After not falling asleep until the early morning hours, I was draggy this next morning. When Daniel came to tap on my door,
to tell me it was time for breakfast, I was awake, but still lying there, on top of the covers.
"Awake?" he called, as he knocked.
"Yeah," I said, and he opened the door.
"Breakfast is ready."
"Okay," I said, and tried to rally myself up.
"Not enough sleep, huh?" he asked.
"Uh uh."
"You can sleep awhile longer if you want."
"I'll drink some coffee, and that'll help," I told him.
I pulled on my clothes, fresh from the duffle bag, where they were still stuffed after our trip to the laundromat the day before. I ambled out to the
kitchen in my bare feet, going straight to the coffee pot to pour myself a cup.
I ate my eggs and sausage, and drank the coffee, keeping quiet as Daniel and Red talked across the table to one another.
"You got to see any sights yet?" Red asked me.
"Daniel showed me the Ryman Auditorium."
"Is that all? Girl, you got to get busy seein' some of the touristy stuff 'round here," Red said.
I didn't say anything, or look towards Daniel, because I knew he was thinking that this wasn't a vacation, or a pleasure trip for me. He'd be
thinking that I shouldn't be rewarded for running off.
Shortly after that, Red got around to leave, telling Daniel he would meet him at rehearsal later, and tugging at my hair as he said
goodbye.
I finished my eggs, and then got up to refill my coffee cup, bringing the pot over to top off Daniel's cup as well.
"No, thanks," he said. "Two cups are enough for me."
I sat back down with my full cup, and, without thinking, I said, "Two cups is nothing. Adam has at least five every morning-"
I let my voice trail off.
Daniel looked at me, his expression kind. "Thinkin' about him, huh?"
I shrugged. "I guess so."
"I'll bet he'd sure like it if the phone rang and he heard you on the other end," Daniel ventured.
I considered that, and then shrugged again, picking up a piece of egg that had fallen off my plate onto the table.
"Maybe," I acknowledged.
"Do you feel better after talkin' to Brian last night?" he asked.
"I guess. A little."
Daniel moved his plate to the center of the table, so that there was room for him to rest his arms in front of him.
When he was quiet, I added, "I almost wished that Brian would have kept talking for awhile. It was hard to hear him say goodbye."
Daniel was just watching me, his expression serious. Pensive.
"I have something to tell you," I said, and his eyebrows rose a little.
"Okay."
"You know how at the laundromat I told you about that hippie guy at the train station?"
"Uh huh," he said, his voice questioning. I could tell he thought there was something more to the hippie man story.
"You asked if there was anything else I should tell you about."
"Right," he said.
"There was another man. He was on the bus. He talked to me, and then the last night he sat with me. Even though I didn't want him to."
Daniel's jaw tightened. "Did he try anything with you? Hurt you?"
"No. He just kept talking and talking, and finally I told him I wanted to go to stretch out and go to sleep. So he moved back to his own seat."
Daniel put his face in his hands, resting his elbows on the table, and I heard him sigh heavily.
"Harlie," he sighed, and then uncovered his face, leaning back in the chair and looking at me.
I kept quiet, meeting his eye.
"Did you see warning signs? Feel creeped out?" he asked me.
"Yeah," I admitted. "I told him that my dad was a Marine, and was gonna be waiting for me at the next stop."
"Well, that's original." He sighed again.
After a couple of silent moments, he asked, "How come you decided to tell me this now?"
I considered my answer, biting at my lip a little. "I don't want to feel like a liar anymore."
Daniel gave me a long look. "I'm glad you told me. Even though it's tough for me to hear."
I nodded, relieved that he was taking it this way.
"I mean, I want to rant and rave at you, and tell you how lucky you are that you didn't get into a situation that was
more than you could manage." He rubbed a hand down his face. "But I've already done that. Right?"
"Right," I said.
After a couple of moments, he gave his hands a clap. "Okay. Anything else?"
"Nope," I said, smiling at him a little.
"You wanted to go to the library, right?" he asked me.
"I'd like to."
"Okay. Give me a few minutes and we'll head out."
"I'll do the dishes real quick," I said, getting up and starting to stack the dishes.
"Do 'em later," he told me, and I said okay, and just cleared the table, leaving the dishes on the counter for later.
While Daniel went to the bathroom to shave, I sat down at the piano, scooting the bench closer. I began playing thru
the sheet music that I'd been practicing the night before. Halting at first, and then smoothly.
When Daniel came back out, carrying his boots, I stopped playing to look at him.
