marriage...what wife wants to be away from her husband? what wife gets depressed when knowing her husband is going to be around soon?
This wife. Her.
Bills voice brought her out of her thoughts.
"Now listen here darlin', I don't like this as much as you do, Lord when you two get together I just want to run for cover. I know how feisty you can get", this brought a slight smile from Reba ,"but you have to understand that all couples go through this. You guys have been married 8 years..there's bound to be glitches here and there, but this has gotten bigger than the both of you and it's affecting those around you. And it's not just the behind the scenes stuff, heck Narvel came up to me the other day with a list of great ideas for the show, but he's too darn scared to talk to you about them for fear of Charlie finding out. Red, I saw your face when I mentioned Charlie, now I don't mind you two having your differences, but you have to talk this out like adults. If you make the peace now, it may fix things between you. I know you love each other, you're just goin' through a bad patch. Best thing about a marriage is workin' at it"
Reba processed all that he said. Yes she loved Charlie. Yes she knows he loves her too. But still, that gut feeling was gnawing away at her, telling her that whatever she tried to do to save this marriage, it always came to nothing. Maybe she should sit down and talk to Charlie, one more chance couldn't hurt could it? Reba put her mic back into the stand and sighed heavily, turning to look at Bill.
"You're one stubborn man you know that?"
Bill chuckled
"Alright, fine. I'll talk to him, heck, I'll even be nice to the son-of-a-bitch", she grinned, "but I can't guarantee anything Carter, you know him, he's not gonna want to listen to me. He'll just brush it off as hormones or somethin' he can't be dealin' with right now".
"But you'll try?"
Reba sighed again
"But i'll try"
Bill wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her tight. This man was like a second brother to Reba, she was lucky that she had him in her life, especially at this tough time. When they let go, he gently raised her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it.
"That's my girl"
Reba scoffed and wiped her hand on her jeans, pretending to be grossed out.
"Get outta here, go. Skoot. I got work to do"
He let out a hearty laugh and walked away, yelling back to Reba "Yes you do!"
Reba stood there by herself for what seemed like ages, going over what had just happened and what was about to happen tomorrow. Oh boy.
She walked towards the cafeteria to where the band was and found them huddled over a small table, talking in hushed voices.
Walking over to them she swore she heard her name mentioned, they obviously hadn't noticed her come in. As she got closer she coughed to grab their attention, they all looked up in unison and shifted into very "relaxed" positions.
Reba rolled her eyes, "oh please, as if you weren't talking about me. You guys are more transparent than plexi-glass"
"But plexi-glass isn't - OW!"
As her bass player rubbed his shin Reba giggled. Trust these guys to make her feel better. As they moved down a spot to make room for her at the table she looked at them and realised that it was time she said something about the situation, and maybe to help them gather the facts.
"Alright guys, since you were talking about me anyways I might aswell bring up the subject of me and Charlie. As you heard, tomorrow he's going to be joining us on the road again. I know you guys don't like it. I know you want to protect me and that's very sweet of ya'll, but you have to realise that I'm a big girl now. I'm not that naive 23 year old that you met years ago, I can handle my own battles," this earned a few chuckles from the band ,"seriously guys, I gotta make this work with Charlie, so when he gets here I'm gonna talk to him and we're gonna sort this whole thing out. Then hopefully, we'll be back to normal. I need your support on this, okay? You guys are my family and I love you to pieces, but this is something between me and my husband"
Looks were shared across the table and a general agreement was met.
"You got it Red".
"Good. Now, a little birdie told me that someone here has a list of ideas for my show..."
Over at the other end of the table a head shot up, Narvel Blackstock, Reba's steel guitar player looked like a deer caught in headlights.
"um...uh...tha...". He coughed, trying to clear his throat. "That would be me"
Reba looked at him and couldn't help but smile. He'd joined them in 1980 and since then he has never let her down. Always on time. Always ready to rehearse, willing to learn. He had a passion for this business just as she did, maybe even stronger. Till now she had never really had a conversation with him, a few words here and there, but she'd not got to know him as well as the others, for he always kept himself to himself. But he was always smiling. That's one thing that captured Reba as she continued to stare at him...his optimism in life was astounding, making her want just a bit of that.
"Well Narvel, you wanna share these ideas?"
The table looked at him, she swears she could see from behind his beard his cheeks turning red.
"Sometime today?" she grinned
Another cough "yeah sure, um...how about after we finish up the song?"
"That's fine with me" another smile. Has he always been this shy?
"Alright fella's why don't you go on out to the stage and I'll meet you after I have something to eat?"
You couldn't have seen them for dust at the pace they moved out of that cafeteria, Reba just sat there confused, until she realised why they were in such a hurry to leave.
"HEY! YOU GUYS ATE ALL THE FOOD?!"
