The High Notes: A Novel(51)

“Your dad?” Harry asked with a stern look.

“He’s about the same. We had a falling out about five years ago. I saw him a few months ago in New York. I don’t think we’ll see each other again,” she said quietly.

“What’d he do, show up to ask you for money?” Harry hit the nail squarely on the head. “Forgive me, but that son of a bitch left you freezing out in the truck, or boiling in the sun. He wouldn’t have fed you if we didn’t here. We were all worried sick when you left.”

“I survived it.” She smiled at them. None of that mattered now. She had found them again. She was sorry about Sally, but so grateful to have found the two of them. It really was like coming home. She was so glad she had come before Harry left.

“You’re not married? You don’t have kids?” Pearl asked her, with a sideways glance at Clay.

“No, I’ve been touring for nine years. And I’ve just been singing.”

“Thank God you’re okay. We never forgot you, Iris,” Pearl said, staring at her and looking at every detail.

“I never forgot you either. You’re the only family I ever had.”

“Sally and I cried for weeks when you left. We were scared of what he’d do with you. Just leave you to starve somewhere, or work you to death,” Pearl said.

“I’m fine,” she said, and she was. Now. But those had been hard years. She had come through them, and had come back to them.

They sat and talked for an hour, and then Iris stood up slowly. She hated to leave, but they had a long drive back to Houston. Clay stood up and took two of his business cards out of his wallet.

“If you want to find Iris, just get in touch with me. I’ll find her for you.” They both thanked him, and put the cards in their pockets.

“We have to get back to Houston,” Iris said regretfully, sorry to leave them.

“Do you want something for the road?” Pearl offered. “We’ve got that peach pie you love.” Iris smiled at the memory.

“We’re okay. All I needed was to see you.” She hugged them both tight, and they walked outside with her and she hugged them again. “Take care of yourselves. I love you guys.”

“We love you too.” Pearl spoke for both of them. “Keep in touch.”

“I’ll come back,” Iris promised, even though she didn’t know when. Clay took a picture with his phone of the three of them standing together. She couldn’t take her eyes off them, filling her heart with their image, standing outside the bar. She got into the SUV with Clay and waved to them as long as she could see them, and she sobbed when they were finally out of sight, and Clay took her in his arms and held her.

“Oh, baby, I’m so sorry for that hard road you traveled for all these years.” He could see how much Harry and Pearl meant to her, and how much they had cared about her.

“You had a hard road too,” she said as he held her, “and so did Boy. We all did. You don’t get where we are now on an easy road. It makes it that much sweeter when you get here.” She smiled up at him through her tears. “I’m so glad I saw them again. I really loved them. They were the best people I ever knew. My father was such a shit, but they were like guardian angels for me when I was here. We only stayed for six or eight months, which was a long time for my dad. But they were so good to me, I never forgot them, and Sally was sweet too.”

Clay held Iris close to him on the trip back to Houston, and halfway there, she fell asleep. He knew he had made a special journey with her that night, to a place back in time which was a sweet spot for her, maybe the only one, and she had let him share it with her. It meant the world to him. He was gently stroking her hair when she woke up and looked at him.

“It was nice, wasn’t it, seeing them?” she said.

“Thank you for letting me come,” he whispered in the darkness, and she sat up next to him. Her heart felt lighter, and she smiled at Clay. And as though it was the most natural thing in the world, he kissed her. He felt as though she had bared her soul to him that night and he couldn’t hold back anymore. He had felt too much for her for too long. “I love you, Iris,” he said simply.

She nodded, she loved him too. “I’ve been in love with you all this time,” she admitted to him.

“Me too.” He smiled. “I thought you’d think I was too old.”

“I thought you were too important to ever look at me that way.”

“Now that is the only dumb thing you ever said to me. You’re just as important as I am, and probably a better person.”

“What are your girls going to say?” She was worried about it, but he wasn’t.

“They’ll say whatever they want to. Ellen will be nice about it. Margie won’t. And then they’ll get used to it. This is my life, Iris. They’re grown-ups now. You and I have traveled a long hard road to find each other, and we’re lucky we did. I’m not giving that up now, for anyone or anything. Now hush, woman,” he said, sounding like the depths of Kentucky, and she laughed.

“I had to come all the way home to Texas to find you,” she said, smiling. She felt as though she had come home that night. To Harry, to Pearl, and now to Clay. And he was right. It had been a long hard road, but was worth it. Now neither of them would be alone anymore, and the rest of the way would be easier. They sat holding each other all the way back to Houston, and she slept in his room that night.