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“What do I think?” Sienna exhaled. “I mean… I hope it was true. Because then at least you had a few months of happiness, assuming that you were happy with her, but I still can’t get over the backlash. Guys cheat all the time.”
“I think it was the gay thing more than the cheating.” Natalie sipped her beer, her already strange evening turning even more surreal.
“That wasn’t that long ago.”
“Eighteen years. Things wouldn’t be much different now either, so if that hadn’t happened then…” Natalie shrugged. “It would have at some point. I don’t think I would have stayed in the closet forever.”
Sienna sat forward, leaving her beer on the coffee table, her elbows on her thighs, her hands clasped. “It shouldn’t be like this.”
Natalie inhaled a shaky breath, a sad smile coming to her lips. “I’ve spent more time than I care to think about wondering how much easier my life would have been if I hadn’t fallen in love with country music. Any other genre… This isn’t an issue.”
Sienna lifted her gaze to meet her eyes, a wry smile on her lips. “I thought for sure you were going to say that you wondered how much easier your life would have been if you hadn’t fallen in love with Amelia Hart.”
Natalie’s smile grew. “Oh, that too, but like I said, this ending was always on the cards for me. It was just a matter of when.”
The rain drummed against the windows, the wind whistling, filling the silence that had fallen between them.
Natalie swallowed down the lump in her throat, her openness with a complete stranger taking her by surprise. “There was a part of me, in the years after that, that genuinely thought I’d done some sort of a service. That I’d saved someone else from the trouble of being out in Nashville. That maybe, in time, people would realize how crazy of a reaction that is, to be so willing to discard someone and their music for being gay, but…” She shook her head. “That’s not the way it worked out. I never did get a second chance, and I’m long forgotten now.” She laughed softly. “Even someone who covers my songs doesn’t know who I am.”
“Natalie…” Sienna’s eyes held her own.
“It’s fine.” Natalie pushed down the emotions that threatened to bubble up after all these years. It had been a long time since she’d felt this bitter about her career. “It’s ancient history at this point. And lucky for you, you won’t ever have to worry about any of these things. You’ll get your break eventually. I’m surprised you haven’t already. And once you’ve got a foot in the door… With a voice like yours? It’s only a matter of time until you’re topping the charts and selling out shows.”
Sienna stared blankly at her.
“Did I say something wrong?” Natalie asked, tilting her head as she searched Sienna’s eyes. “That is what you want, isn’t it? Someone as talented as you shouldn’t be playing their local county fair.”
4
Sienna felt like she was having an out-of-body experience. How was any of this real? Not only was she talking to the woman who wrote her favorite song, that woman was gay? And her career had ended because of it? Because her relationship with another country star became public knowledge?
Sienna was struggling to process everything that had happened that evening.
Her mind flashed back to the way Natalie had made her way down to the front of the crowd. Sienna understood the intensity of her gaze now. Natalie was watching someone perform her song, so many years after being erased from the country music scene. No wonder Natalie had been so transfixed. It probably had little to do with Sienna’s performance and everything to do with hearing that song again.
“Did I say something wrong?” Natalie asked, tilting her head slightly, taking Sienna away from her thoughts. “That is what you want, isn’t it? Someone as talented as you shouldn’t be playing their local county fair.”
Sienna held her gaze. “Yes. I want it more than anything.” She reached for her beer again, not believing that this conversation was even happening.
Natalie nodded. “It’ll happen for you. I’ve seen a lot less talented people make it. I know I don’t have any connections anymore, but I wonder if you were in the right place…” Sienna could practically see the gears turning in Natalie’s head. “I know a bar in Nashville. If you got on their list, if you could play there for one or two nights, I’m confident that you’d have someone handing you a business card by the end of the night.”
Sienna sat up straight, wiping a hand across her face. She should be over the moon right now, having someone like Natalie singing her praises, but all she could think about was what Natalie had said just a few seconds ago.
“I mean it, Sienna. You’re extremely talented, both as a vocalist and a musician.”
Sienna met Natalie’s gaze. She must have taken Sienna’s silence for disbelief. “Thank you for saying that.”
“It’s the truth. Plenty of people don’t get discovered until they’re in their early twenties.”
Sienna’s pulse swished in her ears. “Late,” she murmured as she took another swig of her beer.
“Hmm?”
Sienna made herself hold eye contact. “I’m in my late twenties. I’m twenty-six.”
Natalie flashed her a smile. “Either way, you’re young, and you’ve got every chance of making this your career.”
Sienna actually felt sick. “I should go.” She rose unsteadily from the couch, her stomach twisting in knots. She made her way to the door as quickly as possible, slipping her feet into her shoes before she could give it any more thought.