"Don't stop," he said, sitting down on the couch to pull on his boots. "Keep on and finish. I wanna hear it."
So I kept playing, finishing the piece, and then I took my hands from the keys, twisting to look at him. He had an
intent look on his face, and had been leaning back, listening.
"That was real good," he told me. "It's been a long time since I heard you play the piano."
"You've heard me," I reminded him. "The last time you were home, remember? We were horsing around and doing duets-"
"That was goofy stuff," he said. "Horsing around, like you said. I meant it's been a long time since I heard you really play. Like you did just
now. Like you mean it."
"I was just trying to keep myself busy while you're at work," I said, with a light shrug.
"Well, you should keep practicing. Play some every day," Daniel said.
"I'll try to."
"I wanted to tell you I really appreciate all the cleanin' up you've done while you've been here," he said. "It's really nice
not havin' to argue with Red over who's gonna clean the darn kitchen."
"It's okay. I don't mind," I said.
We sat there, looking at each other sort of seriously for a couple of moments, and I thought that it looked as though Daniel
had something that he wanted to say to me.
But all he did say was, "Let's hit the library."
7
When we were driving into the library parking lot, I was truly amazed. "It's huge! I've never seen anything like it!"
Daniel laughed a little. "Careful, squirt. Your small-town roots are showin'."
"Country bumpkin, that's me," I said, not at all insulted.
As we were walking into the immense building, I said, "Since I'm from out of town, are they going to let me even check out any books?"
"You can check out under my name." He dug into his back pocket, and pulled out his wallet, and then took out a library card, and handed it to me.
"You have a library card?" I asked, shocked.
"I don't think I like the way you say that," Daniel grumbled, giving me a poke in the back as he ushered me inside.
"I didn't mean it that way. It's just-you don't even like to read," I said, lowering my voice to a near-whisper.
"I do read occasionally," he said, crossing his eyes at me in a goofy way.
The library was amazing. I was as excited about the library as some other girls might be on a trip to the mall. I began to wander around, taking my time, until
I found two books that caught my eye. I had to look around for Daniel, the library was that large. I found him in the magazines, looking at some
music magazine. No surprise, there.
"Ready to go?" he asked me, looking up from his reading.
"If you are."
"Yeah. Come on."
When we went back outside, the sun had disappeared, and it was chilly again. I sighed and pulled the over-sized jacket of Daniel's tighter around
myself.
"When does it get warm here?" I complained.
"In the summer. When it's supposed to. You're just spoiled by all that California sunshine year round," Daniel chided me.
For a moment, I was struck with a sudden sense of homesickness so strong that it was hard to swallow.
Daniel gave me a sympathetic look.
Then he said, "I've got a surprise for you, before we go out to lunch."
"We're going out to lunch?" I asked, perking up.
"I thought I'd take you to The Melting Pot. It's a real nice restaurant."
"Yea!" Then I said, "Is that my surprise?"
"No. We're gonna head to your surprise right now."
Daniel took me to the Country Music Hall of Fame. We spent nearly three hours there looking around. He'd been there before, but he told
me that he could return many times and still see something new. After that we did go to the Melting Pot restaurant, and Daniel was right about it
being a nice place to eat. We both had steaks, with salads and then fruit dipped in a chocolate fondue sauce.
I'd seen the prices on the menu, and was a little bowled over at how high everything was. When it came time to pay the check, though, Daniel
didn't say anything. He just laid the cash on the counter, and then took two mints from the bowl there, and offered me one of them.
"What did you think?" he asked me.
"I loved it. It was really good. But, Daniel, it was so expensive!"
"Yeah. That's why this is only my second time eating there," he said, with a grin.
We were crossing the street to get to where Daniel had parked, and the traffic was heavy, zooming past us at an alarming rate.
Daniel reached down and took my hand to cross the street.
I thought about making a joke about how I must be six again, and how he used to make me hold his hand when he'd take me into school
sometimes. But then, I decided not to. I didn't mind him taking my hand like that, or making sure I got across that crazy busy street safely.
It just felt so good to be with him, and have him not be mad at me any longer.
Once in the truck, and seat belted in, Daniel said, "I thought about going to the mall and getting you some clothes, but I need to get back to
head to rehearsal."
"That's okay," I said.
"You wanna go to rehearsal? We'll head over to the club now."
"Sure. Yes."
As he pulled out into the frenzied driving on the main highway, I said, "You don't have to buy me any clothes."
"I was just thinkin' of a couple pairs of jeans. Maybe some socks," he told me.
For a moment I felt a niggling sense of unease, and worry. "Oh."
