Gypsy Hearts (17 page)

The sound of someone leaning on a horn in the traffic below startled Dexter enough to make him leap
from her lap and scurry under the bed. With a bittersweet chuckle, she yanked the curtains closed, shutting
out the world below. Crawling on her hands and knees
over to the bed where Dexter had fled, she pulled up the
floral bedspread so she could peer at him. His magnificent eyes glowed back at her and he meowed softly.

"You silly boy, it was just an impatient driver wanting to get home. Nothing but a car horn. Come here
and-"

The heavy-handed knock on the door startled her.
Dropping the edge of the bedspread, she darted her
head up to look at the red glowing letters of the alarm
clock. 3:03 A.M. Her smile was immediate. There was
only one person Josie could think of who wouldn't wait
until morning to tell her something.

Brock. And she was sure he had good news. It had
to be.

Rushing to her feet, she glanced in the mirror to give
her reflection an approving glance, then raced to the
door in her stocking-clad feet. Excitement building, she
fumbled with the lock for a few annoying seconds
before she was able to throw the door open.

Her smile faded when she saw Miles and Roy standing there.

"You two?"

"Sorry to disappoint you," Miles drawled.

Josie chuckled, and pushed a stray hair away from
her face. "Sorry, guys. I just expected-"

"Yeah, yeah, you expected the wonder boy. But if
you're waiting on Brock, it's going to be a long night. Will has him talking to every major player in Nashville
tonight."

Her smile spread wider than it had all night, if that
was at all possible. "And? What's happening? Tell me
everything you've heard!"

Miles and Roy exchanged a look of confusion.

"You mean, you don't know?"

She looked at one, then the other. "No, I don't know
anything. I spent most of the night talking to some
sound engineer Will insisted I babysit and I missed all
the action."

The little fib was lost to Roy and Miles. It hadn't
been a hardship to spend time talking with Ron Albani.
He'd been gracious and interested in Josie's work. This
is what she'd come to Nashville for. Not only had the
evening been a huge hit for Brock, but it had been great
for her as well. She just hoped that when Brock arrived,
they could sort through it all in a way that didn't spell
the end of their relationship.

"Nothing's been signed in blood yet, but it's looking
that way."

Josie whooped and threw herself into Roy's burly
arms, giving him a quick peck on the cheek and then
did the same to Miles. "This is fantastic!"

Miles sighed. "Yeah, well. .."

"Come on, guys! This is great. This is what we've
wanted. It's what we've been working for all this time."

Roy nodded, a weak smile tugging against his lips.
"Yeah, I know. It looks like a pretty done deal... for
Brock. The rest of us are still up in the air though."

Confusion collided with her initial joy. "What are
you saying?"

"Seems the studio has a different idea of what direction Brock's career should be taking."

A nerve started to twist itself and tightened into a
knot in the pit of her stomach.

"And?" she prodded.

Miles couldn't look at her and glanced down the hall.
Roy leaned against the doorjamb. "Maybe it wasn't a
good idea for us to come here."

"Spit it out. There's obviously a good reason why
you felt the need to come to my door in the middle of
the night. And don't get cute and tell me it was
because you couldn't sleep and needed me to sing you
a lullaby."

Miles glanced at her and gave her a quick smile,
sympathy in his eyes. "We didn't know how you were
going to take the news so we figured we'd come see you
before you had a chance to take off without saying
good-bye."

She closed her eyes. Take off? Good-bye?

She stifled her sigh as best she could, but it escaped
despite her best effort. "I would never do that," she said
softly, emotion like a tidal wave clogging her throat.
Not again, anyway.

Roy reached out and touched her shoulder. "The
A&R people from the record company are talking
about bringing in their own people to work in the studio. They want to go back and rework all the songs."

She nodded once, folding her arms across her chest.
"And?"

Miles and Roy glanced at each other and then to the
floor.

"Don't stop now, boys. You're on a roll."

Miles sighed. "They want to finish up the gigs at the
Wild Horse Saloon with a new sound engineer, to let
him get the feel of Brock's music, before they take
Brock on the road again. Will said something about
moving in a new direction and tightening his sound
instead of making it so ... "

"Primitive. That was the word he used," Roy added
with a roll of his eyes.

Josie fought the Urge to shrug the comforting hand
Miles had placed on her shoulder. He must have sensed
her tension and removed it.

"It's a raw deal and all," Miles added. "Everybody
knows that demo you did back in Texas is what got us
here."

She laughed at the compliment and shook her head,
looking up at the ceiling, then the floor, blinking back
the moisture filling her eyes. "Thanks. But it was a
group effort all around. I appreciate the support. Will
said it was a done deal?"

"No, they're still talking. And for the record, you
should know that Brock wasn't buying into it in a big
way. ButWill..."

She sighed and pasted on a smile she didn't feel
inside. Will. Yeah, he was a carbon copy of Brian all
right. He'd thrown her a bone tonight, albeit a fat juicy
one, by introducing her to Ron Albani. But it was only
so Josie wouldn't make a fuss when he canned her in
the morning.

She'd have her meltdown-later. It just wouldn't be
now in front of Miles and Roy.

