Page 60 of The Roads We Follow

The compress stills on my arm, but Micah doesn’t meet my gaze this time. And maybe that’s the reason I find the courage to say more. “Maybe being impulsive isn’t the worst thing a person can be.”

He’s slow to lift his head, but when he does, his eyes are dialed in on my mouth. “Maybe not.”

Every thought in my head evaporates with the exception of one:lean in to this.

And so I do.

And then, after only a second of hesitation, so does he.

Our lips are a fraction of an inch apart when a loud moan erupts from the opposite side of the room, breaking the heated spell between us. I propel myself off the mattress and toward my sister, rushing her to the bathroom in a blurred frenzy.

There is absolutely nothing charming or romantic about the thirty minutes I spend tending to my sister.

After I’ve helped Hattie back to the sofa and Micah’s finished yet another round of cleanup, he settles back on the bed, this time engrossing himself in his mother’s journals. Tentatively, I resume my place at the far end of the mattress and pick up the journal nearest me. I sneak a glance at him again, and it’s as if those few heartbeats we shared earlier were nothing more than a fleeting, confusing moment of temptation. Perhaps that’s all they were for him.

But as I flip the page to start reading, I know they were way more than that for me.

September 13, 1979

Idaho bound!

Dear Chickee,

I can’t stop smiling! Ever since Luella surprised me with a plane ticket home to see you, I’ve been a mixture of every emotion imaginable. She knew how badly I wanted to show you our first album in person—I just can’t quite believe she made it happen. She must have saved every tip she made for over six months. I’ll be on a plane in three days! I can’t wait to hug you and show you and tell you everything. Four years is way too long.

See you soon,

Lynn

February 6, 1980

Nashville

Dear Chickee,

Today started out like every other day. After practice, Luella and I drove Lima Bean to The Lounge on Broadway and were busy bussing tables during the dinner hour when Troy and Dorian and Russell burst through the front doors and started hollering our names and drawingall sorts of attention. At first, Luella grabbed my arm because we both thought something must be terribly wrong, but then they shouted for the barkeep to turn on the radio right then. If they didn’t do so much business there, I’m sure Mr. Buchanan would have turned them out on the street as he reminds us often how genteel his establishment is. But about two minutes later, the DJ announced our song on the radio! Luella and I nearly collapsed with joy. We were jumping and crying and laughing and hugging all at the same time. Five years in and over a hundred live performances under our belts and none of them compared to this moment. The best part was they were playing your favorite song: “No Clouds Overhead.”

I love you,

Lynn

May 10, 1981

On the road!

Dear Chickee,

It’s official! We’re on tour! Troy sat us down last Christmas and told us once we had three songs in the top forty in a three-month period, he’d personally rent us a bus and set up a summer tour. Well, we currently have four songs in the top twenty and one that hit number one! Luella and I keep pinching ourselves that this is our lives. We quit The Lounge a few months back to spend more time in the studio, but we’re there so often with the guys it kind of feels like we still work there, only now we don’t bus our own dishes.

In other news, Troy tried to arrange for Luella to attend a movie premier with a big-time Hollywood actor for some added publicity before our tour, but Russell was strongly opposed. The conversation got so heated between the two men that at one point Dorian had to step in and keep them from coming to blows right there at table eight in The Lounge. Luella and I weren’t present when Russell confessed what only I’ve known since last fall (their courthouse wedding), but the mood around the studio has plummeted from bad to worse.

Russell and Troy haven’t spoken to each other in weeks, and therewere many times Luella and I wondered if the tour would be canceled over it, but Dorian reassured us that they will work things out eventually and that we should stay focused on what we do best. So that’s exactly what we’re going to do.

I love you,

Lynn

December 19, 1981

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