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He turned slightly. “J.R.” Then he disappeared into the crowd.
2
Present
Knox’s hair is soft as I run a hairbrush through her brown, curly locks. I’m jealous of my five-year-old daughter’s hair. It’s perfect in every way. My hair has always given me trouble, unable to decide if it wants to fall straight, curly, or wavy. I typically decide for it and straighten it every day. Sometimes, if I’m feeling adventurous, I’ll use a styling wand to throw a little curl into it.
“I’ll meet my dad tomorrow?” she asks me as I tuck her into bed. Maybe I’m biased, but Knox is beautiful. She has the kind of blue eyes that will stop a person dead in their tracks. Big and bright. Striking. Her skin is like porcelain. She clearly doesn’t take after me much. I carried the kid around for nine months, and she comes out looking like her father. What luck.
“Not tomorrow, but soon,” I tell her. “It depends on how things go. You know that your dad and I didn’t part on good terms.”
“Will he be mad?” She looks up at me from her pillow.
“If he’s mad, it will be at me, not you. Okay?” I kiss her soft cheek. “You’re going to stay with Aunt Kelley while I’m gone and have tons of fun.”
“Will you be okay alone?”
“Don’t worry about me, Knox Rose, you hear me?” I smile at her.
“Goodnight, Mama.”
“Goodnight, sweet girl.” I kiss her again, and then I leave her bedroom, closing the door behind me.
I find a beer in the refrigerator and then nestle down on my couch. I flip mindlessly through the television channels. My stomach is in knots as I anticipate tomorrow’s events. It’s been many years since I’ve seen him, and I can’t imagine that he’ll be thrilled to see me. Especially when I tell him that he has a daughter he doesn’t know about.
3
May 2001
I nearly choked on my drink when I saw him. The man that was just talking to me moments before was taking the stage. Slowly, like an idiot, I put the pieces together. J.R. J.R. and the Band. I slapped my palm against my forehead.
J.R. took a seat on the piano bench. Strangely, my heart started pounding, and I even began sweating. I had no idea what was wrong with me. I startled when Chels and Kelley bounced back to the table, collapsing into their chairs.
“What’s wrong with you?” Kelley asked, looking at me strangely. She’s sweaty, too. From the dancing, I suppose.
“Nothing. I’m just… I’m excited to hear the band.” I didn’t mention my encounter with J.R. I wasn’t ready for the judging eyes Kelley and Chels would have cast at me if I had told them that I had met J.R of J.R and the Band. Then again, I’m not sure why I felt they would judge me.
Kelley looked at me with a look of pure and utter confusion on her face. Chels cut her eyes at me, too. They both knew how much I didn’t want to go out to the Handlebar, and yet, there I was, suddenly excited to see the band. I decided to ignore them both, and I turned my focus to the stage to watch J.R. and the Band perform.
The music was like Southern rock with a more current sound. I wasn’t sure how a piano could be incorporated, but it was, and it was brilliant. J. R.’s fingers hit each key effortlessly, and his voice was smooth as he sang. I hadn’t expected this from the man in the ripped jeans with the ridiculously long hair, but he played with such ease that it was clear he was made for this. Making music came as easy to him as breathing.
I was taken by him, even though only a few sentences had passed between us. It felt ridiculous. Smart girls aren’t allowed to be completely swept away by a man they have only just met. But I was. It was happening right then and there. with every song and every note played. I was falling for a man I had only just met inside that tiny building full of sweaty, screaming bodies.
“I hear there’s a beautiful woman in the crowd tonight celebrating her birthday.” The music was at a standstill, but the crowd was still cheering. J.R. was standing at the microphone with his guitar strapped around his chest. His hair hung in sweaty, curly strings. He stood with a sort of sway, and he looked in my direction from the stage. “Her name is Rachel, and this song is for her.”
I felt myself flush. My face was hot. I was biting my lip when Chels and Kelley both turned to look at me with wide eyes. My own eyes darted nervously between them, and I didn’t know what to say. There was nothing to tell. It was a two-minute conversation. That’s it.
“What the hell, Rach?” Chels slapped my arm as though I had been keeping a secret. “You know him?!”
“No, I don’tknowhim. He just…he was talking to me while you two were out there dancing. I didn’tknowhe was J.R. of J.R. and the Band. I mentioned it was my birthday.” I was defending myself as though I had done something wrong. “I didn’t know he’d get up there and announce it to everyone.”
“You are embarrassing.” Kelley mumbles while taking a shot of vodka.
“Anyway, we have to stay for the whole show. He said he was going to buy me a birthday drink.” I felt proud and important but also a little embarrassed, too.
The band began to play the popular “Happy Birthday” tune, and I thought I would die from embarrassment as the audience began to sing along, too. I reacted the way most people do when they’re being sung to. I smiled awkwardly and fidgeted nervously until it was finally over and I could breathe again.
Chels and Kelley didn’t say a word as J.R. approached the table after the show was finished. He was wearing a sly smile on his face, and he was still sweaty from his performance. It was strangely attractive.
