Randa (9 page)

John squeezed her hand, “Baby Doll, being with you did the same for me. You are welcome here anytime you want to come out. Besides if nothing else, we could always put you to work, I’m beginning to believe that you can do almost anything,” John said grinning.

“I can!” Randa giggled.

“And I do appreciate the open invitation,” Randa added. “You are coming with Fox to Nashville on Friday, right?”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” John said as he gave her a huge hug, pulling her in close to him.

“You two act like you’ve liked each other for forever,” Fox said smiling.

“We have!” John said as he looked at Randa and winked. She smiled and nodded gaily.

John let Randa go. She reached up and gave him a sweet kiss on his lips capturing their warmth.

Fox gave Randa a hug and Taylor hugged John. Then the girls got into the car and shut the doors. Taylor started its engine and put the car into gear. Randa looked out the window at John and blew him a kiss. He blew one back to her and then waved wholeheartedly as they disappeared down the road.

John turned to Fox, “Never in my life…”

“Oh no Johnny Boy, I guess you forgot what I told you.”

“What was that Fox?” John asked as he gazed in the distance at Taylor’s disappearing car.

“That girls are T-R-O-U-B-L-E.”

“I didn’t forget Foxy, but Randa is different.”

“That’s what I was afraid of,” Fox said as he chuckled loudly.

John usually wanted time to slow down, but this week he wanted it to hurry up and speed by. He and Randa talked every night for hours on the phone that week. It was a great way for them to get to know each other better and satisfy curiosities that they had. Better yet, they spent a lot of that time laughing. Feeling like a couple of lovesick teenagers, they couldn’t wait to see each other again and spend the weekend together.

Friday finally came. John and Fox packed their bags and caught their flight. Randa met them at Nashville International Airport. When John saw her, he was wowed all over again by her breathtaking beauty. She was strolling toward him in an amorous manner with the happiest smile ever ruling her face. John dropped his carry-on bag and swept her up into his arms, kissing her as if they had been apart for years instead of only a few days. Randa was kissing him back rapturously, clearly euphoric in seeing John. Fox just looked on in a mixture of being happy for John and yet feeling a little envious of him since he was watching love unfold before his eyes. And it just didn’t seem like any ole love.

John and Randa eventually stopped kissing and stepped apart from each other. John kept his arm around her waist as they made their way to the parking lot. Fox had to admit that the pair looked almost perfect together. John was tall and well built with dark hair and the bluest eyes. Randa’s features complimented his. Her high cheekbones set off her dark eyes and long, lush hair. Her body was thin, but not skinny. She had long golden stems and capitalizing on her great posture, she used every bit of her 5’8” height to her advantage. Wearing high heels made her look even more regal and statuesque. What would the future hold for them, Fox asked himself, but he knew that only time would tell.

Randa drove to Taylor’s home. They were all staying there for the weekend. Some would call it a mini-mansion, but Taylor wasn’t much of an ‘over the top’ diva. She had purchased the 4,200 square foot home for the primary purpose of being able to have family and friends stay with her when they were in town. She felt that it was still small enough to be cozy when she was alone at home. It was situated on 10 acres, so it afforded Taylor plenty of privacy. Even though she worked in Los Angeles occasionally, she preferred the slower pace of Tennessee and chose to live there.

Randa had her own key to the house and she unlocked the front door. They walked in and the men were at once impressed as they passed through the foyer and into a massive great room that had stone and wood walls and three sets of French doors side by side that led to a patio overlooking the valley below. Randa had stayed at Taylor’s many times before she had leased an apartment in Nashville. She showed Fox and John which bedrooms they would be staying in. Randa’s room was next door to John’s room. Fox grabbed their bags and took them upstairs. John threw his arms around Randa and gave her a long, loving kiss. When they stopped and opened their eyes, Randa leaned in and rubbed her nose against his, giggling the entire time. John Eskimo kissed her back and then exclaimed, “What a great idea!” “What? Eskimo kissing instead of French kissing?” Randa asked, laughing.

“No, silly girl! An idea just came to me. I’m going to be spending some time in Anchorage working in the corporate office next month. I would like for you to come and visit me there.”

