Page 90 of Need You
“Don’t blame me,” Boden said. “I don’t make the rules. Take it up with city hall.”
“One more song!” the patrons yelled. “One more song!”
Colt laughed. “You want the police chief to break city ordinance?” For fun, he played a riff of “I Fought the Law” on his Stratocaster, then quickly put it down. “Thanks for coming out, everyone. Drive safely, and if you’ve had one too many, don’t drive at all.”
Colt started to get off the stage but was ambushed by a combination of old friends and folks he’d never met before who told him and the rest of the band how much they’d enjoyed the show. Jack and Carrie Jo joined the queue. Colt couldn’t tell if they’d come together. Dumb-ass Carrie Jo probably didn’t even realize that Jack had the hots for her.
He schmoozed while keeping one eye on Delaney, who’d hung back with Josh, Hannah, TJ, Win, and Deb. The six of them were polishing off the last of the beer when Colt finally managed to break away.
“Your adoring fans.” TJ lifted an eyebrow and Colt flipped him the bird. “What happened on ‘Crazy about You’?”
Colt gave what he hoped was a nonchalant lift of his shoulders. “Didn’t feel like doing it.”
“Bullshit.”
Josh grabbed TJ’s arm. “Leave it alone.”
“Yeah,” TJ said, “let’s not rock the boat. We wouldn’t want Colt to actually stand up for himself.”
“That’s enough, TJ,” Colt said. “If you can’t hold your booze, you shouldn’t drink. I’m going home. Thanks for coming,” he said to the group, and headed for the stage to collect his guitars and amplifier.
“You think I could get a ride with you?” Delaney came up behind him. “I walked.”
“Sure.” He’d wondered if she’d need a ride. He certainly didn’t want her walking home alone in the dark.
She waited while he packed everything up and helped him carry it to his truck.
“Thanks for coming tonight,” Colt said.For being my inspiration. “You like the show?”
“You were amazing,” she said as he hefted two of the guitar cases into the bed and opened the passenger side door for her. “It wasn’t what I expected.”
“No? What did you expect?” he asked, after sitting behind the wheel and starting the engine.
Her expression turned sheepish. “Truthfully, a garage band. I thought you’d do a lot of covers. ‘Stairway to Heaven,’ that sort of thing.”
He released the emergency brake. “We did plenty of covers.”
“But you did them in your own style ... and the originals. . . you’re extremely talented, Colt. I’m serious. You could be a professional songwriter. That one about the old man who dies of a broken heart made me tear up. Somehow I didn’t see you as the ballad type.”
“I’m just full of surprises.”
“Sarcasm doesn’t look good on you, Colt. Now I know that all that gruffness is a big act. You’re squishy as a marshmallow. Sentimental too.” She paused. “Is music how you met Lisa?”
“Yeah. She saw us play at Old Glory one night. During the break, she came over, complimented the set and mentioned she was a singer. We invited her to do a song with us, not expecting much. Turned out she blew us away.”
“You asked her to join the band after that?”
“We’re pretty good musicians. Vocals, though, not so much. It made sense. Having her front the band also got us more gigs.” Lisa not only rocked a song, she rocked a miniskirt. Sad to say, for some that was enough.
Colt pulled out of the small parking lot behind the bar and nosed onto Main Street. It only took a few minutes to get home, but he didn’t want her to leave. He let the engine idle in front of her house and tried to make small talk. Tomorrow was his day off, so even though it was past two in the morning, he didn’t need to rush.
“How come you didn’t want to play ‘Crazy about You’? I don’t listen to country music but I know it’s Lisa Laredo’s big hit.”
You’d have to live under a rock not to know that, he nearly responded.
“Did she write it about you, Colt?”
The clock on his dash ticked away while he contemplated how to respond. “Not exactly. It’s a little more complicated. I don’t talk about it.”
