Page 7 of The Singer and the Silent Type

John put two and two together immediately, shaking his head. “I’m sorry, Cody, I didn’t know.”

“I barely know myself,” I confessed.

We chatted about tomorrow’s big rodeo events, and wondered aloud how some of the local boys would hold up against the seasoned out-of-towners.

Eventually I excused myself and went back to my stool just in time to have Lorena join me for her break. “I see you know Max,” she smiled sweetly. “He comes in quite often.”

“I know everyone, more or less,” I shrugged.

“What is it that you do?” she asked.

I laughed suddenly, a sound unfamiliar to both of us. “I guess you could say I’m a problem solver , ” I chuckled. “I used to raise horses on my little farm, but there were already a lot of great breeders and trainers around here, so I started a new business. Technically, I do all sorts of construction and repairs. But there are many strange old buildings that have been renovated over the years by people with questionable skills. I’ve become a bit of an expert at fixing shoddy work. I also know how to get things up to code, even when it seems impossible.”

I realized that was the most I’d spoken at once to anyone in a long while.

“Wow,” she nodded. Then her dazzling smile just about knocked me on my ass. “It sounds like you are literally holding this town together.”

“The buildings, anyway,” I smiled back.

She finished her lime water, then began cleaning up her station. Iris rang the last call bell, but most people were already trudging out. They all probably wanted to get their chores done early in the morning since they would be busy in the afternoon.

It was always amusing watching Iris walking around her establishment like the belle of the ball, yet running everything with an iron grip.

Once I’d overheard one of the regulars asking her why she didn’t have any security here, and she had snorted. “If I hollered for security, would you stand up?”

“Of course.”

“You and at least five other men. So I’ve already got security handled.”

Every person in the tavern had laughed at that, and it stuck with me. That was the thing about Sunset Ridge – everyone kept an eye on each other.

When Lorena was finally done, I led her out to my truck, holding her hand to help her climb up into the passenger side, and tucking her in safely before closing the door.

It was sweet that she scooted over to unlock my side for me, but then she put on the seatbelt in the middle of the bench, so that she was sitting right beside me. As we cruised out onto the road, it felt completely natural to tuck my arm around her. “You were amazing tonight,” I said.

I felt her shoulders twitch. “That was terrifying,” she said.

“But you said that you’re a singer?”

“Yes. I want to find a band and sing regularly. I want to record, and maybe even do some commercials.”

“Well, I’m hardly an expert, but I bet you’ll get some work,” I said.

“I just have to get over the stage fright,” she said softly.

I nodded, trying to think of something helpful to say. “I remember the first time I drove up to a big job that I wasn’t one hundred percent sure of,” I said slowly. “My palms were sweating, everything felt itchy and too tight, and I honestly didn’t know how I was going to get through the day.”

“That sounds a lot like stage fright,” she nodded. “What did you do?”

Squeezing my arm around her, I looked down at her pretty angel face. “I got the job done. That’s all anyone can do. You do the absolute best job you can, and you deal with nerves later.”

Lorena nodded. “That’s what it was like tonight. It was a job, so I did it.” Her hands twisted around each other in her lap. “Maybe that’s the secret. If I just look at it as a job, not something so personal, maybe that will take some of the sting out of it.”

“Exactly. You would never walk out on a job. You would never do lousy work.”

Her head snuggled into my shoulder. “Thanks, Cody. That really helps.”

As I finally turned into her long driveway, she looked up. “How did you know where I live?”

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