Randa’s eyes lit up, “I would absolutely love that! I have always wanted to go to Alaska. Plus you would be there and I can’t think of anything better than that! Just let me know when and I will clear my schedule.” Randa felt no need to play games. She wasn’t going to pretend that she had plans in the future or that she was dating other people. She was always much more comfortable seeing one man at a time. She figured that way, she could focus on one person, instead of trying to divide her attention.

“It’s a date then. I’ll make sure that I’ve got all of my business finished when you come, so that we can play the entire time you are there Baby Doll.”

Randa leaned over, gave him a sweet kiss on the cheek, and squeezed his hand in excitement.

“What have I missed?” Taylor asked as she walked in and surprised them at about the same time that Fox was returning from the upstairs.

“Hi Fox!” Taylor exclaimed hugging him.

Everyone greeted Taylor and John and Fox complimented her on her beautiful home. She offered to make drinks and everyone opted for sweetened iced tea. Randa asked the men if there was anything in particular that they would like to do while in town. John and Fox both said that they wanted to tour The Country Music Hall of Fame and visit the Grand Ole Opry if possible. Randa and Taylor both smiled, those places were always everyone’s favorite tourist attractions.

They decided to go to the Wildhorse Saloon for dinner and drinks. It was one of Nashville’s most popular destinations. Only a few people stopped Taylor and asked her for an autograph. Most everyone else was very respectful of Taylor’s right to live a normal life, but she was also smart enough not to do ignorant things that would cause her bad publicity. Besides, that wasn’t in her nature anyway. She just wanted to be able to sing, entertain, and then come home to a somewhat normal life.

They dined on delicious barbecued ribs, pulled pork and fried pickles. The men washed their meals down with ice-cold beers and the ladies drank cocktails. After dinner, they made their way to the second floor to play a couple of games of pool. Fox had played much more pool in his lifetime than anyone else had. He had no problem ‘running’ a table and winning the game. He and Taylor beat John and Randa four out of the five games that they played, but the lovebirds didn’t seem to mind. They hit the dance floor while Fox and Taylor found a table.

Enjoying her drink, Taylor said to Fox, “There is just something about John and Randa when they are together. Something different. You can see it so clearly between them. It’s chemistry or something. It’s hard to describe. It feels so real, almost like you can reach out and touch it, and yet it’s like they are cocooned in their own obscure realm, with no one being privy to their world, other than us being allowed to look and observe from a distance.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Fox replied. “You should have seen them at the airport. It was like you see in the movies. They ran into each other’s arms the moment that they saw each other. Then they started kissing like teenagers and they didn’t care that people were looking at them. I think it even took them a while to remember that I was standing there,” Fox laughed, shaking his head.

“I think they are deliriously in love and they don’t even realize it.”

“I can’t say that I’ve ever seen John act this way,” Fox said.

“I haven’t seen Randa like this either. She has always had her fair share of dates if she wanted them. I think that sometimes over the years, she got a little lonely, so she dated men that she didn’t necessarily feel attracted to, just to keep an open mind. But as she has said and I have witnessed, there has always been something missing. It must be joy that I see in her when she and John are together and that’s what I haven’t seen before. It’s been what, just a little over a week? It was most likely love at first sight for them,” Taylor paused, “And I definitely believe in that.”

“Let’s just hope for the best. It would make me very happy to see John settle down and have a family and I know it would thrill his Mom and Dad. I’ve always been afraid that he would never get married.”

“Randa has talked of nothing else all week but him. Usually it’s me talking incessantly about a man, so it’s been a nice change, I must say.”

John and Randa approached the table with his arm around her waist. Randa turned toward him and he kissed her before they sat down.”

“Y’all must be trying to make up for lost time,” Fox quipped.

“What can we say? Life is very, very good!” John replied smiling.

The group decided to go home and get a good night’s sleep in anticipation of their busy Saturday. John hugged Randa and gave her a lingering goodnight kiss at her bedroom door. “I thoroughly enjoyed every single moment with you today. Sweet dreams Baby Doll.”

