Outmatched in October (Spring River Valley Book 10) (5 page)

* * * *

“You didn’t have to reschedule rehearsal on my account,” Claudia said when she arrived at Love Notes on Wednesday evening. This time Owen had texted her rather than showing up in person mostly because he wasn’t sure what he would say to her face-to-face. He was desperate to know how her audition in New York had gone, but he would have rather died than hear her say she was taking the job, so he’d avoided the issue by sending a text and scheduling an audition of his own.

Fortunately Taylor had already arrived, sparing Owen any awkward moments alone with Claudia. “It wasn’t really on your account. This was the best night for our guest.”

Claudia eyed him, but Taylor interrupted her inevitable question with a congratulatory hug. “Hey, sweetheart, how did your big audition go?”

Her smile seemed somewhat brittle to Owen, but he kept his curiosity in check and busied himself arranging sheet music next to Taylor’s keyboard while his bandmates
took off their coats and made themselves comfortable.

“It was good. They said they liked me. I think one of the partners only spoke Italian, so I can’t be sure, but he said ‘bellisima’ and I think that’s good.”

Taylor laughed. “Definitely good. When do you start?”

“Oh…” She looked at Owen
, and he pretended not to notice. “I haven’t made any final decisions yet.”

Good, Owen thought, but he said nothing. The part of him that knew once she had a taste of the good life in the city she’d never want to come back to the Valley warred with the part of him that didn’t want to stand in the way of the success she deserved. When he caught
Taylor eyeing him strangely he wondered if he might have made his derisive comment out loud. If he had, Claudia gave no sign that she noticed.

He was spared having to make any further explanations when the door opened
, and his guest for the evening walked in. All eyes shifted to the stunning redhead who’d come in from the cold. Her warm smile held only a hint of uncertainty no doubt caused by Taylor’s and Claudia’s confused expressions.

“Guys, this is Danielle Lennox
. She’s auditioning for us tonight. Danielle, this is Taylor Croft and Claudia Galvin.”

“Hi. I’m so glad to meet you. I’ve been coming to Colette’s to hear you play all summer. You guys are really good.” Danielle offered a hand to Claudia whose confusion had morphed into a choked expression.

She took the newcomer’s hand and managed to reform her features into a polite smile. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Taylor
seemed dumbstruck, and Owen might have found his friend’s slack-jawed response amusing except for his own prickly mood. “Taylor? Did we lose you?”

“I’m…sorry. Uh…It’s nice to meet you too…uh…”

“You can call me Dani; everyone does. You both seem a little surprised that I’m here. You don’t mind that Owen asked me to crash your rehearsal, do you?”

“Not at all.”
Taylor snapped out of his mild fugue and moved to open the door of the back room. “Why don’t you come inside? I’ll get you a seat.”

With a still uncertain smile, Danielle followed
Taylor into the back room, leaving Claudia staring at Owen, brows raised. “You never mentioned we were holding auditions,” she said as soon as they’d left the room.

“
It was a spur of the moment thing. She has a nice voice, and she’s interested in being in the band. I thought it couldn’t hurt to have another vocalist in the mix. You could sing together, you know, when you’re around.”

“Hmm.” Claudia lifted her chin and sailed past Owen into the back room. He followed her and found
Taylor had set up a microphone and an amplifier for Dani. The pair stood together, heads bent over his keyboard while he showed her some fascinating aspect of the equipment. He had no doubt Taylor would be amenable to Dani joining Love Notes, and judging by the steely look in Claudia’s eyes, she would probably agree too just because she wouldn’t want anyone to think she was too jealous of another woman not to allow her to sing with them.

Of course Dani would have to accept the invitation,
and Owen was sure she would. That would be one less obstacle to Claudia being able to pursue her dream. She wouldn’t be able to use loyalty to the band as an excuse not to accept a better offer.

He was doing everything in his power to help Claudia find the happiness she deserved. So why did she look as miserable as he felt?

Claudia sat alone at the kitchen table, her cell phone resting on the place
mat in front of her. The apartment was too quiet. She was used to having the small, second-floor walk-up to herself on occasion when Lily worked the late shift at the hospital, but tonight Lily wasn’t working. She’d been dating Quinn Preston, one of Spring River Valley’s Emergency Medical Technicians, for a few weeks now, and for some reason the place seemed a lot smaller and lonelier when Lily was out with Quinn than it did when she was just off at work.

Rehearsal had seemed different too tonight. She couldn’t argue that Danielle Lennox had a great voice and the type of fun
-loving personality that would probably make her an instant hit with Colette’s regulars. As much as she wanted to fault Owen for inviting the vivacious redhead into what she’d come to think of as their sacred space, she couldn’t. Dani would be a great addition to the band.

Who was she kidding
? Dani would be a perfect replacement.

It had been painfully clear that Owen hadn’t wasted any time looking for a new singer. He probably couldn’t wait for Claudia to be gone for good.

Dialing Jacob’s number turned out to be much easier than she’d expected it would be, and he picked up on the first ring, which also surprised her. Her voice deserted her for a second after he said hello, and panic made her consider hanging up.

“Claudia, is that you?” he asked before her courage returned. Damn caller ID. She couldn’t hang up now and remain an anonymous wrong number.

“Hi, Jacob. I’m sorry to bother you so late.”

He laughed. “You know what they say about New York never sleeping? It’s true. This is just the beginning of my evening. I hope you’re not calling to say you’ve changed your mind about the job.”

