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At the time, Sienna knew not to question why her mother had been so definite about it, knowing that tone of voice, so Sienna had just kept the CDs hidden under bed, learning her favorite song from the album by bringing her guitar and portable CD player into the woods.
“Natalie,” Sienna said, that memory came out of nowhere. “Natalie Spencer.”
Natalie smiled shyly. “That’s me.” She studied her for a second. “I have to ask… Why that song? I haven’t heard it on the radio or anyone cover it in… Eighteen years?”
Sienna’s heart thudded in her chest, the realization that she was standing in front of the woman who made that song famous coming over her. “Did you write it?”
“Yes.” Natalie looked away for a second, her hair falling across her eye before she returned her gaze to Sienna, tucking her hair behind her ear. “You still haven’t answered my question.”
Sienna inhaled a sharp breath, full of some mixture of embarrassment and overwhelm, and as darkness set in, the constant chirps of crickets surrounded them, filling the silence that had fallen between them.
“I got a guitar for Christmas when I was eight, and I started teaching myself. I had lessons, but my teacher was only interested in scales and learning the most basic songs. I asked for a guitar because I wanted to be able to play the songs I heard on the radio, the songs I’d grown up hearing. And that was one of them. It was the second song I ever learned actually.”
A rumble of thunder in the distance had them both looking up at the sky even though it was pitch black now. A flash of lightning lit up the mountains in the distance a few seconds later, and cries came from the crowds who were already moving toward the exits, anticipating the rain, an announcement coming over the speakers at the fairgrounds to make their way to the exits safely.
“Where are you parked?” Sienna asked, knowing that most people’s cars were in the field beside the entrance, a twenty-minute walk away, while she got to pull right up to the empty field behind the stage.
Sienna felt the first few drops on her bare arms as another rattle of thunder cut through the muggy night air.
“Back at the entrance,” Natalie said with a bit of grimace. “Guess, I should start walking.” She pressed her lips together before asking, “Can I get your number?”
Sienna couldn’t stop her mouth from falling open, but then the sprinkling of rain abruptly changed to heavy drops as the skies opened up, and Sienna instinctively reached for Natalie’s hand. “My car’s just other there,” she said over the rain as they jogged over, Sienna’s case awkward on her back.
She flung open the backseat door of her modest navy Accord, sliding her case across the seats before hopping into the front, both of them pulling their door closed at the same time, a little out of breath and it didn’t take long for the windows to steam up as the rain fell even harder, hammering against the roof of the car and the windshield.
The fresh scent of rain mixed with Natalie’s perfume created an intoxicating mix. She was so distracted that it took Sienna a second to get the car started and the wipers going.
“Thank you,” Natalie said with a sigh. “I would be absolutely drenched right now.”
“No problem.” When Sienna could finally see and safely drive away, she drove across the wet grass, the car dipping with the slight hills and uneven ground. She got back to the main road and the traffic coming out of the fairgrounds was insane. If she drove back towards the entrance, they’d be there all night, joining the rest of the crowd trying to leave. “How about I drop you home and pick you up tomorrow to go get your car?”
“You don’t mind?” Natalie asked, running a hand through her damp hair.
“I’m off tomorrow, and I’ve got nothing planned. Beats sitting in that all night,” she said, waving to a man she recognized who let her into the line of cars.
“Okay.” The wipers whipped back and forth, the rain not letting up as they moved at a snail’s pace. “Thanks.”
“Where do you live?” Sienna asked as they came up to a junction.
“Are you from here?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m renting Bonnie Jenkin’s cabin. Do you know it?”
“Yeah,” Sienna said with a slight hesitation. She knew it. Her mother was friends with Bonnie and when she got married, she moved in with her new husband and put her cabin up for rent.They were practically neighbors if you cut through the woods.
But she couldn’t recall Bonnie or her mother ever saying that they’d rented it out. The last Sienna heard was that Bonnie was struggling to find someone who she felt like she could trust with her property.
And why had nobody mentioned that a former country star was living in their town?
3
Natalie met Sienna’s eyes as she parked the car in front of the cabin. They’d hardly spoken on the way here, because the rain never let up, and it wouldn’t have been easy to talk over it. Plus, Natalie wasn’t sure what to say. She’d had such a strange, yet enjoyable evening.
It had been almost surreal hearing someone perform one of her songs, especially one that meant so much to her for so many different reasons, but Natalie had embarrassed herself by assuming Sienna knew who she was. She couldn’t remember the last time she did that, and she hated being that presumptuous, but when Sienna sang her song, Natalie really did think she was standing in front of a fan. And the thought of meeting someone who liked her music again was thrilling.
But it hadn’t exactly worked out that way.