I hesitated, and then dove into the abyss. "Am I going to be here long enough to need more clothes?"
Daniel gave me a sideways glance.
"Not what you want, huh?" he asked.
"It's not that," I said hurriedly. "I love being here with you. Well," I added honestly, "At least I do now that you're not
mad at me any longer."
"Humph," Daniel said.
"It's just-I have school next week," I said, in explanation.
"I didn't mean that you were gonna be here for any great length of time," Daniel said. "I just thought you should have some more jeans
and stuff, in case we don't make it back to the laundromat."
"Oh." I felt a range of emotions. Gladness that Adam and Brian hadn't 'banned' me from returning home, or 'given me over' to Daniel, because
they didn't want to deal with me anymore. I mean, I didn't really think that they would do something like that.
But I was still feeling worried, and the weirdest scenarios kept popping into my head.
"I don't mind gettin' you something that you need," he went on.
"I know. I appreciate it," I said. "I really liked the Hall of Fame," I added. "Thanks a lot for taking me."
"You're welcome."
I decided to plunge on. "I figured you wouldn't want to take me to see anything here, or let me do anything special."
He gave me another measuring side glance. "You figured that, huh?"
"Well, I mean, with the way I came and all. It's not like it was a planned vacation with Crane, or anything."
"No. It for sure wasn't that," he said dryly, in agreement. He looked thoughtful for a moment, and then said, "The way
I see it is this. You did the wrong thing. Probably one of the biggest mistakes you've ever made. You got punished for it. Hopefully, you
learned from it." He raised an eyebrow at me. "You did, right?"
"Yes," I said quietly.
"Well, then, you understand how it made people feel, and you won't do anything like it again. So, I figure that it's over and done. Time
to move past it," he said.
I looked out towards the front windshield, easy tears filling my eyes, feeling humbled by his words. I managed a nod, and a sort of
croaky, "Thanks."
Daniel reached over and ran his hand down the back of my head, before he put it back onto the steering wheel.
"How are you feelin' about everything?" he asked.
I tried to gather all my thoughts. "I'm scared about facing everybody. And I don't know how to make it right, really." I looked over at him. "I
feel real bad about Evan. He-" I broke off, and shook my head a little, facing forward again.
"Evan will come around," Daniel said quietly. "It may take a while, a long time even, but he will."
"I hope," I said, and then added, "And I'm still worried about the whole custody thing."
"Well, Adam thinks it may be gettin' close to being settled," Daniel said, and I twisted to face him.
"He said that?" I asked.
"Something like that."
"Wow. Why didn't you tell me?" I asked.
"He just told me this mornin' when I talked to him. And it's not that he knows anything for certain. I think it's more what he feels."
"Oh." I thought a moment. "I hope his intuition is right."
We were both quiet for a few minutes, and then he said, "Do you wanna go back with us tonight while we do the show?"
"Yeah, I'd like that!"
"Okay. One condition, though. Well, actually two."
"What're the conditions?" I asked.
"I want you to stay at the front table, just like you do at rehearsal. And I don't want you dance with anybody. There's a rough crowd
there sometimes."
"Maybe nobody will ask me to dance," I said, giving him a small smile.
"They will," he said, sounding certain. "And you say, 'no, thank you.' Alright?"
"Yes. Alright. So that's the two conditions."
"That's one."
"Sit at the front table," I said, holding up one finger to count. "And don't dance with anybody," I added, holding up a second finger. "That's two."
"That's all part of condition one, brat," he said, with affection.
"Okay. So what's the second one?" I asked.
"When we get home from rehearsal, after we eat supper, and before we leave again, I want you to call home."
I looked at him, and bit at my lip. "To talk to who?" I asked.
"By the way you say that, I guess you're not ready to talk to Adam. Is that it?" he asked.
I nodded my head a little.
"Well, okay. Small steps. How about-Crane?" he suggested.
I considered that. "Okay," I agreed.
"Crane, then," Daniel said, and then held out his right arm with a flourish. "With a side order of Hannah."
I stared at him, my reluctance evident, I knew. I bit my lip so hard that it hurt, and pressed my lips together.
"What are you thinkin'?" he asked me. "Hannah's at the top of the no-talk list, too?"
"I'm not going to talk back to you, Daniel. If you want me to do the call, then I will."
Daniel sighed a little. "Harlie, the more conversations you have now, the smoother that going home will be for you. For everybody."
"I know you're right," I said.
"Never get tired of hearing that," he said lightly, and gave me a wink as he pulled into the parking lot of the Palamino Club.
7