“Sweet dreams my love. I will see you in the morning,” Randa murmured as she blew him a kiss. Walking into the bedroom and shutting the door, she collapsed on the bed, still believing that she was in the middle of a fairy tale, instead of creating the memories of a lifetime.

Fox treated them to a delicious breakfast the next morning.

“You are starting to spoil us Fox,” Taylor told him.

“Yes, he is,” Randa chimed in. “I haven’t had this many great breakfasts since I used to stay weekends at my grandparent’s house.”

“I’m not spoiled,” John said loudly as he walked into the kitchen and gave Randa a good morning hug and kiss. “This kind of breakfast is the ‘norm’ on the ranch.”

Fox piped in, “Taylor, I’ve even made breakfast for your Momma. Betcha didn’t know that, did you?”

“No, I didn’t. When was that?” Taylor asked in surprise.

“I’m just kind of teasing you Taylor. It was a very, very long time ago.”

“She never told me about it.”

“I didn’t suspect that she would.”

“I’ve never really understood what your connection to each other is,” John remarked.

“Oh, that’s easy. Fox was a good friend of my Dad’s. I’ve known him my whole life.” Taylor replied and then she started talking about their itinerary for the day.

John and Randa looked over at Fox puzzled. They each thought that something strange was going on. Fox looked back at them and then returned his attention to scrambling the eggs.

John and Fox enjoyed touring the Country Music Hall of Fame and before they knew it, it was time to get ready for the party. Randa was so excited about going to see Boz Scaggs at Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, the world famous honky tonk bar that was known for hosting live local talent, since opening in 1960. It was a private party and Randa and Taylor were ‘dressed to the nines’ in glittering evening gowns. Taylor wore a low-cut pink one and Randa’s was coral in color. It set off her bright, chocolate colored eyes and tawny complexion vividly. When John saw her, he was totally blown away. “I always think that you can never look more beautiful, but you always do. You look absolutely stunning Randa.”

“Thank you my gorgeous, handsome man. Some girls were just born with glitter in their veins, weren’t we Taylor?” Randa said winking at her.

“Yes we were!” Taylor responded matter-of-factly.

John and Fox wore Wrangler Blue Jeans with boots, white dress shirts, dress jackets and their Stetsons. There were lots of singers and celebrities attending the party. As thrilled as Randa and Taylor were to meet them, they were just as excited to meet Taylor, and when they found out that Randa was
the
songwriter, well, she was made to feel like a celebrity too. John and Fox were unknowns, but they didn’t mind one bit. In fact, they met another ‘unknown’ at the bar who also happened to raise purebred Angus cattle, so there was plenty to talk about.

Being a songwriter herself, Randa researched the origins long ago of her favorite songs. After sitting down at their assigned table, she shared her knowledge. “Boz’s
Look What You’ve Done to Me
is one of my very favorite songs. The ‘story’ behind it is that the movie,
Urban Cowboy
, was being filmed and there was a scene emulating a broken romance and the studio called Boz and one of his writing partners, Tom Foster, to request that they write a song for that particular scene. The catch was that the scene was going to be filmed the next day, so the track needed to be finished and on a courier plane the next morning. As it turned out, the song reached #14 on the U.S. pop charts in November of 1980.”

“Wow, how cool is that?” Taylor replied.

Fox chimed in, “
Urban
Cowboy
was such a great movie. At the time, real cowboys aka country boys complained saying they didn’t like the movie because of the ‘Urban’ part of it, but the main character was actually a country boy who moves to the city and still keeps his country roots. He quickly adapts to Houston, getting a job in a refinery and driving a pick-up truck. The music was definitely country.”

The timeless melody began and Boz walked out onto to the stage. At first, a hush came across the audience and then couples began walking to the dance floor including John and Randa. Boz began to sing and Randa felt chills run throughout her body. The rest of the world, other than Boz’s incomparable voice and the steady rhythm of the music, seemed to disappear. Boz sang the beautiful lyrics.

John pulled Randa in tighter to him. Their bodies were pressed against each other, fitting seamlessly as they slowly danced. John rested his head against hers, letting himself get lost in the moment.