|
The Tessarae Inn |
|
Consequences in Blue Notes CHAPTER 14 The road was deserted.
People were sleeping late or getting ready for church. In another hour or
so the roads would be weekend busy but for now she felt like she was alone in
the sky--flying. She was proud of
herself. She was out of Sheri’s in ten minutes. She may have dropped the ball
about the gas but her backpack was as ready as ever. The day that was breaking was going to be beautiful. She smiled then was struck by a profound sense of sadness. She was leaving people she cared about behind. How had she let Creedyville get under her skin so completely? She was supposed to be flying light but somehow she picked up weights on her wings. She could see a car behind her in the distance. He seemed to be traveling fast. She glanced at the clock on the dashboard. It was just about time for the early birds to start moving around. When she looked in the rearview mirror, the car was closer than she expected. He was really flying. Something about the situation disturbed her but she squelched her urge to speed up. So what if the driver was traveling fast? He would just breeze past her and she’d have her solitude again. When she glanced in the rearview mirror a few seconds later, the car was practically on her bumper. Her heart sank. She recognized the front grill. She slowed down and he slowed down. She sped up and he sped up. There was no way she was going to shake him. She pulled over to the side of the road and cut off the car. The limo pulled in behind her. She watched in her side mirror as a man got out of the front passenger seat and approached her. “He wants to see you. I’ll take care of your car.” Blair grabbed her backpack and handed the man her car keys. She walked toward the limousine. The driver got out and took her backpack. She recognized him from last night. He escorted her to the rear right door. He opened it and she slid in, “Okay, Todd, what do you want?” “I don’t know who Todd is but I want to hear you sing again.” She was so startled that she was speechless. She studied the man and suddenly realized where they crossed paths before. “You were at the club last night.” “Yes.” “Who the hell are you?” “My mama named me Keith Ford but most folks know me as Jake Travis.” Jake? Travis? “The singer?” “The one and only.” She leaned back against the soft leather of the seat, crossed her arms over her chest and then crossed her legs. Jake Travis was a rock superstar and damn near legend. Exactly how much more bizarre was her life going to get? She had just spent weeks pretending to be a singer in a place called Creedyville of all things and now here she was sitting in a limousine with a damn rock star. “I’ve got a ranch not far from here. The locals respect my privacy and no one in the general public or the press knows about this place. It’s my private sanctuary.” “Why were you at the club last night?” “I mingle when I feel like it. And besides I kept hearing about this jamming singer at the Ryder, so I decided to check it out.” She rolled her head toward him and raised her eyebrow. “Mr. Travis, it’ll probably save us both a lot of time if I say this now. Rock stars don’t impress me. I have no interest in being a groupie or a band aide, or a Popsicle.” He laughed. “A Popsicle?” She noticed that even his laugh had a musical quality to it. “It’s about the music, Miss Shaw. Believe me, I don’t have to go looking for women to sleep with.” Blair smiled. She had no reason to believe he was lying about that. He was good looking in that bad boy, rock star kind of way and the man oozed chemistry. He’d probably be a star even if he could only sing one note.” “Come to my ranch just for the day. I’d like to talk to you about a project.” She thought about it for a few seconds. What did she have to lose? “Okay, Mr. Travis, but just for a few hours.”
Jake Travis’s sanctuary was more wonderful than she ever could have imagined. There was nothing ostentatious or showy about the house and the grounds. It was a tranquil and mentally soothing place. He gave her a tour of the house and the grounds and then they went riding to see the rest of his “spread.” Travis himself was a funny, intelligent, and quirky. When he asked her to stay for dinner and leave in the morning, she couldn’t think of one reason not to. The guest suite like the rest of the house was not lavish but it was beautiful and inviting. Travis told her that someone would bring some clothes for her to wear and she couldn’t object since she smelled of horses and the clothes in her backpack were wrinkled. When she came out of the shower, the clothes were laying on the bed. She walked over to them with some trepidation. With her luck, Travis sent up a dress so short it would barely cover her behind and cut so low in the front her cleavage would have top billing. What she found instead was a simple white cashmere sweater and a pair of black jeans. She dressed quickly and then studied herself in the mirror. The sweater was wonderful—soft with a hood and hung loose—and someone had a perfect eye because the jeans fit perfectly. She applied a little mascara and blush then tossed her hair. When she walked into the main room, Travis was sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace picking on a guitar. He looked up when she walked in and stared at her for a second. “You’re beautiful. I guess you hear that all the time.” “Beauty like everything else is a matter of opinion.” He laughed and stood up. “Well, in my opinion, you are stunning.” He took her arm. “Dinner’s ready.”
|