Country Crooner (Christian Romance) (4 page)

Based on the things that she found in her father's office and bedroom, as well as the things that Kurt had said, she understood that the radio station really was an important part of the community. She felt bad that the people of her hometown were going to be missing something they loved so much, but could see no other options. She felt as though she was drowning in feelings of being overwhelmed, and trying to decide the right pathway forward. Closing everything down here as quickly as possible and then escaping back to the life that she knew in
California
was the only thing she could see as a possibility.

As her crying slowed down, she slipped off the couch onto the floor and knelt down to pray to God, desperately asking for guidance and peace in her life. She knew that she needed His help because she wouldn't be able to get through the next few weeks on her own.

As Kurt stormed out of
Chelsea
's house, all he could think about was the fact that she was so caught up in herself; she didn’t realize how much the radio station meant to the people of the community.

He felt bad about the things that he had said to her, because he hadn't gone to her house with the intention of offending her. Although, the things that he’d said were true, and he didn’t believe that he was out of line for pointing out the truth. He realized that his mistake was the fact that he had let his anger take over, he should have done better about being tactful and respectful in the conversation.

In the past, it was times like this one when he would have turned to the bottle for comfort and escape. A strong drink sounded nice, but he knew that drinking away his anger wouldn't solve anything. He was a new man, and hadn't touched alcohol in two years... and refused to allow himself to slip back into those old, destructive patterns.

Poor decisions had already ruined his life once, and he wouldn't let that happen again.

When he pulled up in front of his house, he went into his bedroom and knelt down by his bed to pray to God and ask for forgiveness. He knew that he'd been wrong to lash out in anger, and asked God for help in having more patience and understanding so that he could see the best way to help the kids in the community.

During the past two years, Kurt had been working on his own spiritual rehabilitation as he tried to get his life back on track again. At first, he was in a dark reality, without any hope for happiness or joy.

Life as a celebrity had been hard for Kurt to handle and his fame had gotten him caught up in the wrong crowd. It hadn't taken long for him to start living a hard lifestyle of drugs, alcohol, and fast women. His arrogance had known no boundaries, and he'd hurt people that were close to him as he climbed the ladder of success.

Eventually, the partying lifestyle caught up with him; he started missing rehearsals and underperforming at the concerts. He was too concerned about his next thrill, and didn't care about the music that he was performing. Things got so bad, that the record label cancelled his contract and let him go. At that point, he had nothing left, he had spent all of his money on cars, clothes, and alcohol, and he found himself back in his parents’ basement because he didn't have anywhere else to go.

At the time, he had felt liked a kicked dog, returning home with his tail between his legs. On top of being broke, jobless and homeless, he had also gone through several weeks of torture while his body ridded itself of the drugs and alcohol. His parents had been very supportive and had helped him through each and every trial. Kurt knew that without God and his parents, he would have never made it back.

After detoxing and trying to help around the house as much as possible, he had sunk into a deep depression. Kurt had turned his back on singing; he blamed it for his downfall and refused to sing, even at his father’s 50
th
birthday party. He told everyone the new Kurt had better things to do, even though deep inside he had no idea what he was doing with his life.

One day, Jerry Watson had knocked on Kurt's door and asked if he would be willing to help organize a youth choir for a radio performance they were doing. Kurt had been hesitant at first, but agreed to help since he had nothing better to do with his time.

Kurt didn't realize how attached he would become to the kids, and eventually that youth choir helped him to find his way back into the light. He volunteered as an assistant director for the choir, and supported himself by working in his dad's carpentry shop during the day.

Even though Kurt spent so much time with the youth choir, he refused to sing with them. Performing was the catalyst that had started him down a path of personal destruction, and he wanted to stay far away from that life. He knew that by itself, singing was fine. His problem was in the arrogance and pride that occurred when the performing went to his head.

After Kurt started working with the youth choir,
Chelsea
's father had taught him the principle of turning to God for strength in times of weakness. The two of them had many conversations after church, and Kurt listened to the radio show every day to hear the insight and inspiration that Jerry had to offer. Jerry became a mentor to Kurt, and helped him get his life back on track again.

Over time, Kurt was able to open up about his bad habits and shared with Jerry the day-to-day struggle he fought against the desire of drugs and alcohol.  One day after talking with Jerry about his old life, he had turned his heart to Christ.

Since his change of heart, he was usually pretty good about keeping control of his emotions, but hadn’t held it together while talking with
Chelsea
. The youth choir meant so much to him, and he couldn't imagine what would happen to the kids if they no longer had something to work for. He couldn't let them fall back into their old habits of getting into trouble around town.

He developed a personal relationship with each of the kids, and knew that many of them came from unsupportive family backgrounds. The choir was the only thing they had to look forward to in their lives.

Kurt knew his anger had alienated
Chelsea
, and that he would need to smooth things over so that they could work together on the same team. If both of them had the same goals for the radio station, then there was a possibility that the station could continue. It was a small possibility, but he knew he needed to try as long as there was a chance.

Kurt wasn't going to be able save the radio station on his own, and knew that he needed to win
Chelsea
's support. The death of her father had made her the new decision-maker for the radio station.

Kurt knew the caliber of man that Jerry had been, and he also knew that those traits had to be present in
Chelsea
. Even if she had forgotten what it was like to live in a small town, you could never completely remove small-town camaraderie from the heart.

Kurt resolved to take a different approach, and stopped for a moment to ask himself - What Would Jesus Do? He knew that Jesus loved everyone, and treated each person with respect, and Kurt knew that he needed to follow the good example. He hadn't been very Christ like in his conversation with
Chelsea
, but he vowed to do better and try to have a conversation with her again in a more civil manner.

