The High Notes: A Novel(18)

“Yeah, it’s Texas. You’re from Memphis?” Iris asked him.

“I was fostered in Gatlinburg in the mountains, then sent to another family in Chattanooga, and made it to Nashville when I was sixteen. I’ve been singing ever since. You sound like a pro, Iris. Where’ve you been singing?”

“All over the country for the last nine years. I want to settle down now, I haven’t figured out where yet.”

“Where are you headed?”

“New York, I think. I haven’t decided. There’s someone I want to see there.”

“An old boyfriend?” he asked, and she laughed and shook her head.

“A rolling stone gathers no moss…and a singer on tour no boyfriends.”

“You should come to Nashville and check it out. You’d like it. Lot of music there, lots of gigs, and you’re good with country.”

“I like it,” she said. “I like doing other stuff now too. I write a lot of my own music and lyrics. That’s the most fun for me.” He looked at her carefully then. He had big green eyes, and was a handsome man. From what he said, she had guessed his age, two years older than she was.

“You really are a pro then. I just sing other people’s songs. Writing is a real talent. I don’t have that,” he said modestly.

“A lot of singers don’t. There’s plenty of good material around. You don’t need to write your own. I just enjoy it. I’ve been composing since I was a kid. My father would leave me in his truck for hours while he got drunk at a bar, or visited some woman, so I wrote songs to keep busy when I got tired of listening to the radio.” She hadn’t had an easy childhood either, and he understood it faster than most people would have, given his own history.

“Do you want to try a duet with me tomorrow? Annie doesn’t like the song, and her voice is too low for it. We rehearse here mornings at ten-thirty, before the lunch crowd comes in.” He told her what song it was, and she had always loved it.

“Sure.”

“You can join us for the night if you want. We’d all love to have you. You can sing backup while Annie does her solos.” He was fair to both of them, and Iris didn’t mind singing backup. She was happy to be singing again. It was like an unexpected gift having met them.

They left the Elk together, and Iris promised to meet them at ten-thirty the next morning for rehearsal. Boy had said that they rehearsed every day, which was why Iris thought they were so good. Like all serious musicians, they were willing to work hard at it. They weren’t just a casual bunch of friends who had gotten together to have some fun. The other two band members, Sean and Joe, were in their thirties, and had worked in Nashville for years. Annie was the youngest, and the least experienced, but she had good raw talent, which, with some practice and polish, she could turn into a music career if she stuck with it. She had dropped out of college to come to Wyoming with them, and was going to go back to Nashville with them. Boy teased her about being their groupie, since she was in love with Sean, their drummer, which was how they had met her. People who worked in music had a way of finding one another.



* * *



—

Iris was happy to have met them when she went back to her bed and breakfast. She kept thinking of songs she’d want to sing with them, that were adapted to their voices and the range they sang in. She wanted to try out one of her own songs with Boy. Maybe after they rehearsed the duet in the morning. Her head was filled with music again. It felt like destiny that she had met them. Maybe it was meant to be. She liked Boy and the others. He seemed like a straightforward person, and he was incredibly good-looking and talented too. She tried not to think about it. If they were going to work together, she didn’t want to screw it up with complications. She wasn’t a kid like Annie. She knew better. The work relationships that lasted weren’t the romantic ones. And Boy hadn’t come on to her. He just liked the way she sang, which was good enough for her.



* * *



—

She showed up five minutes early for rehearsal at the Elk the next day. She had the sheet music and arrangements for her own songs with her, with the lyrics, in case he wanted to try one or two, if they had time. She sat through their rehearsal, watching how they worked. Boy shone and stood out among them, with a powerful voice and beautiful delivery. Annie had a great voice but still had a lot to learn, which wasn’t surprising at her age, and the two men in the band were good, solid musicians, with fine voices. They had Iris sing several songs with them as backup, and she knew where to tone it down, and when to let her voice soar, which she was so good at. After fifteen years, nine of them in concert, she was a pro, along with her own natural talent. Boy had her sing one solo and she shook the rafters, and had to pull her voice in at the end. It was too much for a small space like the Elk, but he was bowled over by her. Then they rehearsed the duet he wanted to do with her. It was a song she knew well, and their voices blended perfectly while their delivery of the lyrics ripped your heart out. He had her do another duet with him after that, with Annie standing offstage, which she didn’t mind. She had no ego about it. She just enjoyed singing with them. When they were finished, Iris turned to Boy cautiously. They were all thrilled with the rehearsal so far. It was even better than they’d hoped.

“Do you want to try one of mine?” she asked him. “Do we have time?”