Page 58 of All I Need (Hearts of the South)
“Y’all mind if I join you?” Mackey clapped a hand on Tick Calvert’s shoulder and indicated the empty chair between him and Savannah. With his glass of Scotch, he waved toward the table where Haley, Landra, and a core group of ER personnel gathered. “I’ve worn out my welcome other places.”
Savannah didn’t miss how Landra turned her face away.
The lights dimmed once the music began, and she relaxed into her chair to sip at a glass of Chivas. The three of them were surprisingly good for a small-town band, combining individual talents on the piano, violin, and guitar and letting Troy Lee’s strong vocals take the lead, with Clark and Emmett providing the backup melodies.
The table did indeed indulge in shoptalk, with Rob and the two investigators—Calvert and Cook—tossing around general ideas about the EMT sniper case, but Amy’s partner proved to have a sharp and insightful wit. The music spanned everything from classic to contemporary rock and country, and the dance floor stayed packed for both slow and fast numbers. To her surprise, once Troy Lee claimed the need for a break, Emmett and Clark took the lead on a pair of contemporary praise songs, although the bar crowd seemed unfazed by the unusual choices. Emmett’s voice demonstrated a range and power that matched Troy Lee’s.
Clark rippled a melody across the keyboard, and the regulars went crazy. Emmett set his violin aside in the case. Sweat shining on his brow, he grinned at the crowd over the microphone. “Y’all know I can’t play and sing this.”
Somewhere behind Savannah, a male voice whooped. Emmett launched into a low ballad unfamiliar to Savannah, a song of intense love among ruin and desolation. Lashes shadowing his cheekbones, he sang of losing everything, of being in over his head, of having only what he needed to hold on to. He never missed a note, and as his voice died away and Clark let the melody trail to a stop, a hush hovered for a split second before eager applause broke out. His eyes remained closed a moment, then he glanced at Clark and a grin passed between them. Troy Lee, also grinning, discarded his water bottle and clapped with the crowd.
Savannah blinked hard and brushed a fingertip under her eyes. A quick glance around the table proved she wasn’t the only one emotionally moved.
“Guess his mama didn’t waste money on all those voice lessons when he was a kid.” Eyes damp, Mackey leaned close to Calvert. “Are you really going to put him back in a car if Delk releases him?”
“I’d be crazy not to.” Arm draped along the back of his wife’s chair, Calvert reached for the beer he’d been nursing the last half-hour. To their right, the bartender started turning on lights, and much of the crowd drifted out. “He’s smart, but he’s wasted behind a desk. He can read a situation better than most veteran cops with twice his experience, and I don’t have to worry he’s going to embarrass us.”
“You realize he’s also a total adrenaline junkie, and I’ll have to stitch him up again?”
“Oh, probably a couple of times.” A grin quirked at Calvert’s mouth. Savannah darted a glance at Mackey. Adrenaline junkie? As controlled as Emmett was about his emotions? She didn’t see it. “Maybe not so much now that he’s got a major recuperation behind him. He’ll be a little more cautious, but not so cautious that he loses his edge.”
More patrons wandered out, but a significant portion stayed put, despite the lights being fully up. A server approached the stage with a tray, and Clark and Emmett both took a long, tall glass of amber fluid while Troy Lee accepted a Corona and pushed a lime into the neck. Anticipation hovered in the room.
Savannah caught Amy’s eye in inquiry, but her sister shrugged. “I’ve got no clue.”
Clark rippled the keyboard. “Em, they’re not going home.”
“I know.” With a sip from his glass, Emmett brushed damp hair away from his forehead. Troy Lee reached for his guitar again.
“You know what they’re waiting for.” Clark grinned.
“I do.” Emmett adjusted his microphone stand. “Church on Saturday night.”
Clark plinked out “Jesus Loves Me” with one finger. “And why do we have to have church on Saturday night?”
“Because they won’t let us in church on Sunday morning.”
Calvert coughed a laugh into his fist. More laughter drifted across the room, anticipation building.
“My mama, who forced me into piano lessons, and Em’s mama, who forced him into violinandvoice lessons, did not anticipate their little boys growing up to play in a heathen rock band.” Clark chuckled into the mike. “But they probably should have known something was up when we kept getting called before the deacons because Emmett couldn’t behave.”
“Yeah.” Wry humor twisted Emmett’s mouth. “It was all me, every single time we got called before the deacons.”
“So you regulars know that church on Saturday night involves two things. Some old-time hymns.” Clark’s grin widened. “And a little confessional.”
“Here we go.” Troy Lee crossed his arms over his chest.
“I think since it’s our Em’s first official night back with us and since you all know how he and I met in the church nursery, we should talk about the first night we met Troy Lee.”
Emmett and Troy Lee both swiveled in his direction. “No.”
“Oh, yeah.” Clark played an ominous chord and held it. “Y’all know Em has a little bit of a wild streak and he’s competitive. So he hears about this hotshot new deputy Chandler County has. You know, the one who likes to run patrol cars hot.”
“God.” Troy Lee groaned and dropped his head. Rob laughed aloud, and Amy leaned her shoulder against his.
“So one Saturday night, I’m being a good boy like always, sitting in my ambulance, waiting on a call, listening to Jim bitch and moan, and here comes Em over the radio on our, er, private channel. He’d tracked down said hotshot deputy, and they were out on Stadium Drive. You know, that great, desertedstraightstretch.”
“Holy hell,” Calvert breathed. Cook, the second investigator, lowered his mouth into his palm, smothering a chuckle.