*****

Chelsea
worked tirelessly throughout the week to clean up her father's house, and go through his financial information in order to decide what to do with his assets. Thanks to the help from Mrs. Bullock, she was able to sort through the radio station finances, and she realized that the picture was even grimmer than she had anticipated. The radio station was in a lot of debt, and there was no way she could come up with the money to save the station from foreclosure. She came across a letter from the bank that indicated they would be auctioning off the equipment starting the following week.

Even though she was hoping to have everything taken care of before heading back to California, she knew that she would need to come back to finish up the business that still needed to be handled. Some of the stuff just couldn't be done from far away, so her plan was to head back to
California
and get caught up in the office since she'd been away for a week. She still had her two-week vacation that was scheduled for later that month, so she'd fly back to her hometown for the holiday and use that time to wrap up her father's business.

Chelsea
's main concern was paying off her father's debts and making sure that Mrs. Bullock was taken care of. Luckily, her father had a small life insurance policy, and when that money came through it might help her get caught up on some of his smaller debts. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be enough to get caught up on the mortgage and still keep the radio station going... she would have to pick one or the other. Since the radio station couldn't continue without the building and equipment, it made sense that she should pay off the debts and then discontinue the radio show because she couldn't pay the mortgage. Plus, closing everything down would help to avoid accumulating more debt.

The week flew by, because
Chelsea
was so busy with de-junking, cleaning, and trying to make sense of her father's paperwork. Sunday, she decided to attend her old church before flying back to
California
on Monday. She wanted to have the chance to see her old pastor, and to say goodbye to a few of her neighbors before heading home.

The church services were beautiful, and
Chelsea
was grateful that, despite the hard week that she had experienced, she still felt close to God. During the sermon, the pastor offered words of hope and encouragement and talked about how God was the one that should be turned to in times of need. It was the perfect message that
Chelsea
needed to hear, and she said a prayer in her heart asking God for the support and strength she would need to make it through the next few weeks.

As she sat in the pew, she looked around and saw familiar faces in the crowd. Some of the people in the congregation had been attending for many years and she remembered seeing them in church when she was a young girl. The room was full, and as her eyes scanned the crowd, she saw the familiar dark hair that she'd seen a few days before - Kurt!

He was quietly whispering to his mother, and she could see a gentle look in his eyes and handsome, straight teeth as he smiled. He really was the epitome of "tall, dark, and handsome," and had the physical traits that she'd always dreamed of in a man. But despite his good looks, she reminded herself of the horrible conversation they’d had in her father's front room, and the terrible things he’d said to her. Good looks could never cover up an ugly personality.

As she thought of the conversation that she'd had with Kurt, her stomach started to turn and she felt the anger swell up inside her again. She didn't want to dwell on the negative feelings, so instead she pushed those thoughts away and turned her focus back to the pastor who was talking about the love of Christ.

After the sermon was over,
Chelsea
stuck around and talked with Cynthia Tippets, who had been a dear friend of her mother's. They reminisced for a few moments; sharing fond memories of her mother and father. It was nice to have a familiar friend to remember the good things about her parents.

Chelsea
's intention was to ignore Kurt completely, but despite her best efforts, she couldn't help but notice him out of the corner of her eye. She noticed his strong muscular shoulders, the way his hair was styled perfectly, and how he seemed so comfortable and confident as he talked to the people around him.

As
Chelsea
was wrapping up a conversation with one of her dad's old fishing buddies, she felt a strong, gentle hand touch her shoulder. She turned, expecting to see another neighbor to talk to, but instead found herself face to face looking into Kurt's baby blue eyes. She had never looked at him so closely before, and noticed that he was clean-shaven and she could smell the slight scent of cologne. The touch of his hand made her heart jump a little bit and there was no denying that she could feel a physical attraction to this man. But she quickly pushed those feelings aside, as she reminded herself about the way that he had treated her... and her stomach started to churn in anger again.

"I owe you an apology," he said. "My anger got the best of me when I was at your house, and I'd like to make it up to you. I’d also like to try and have a civil conversation about the radio station. Can I take you to lunch?"

Chelsea
was surprised at the unexpected apology and grateful that he was being kind. She wondered what had caused the sudden change of heart.

"No problem, it's been a hard week for all of us, hasn't it?”
Chelsea
looked at him for a few moments while she pondered his lunch invitation. Her wounds were still fresh from their last conversation, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to spend any more time with Kurt. Making up her mind she said, “Yes, lunch sounds great, I was just getting ready to leave."

"Let's go to the café down the street, I need to take my mom home first, but I'll meet you there in 20 minutes."

"Sounds good, I’ll see you in awhile."

The church had emptied out by this point, and
Chelsea
watched Kurt and his mother walk away. She knew that she had some time before she needed to meet him at the cafe, but she didn't have enough time to go home first. She decided to go for a walk in the woods out behind the church.

As a teenager, she had gone to those woods often when she needed some time to herself. It had always been a good place to hide away from the world so that she could pray to God and look for insight into her life, and that was exactly what she needed right now.

Chelsea
was grateful that she had chosen to wear a pair of flat sandals because she was able to easily navigate down the dirt and gravel pathway. She walked down the familiar trail, and found another path that she remembered led to the river below.

She carefully stepped her way down to the bank of the river, and found a big rock to sit on. As she took a quiet moment to think about everything that had happened the past week, strong feelings of emotion washed over her and she began to cry. She normally wasn't an emotional girl, but the stress of the week had caught up to her and she found herself crying almost daily.