Taking the attention off herself, she asked, "What about the band? You're still going to stay with Brock,
right?"

"The jury is still out on us," Roy added. "These studio execs like to shake things up a bit. But between you,
me, and the walls here, I think we're all being replaced."

eplaced? Everyone?" She'd barely managed to
get the words past her throat. Of course, she had known
this was a distinct possibility once a record label was
interested in taking on Brock. They had their favorite
musicians. But, knowing Brock as she did, she couldn't
imagine him sitting well with it.

"Yeah, Will was real apologetic and all," Miles said,
his voice dripping with sarcasm that didn't show on his
face. For all his steam, the man looked like he was
about to weep. She was pretty near that herself.

Roy, on the other hand, was just plain ticked. His
face grew a hotter glow of red by the moment. "He said
he's keeping us for the rest of the sessions at the Wild
Horse. Like we have nothing better to do than hang on
his tail until he decides what to do with us. I mean, it's
not like he can replace us overnight."

"I'm sorry, guys." Stepping aside, she gestured to the
room. "Do you want to come in and talk for a bit?"

"You mean, instead of standing out here in the hall
like the pathetic losers we are?"

"Stop that," she admonished gently. She'd invited
them in to be polite, but deep down Josie hoped they
wouldn't take her up on her offer. Rightfully so, they
were taking the news hard. But she didn't want to
indulge in conversation that was sure to lead to Brockbashing. Whether he had a say at all in the decision of
letting his band go or not-and at this stage of the
game, that was still up in the air the ultimate resentment
would end up falling on him. Tonight, Brock was the
golden kid, the one to envy and hate, no matter how
much he was loved by his friends.

She sighed, taking in their drawn faces. On some
level, Josie had been expecting this. Record companies
have their stable of producers and production engineers who gave them what they wanted without any
hassle. Josie had yet to elevate herself to that position. Yet.

Regardless, the news of being let go so early in the
game managed to throw her for a loop and knock her
off balance as much as her meeting with Ron Albani
had. They still had a few more shows to do at the Wild
Horse Saloon. She didn't think that Will would be so
quick to replace a band that had become tight in such a
short period of time. The band members may not be
well known in Nashville, but they were a good fit
together. Hopefully, in time, Will and the A&R execs at
the record company would see that and decide to keep
them together as a band.

"Hey, maybe things will be different for you. You
and Brock being so tight and all," Roy added.

Josie shot him a hard look, her jaw tight. It was a
knee jerk reaction, born of a long climb to prove herself in a business that cared little about how hard you
worked to make it.

"Why should that matter if the record company is set
on replacing me?"

Roy shrugged, taken aback by her abrupt words. "I
just figured-"

But she cut Roy off. "You figured wrong. My relationship with Brock is as separate from anything we've
been doing professionally as yours. If the decision is
made to give me walking papers, then I'll be getting
them, regardless of my relationship with Brock. I suspect Brock will be by in the morning to give me the
news himself."

Miles sputtered. "Don't count on it. He'll probably
be sleeping until dinner tomorrow. Will has him on a
short string tonight. He's looking to make the most of
these contacts."

"As he should. That's what Brock hired him for." She
sighed, amazed the tears hadn't appeared. "Look guys,
I'm really sorry. You two should be out there with
Brock enjoying the evening as much as he is, but sometimes it doesn't work that way. This business is cutthroat. But even if the band is being replaced, you
should still be trying to make contacts. Especially if
you're going to be replaced. You've still got a week's
worth of gigs in Nashville. A lot of people are going to
hear about tonight and want to come out to see the
shows. And when they do, they're going to see what
fine musicians you are and want to work with the two of you. Don't think of it as the end of the world. This is
just a jumping point for all of us."

Roy eyed her skeptically, his jaw tight. "You mean to
tell me you're not royally ticked off after all the work
we've done these past two months?"

She shook her head. "No. I'd be lying if I said I
didn't want us to stay together like one big happy family. But I can't change what is happening any more than
you can. I can't control it. I can only make the most of
the chance being given me. And I intend to do that."

"That's right. I forgot you've been through this before
when Grant kicked you to the curb after his contract."

Miles gave Roy a smack against the arm. "Geez,
you're such a hard-"

Roy grunted and rubbed his arm. "What'd I say?"

The mention of Grant didn't sting as hard as it might
have a few months ago. Or the comment about how
she'd been let go. This wasn't the first time she'd been
handed a raw deal. But that wasn't the worst of it.

"It's okay, Miles. I can handle it. Yes, I've been
through this before and on some level, I was expecting
it, even though I'd hoped for better. But I made a mistake once and didn't pursue a good opportunity I was
given. I'm not making that same mistake again. Please,
don't make that mistake yourselves. Go out there and
get a piece of what's coming to you for your efforts.
You deserve it."

Josie then said good night, giving each of them a
tight hug before closing herself in her room.

The tears didn't come still, but she knew they would.
Deep down she expected to be let go. Part of her had fantasized about being beside Brock as he made his rise
to fame, sharing the road with him. She pictured the two
of them, side by side, traveling the country together.