Page 25 of The Singer and the Silent Type

“Anything is possible, baby,” he smiled, running his fingers along my spine. “I could buy a couple of the fields next door, and we could start an organic farm. Just easy things like chickens and spinach and peppers. I’ll have to fix up part of this house first, of course.”

“Now that I have a car, I can work more shifts, and longer shifts, to pay for the supplies,” I said.

Cody shook his head. “No, you’re going to be too busy looking for a band to sing with. I’m not going to have you ignore your dreams. That absolutely comes first. The rest of it, we’ll just figure out as we go.”

I couldn’t help giggling. “I’m glad that I’ve started to figure you out,” I said. “You were so quiet at first that I didn’t know whether I could get to know you.”

“You brought me out of my shell,” he said. “Like singing brings you out of yours.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t raise chickens i f we’re breaking eggshells left and right,” I smiled.

His fingers began making light circles and patterns across the back of my shoulder blades. “I’m going to try really hard to leave a note in the morning, but I have to do an early job. So I’ll be gone for a few hours, then come back here, okay?”

“Just don’t forget your phone this time. That way I can text you and clear up misunderstandings before they start.”

“Well, you’re going to have to stop being so damn beautiful while you’re sleeping. If I get all flustered and distracted, that could hardly be my fault. I’m just a man, after all.”

“There you go, wanting to change me already,” I laughed.

Cody nuzzled my throat, then gently pulled my bottom lip between his teeth playfully. “The only thing I’m ever going to change about you, angel, is our living arrangements, and the lack of a ring on your pretty little finger.”

I felt my eyes nearly popping out of my head. “It’s a bit early for that, don’t you think?”

“That’s why I’m warning you slightly in advance, because it’s going to be quick,” he smiled.

He turned off the bedside lamp, pulling a blanket over us as he snuggled me into his shoulder. “I can’t imagine ever trying to sleep without you in my arms again,” he said softly, “And I don’t want any gossip about us living in sin. So prepare to be engaged before the end of the month, angel.”

I wasn’t quite sure if he was teasing or exaggerating, but it didn’t mat

ter. I’m sure that he could tell by the way my body fit against his, my hand over his heart, that I was going to say yes.

Epilogue

~ Lorena ~

*** Two Years Later ***

I thought the air always felt electrified during a show. Everyone in the huge downtown club was there to have a mellow night, but singing with the band was always incredibly exciting to me.

Each band had been special in its own way, as I had sung with a few different groups over the past two years. But once Bobby’s wife was expecting their second child, I officially became a “Well-Behaved Outlaw” last year. Except I wasn’t just singing backup anymore, I was now the lead singer on about two-thirds of the set.

We also weren’t just doing cover songs – we were now getting together and writing our own songs as well. It was an absolute blast to write old fashioned country heart-wrenchers about modern things, like the song I wrote, “The text that nearly tore us apart.”

Luckily, Cody thought the song was hilarious. As I sang it for him, and several hundred other people tonight, he had raised his coffee mug, giving me a big thumbs up.

As I started to introduce our last song of the night, I glanced around to smile at the band. They had all been very understanding when Cody had come to my first rehearsal to meet them. I’d been a bit nervous about it, but he had simply shaken everyone’s hand in that strangely formal way of his, reassured that I was working on a project with quality men.

They were all ranch hands and farmers as well, except for Bobby, who was a mechanic for specialized farm equipment like tractors and combines.

Playing Wednesday and Thursday nights in the city messed up their early morning schedules, but everyone survived. The money wasn’t great, but it brought so much happiness to so many people. It was also the most fun in the world.

As I lifted the microphone, the stage lights bounced off my wedding ring, making the diamonds sparkle even more.

“For the last song, I think we’re going to do an old number by everyone’s Uncle Kenny,” I said, making everyone howl with laughter. It was charming that everyone knew the oldies, and even decades after they were written, still sang along. They were always there, in the back of our minds somehow. Steadying us.

As I began to sing, I even saw Cody singing along a bit from his seat on a stool at the end of the bar. He didn’t come to all of our shows but made it out at least once or twice a month.

The audience went wild tonight. They seemed to love it when I sang songs that were intended for a man to sing to a woman. I didn’t bother flipping the genders, I just sang it the way it had been written. By the time I was finished, the entire room was positively grinning.

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