There was a still a small part of her that wanted to do just that. It would be so easy right now to turn him down and revel in the freedom of never having to go anywhere but the places she knew. “No…” Her response slipped out unbidden, and she wished she could take it back. “I just wanted to…say I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and I’m pretty sure the job is going to be a great opportunity. I don’t want you to think I’m not grateful for the offer, and I can’t wait to start.” Was any of that even true? It sounded so good coming out, so confident and genuine, maybe she should take up acting as well as singing.

“That’s great. I look forward to seeing you again this weekend, but if you’d like to drop in sooner
, you’re welcome too. My suite here in the building is always available.”

“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Actually, I’m glad you called. I wanted to remind you that you can pick most of your own songs. We have a few special requests that our regulars like to hear, but most of the sets will be your choice, so if there’s any particular music you need, you can make a list and e-mail it to me at the club website. I’ll see that Liam gets it and has everything ready for you.”

“Of course, I will. Thanks.” Each word brought her one step closer to never being able to get out of it. Why didn’t she just put the brakes on now? Because if she did, she’d spend the rest of her life wondering what could have been. Who g
ot the opportunity of a lifetime and turned it down because they were scared? If she let this job pass her by, would she ever have the courage to change her life? She had to do this or she’d never forgive herself. And Owen had been right to find a replacement for her. In his own way he was supporting her decision even if on the surface all it looked like was that he was kicking her out of the band.

“Claudia? Are you still there?”

“Still here, but I’ve got to go. I have a lot of stuff to do. I’ll see you in a few days.”

“I
’ll be counting the minutes.”

That remark left Claudia speechless once again. Was he flirting with her or just being sweet to keep her confidence up? “So will I.”
But for an entirely different reason
, she added silently before she hung up.

There. It was done. The decision was made
. She should have been ecstatic, but instead she felt slightly numb and a little nauseated. She had to get over this fear of change or she’d never get anything that really mattered to her in life. She’d already seen how her inability to take chances and move forward had cost her the relationship she wanted to have with Owen. She couldn’t let it ruin anything else.

* * * *

“I have to admit she’s good,” Claudia said while she and Taylor were dismantling the microphone stands after their second set on Friday night. She hadn’t made any official statements, but in her head, this had been her last performance with Love Notes as well as Dani Lennox’s first. The redhead was now holding court with some of her coworkers from her day job at a local law firm. Buck, Colette’s manager, was looking on, thrilled to have a crowd of big tippers who’d stayed from happy hour to last call.

“What?” Like Buck, Taylor seemed unable to tear his gaze away from Dani. She was pretty with her long auburn hair and amber eyes. She had an infectious laugh and a great sense of humor. As much as Claudia wanted to dislike her, she couldn’t. And the fact that Taylor appeared to be far more susceptible to her wily charms than Owen was didn’t hurt at all.

Grinning, Claudia reached over to help him untangle the microphone wires he’d been fumbling with for the last ten minutes. “Paging Dr. Croft. Hello? Are you in the building?”

“Yeah, I’m just…tired. It’s been a long night.”

“Uh-huh. I was saying, Dani is really good. I wouldn’t be surprised if Buck offers you a raise, especially if all her lawyer friends are going to be showing up every time she sings.”

“Yeah…oh, well. I don’t know. You know those corporate types. They don’t get much free time.”

“They know how to party, though. There must be thirty drinks on their tables. Buck has dollar signs in his eyes. But then again, you wouldn’t see Buck if he was standing on your nose right now would you.”

“Yeah, I…
What?”

Claudia moved to stand in front of Taylor, temporarily blocking his view of Dani and her friends. “Dr. Croft, in my professional opinion, you’re lovesick.”

“I am not.” He scoffed at her suggestion and seemed to make a concentrated effort to keep his gaze riveted on the task at hand. Owen had gone out back to load an amplifier in his car, and they wanted to have everything else packed before he returned so they could call it a night.

“Come on. You think she’s hot, admit it.”

“I won’t lie. She’s…attractive.”

“She’s a firecracker. And I think she’s perfect for you.”

Now he did laugh, loud enough to draw the attention of a few customers. He lowered his voice. “I don’t think I’m her speed at all.”

“Please. I went through this with Lily a few weeks ago. She thought she was too low
-key for Quinn, but everything turned out fine. Give it a shot and ask her out. What have you got to lose?”

Taylor turned his most clinical gaze on her and raised a brow. “Look who’s talking.”

Realizing she’d just entered dangerous territory, Claudia snatched up a coil of wires from the stage floor and set to work trying to look like she was doing something important. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Do you think I don’t know how you and Owen feel about each other?”

“What me and Owen? There’s no me and Owen. He wants me gone, as you can see by the replacement he found. I think if he’d met Dani sooner, I’d have been history months ago.”

Taylor’s gaze softened
, and he gently took the still tangled coil of wires out of her hands. “I don’t understand why you’re so shy. You’re gorgeous, and he knows it. If there’s anything you want him to know before you leave, you should just tell him.”

“Ha. Have you seen the two of us together any time in the last year? All we do is fight. It’s pretty obvious we can’t get along. I’m tired of
bickering all the time.”

“So don’t fight with him, just talk to him. He hates that you’re leaving
.”

“He doesn’t act like it.”

“Of course not. I hate it too, and I’m not too proud to beg you not to move to New York permanently. I can do that because I know I can’t stop you from doing what you want to do.
He
can.”

Claudia rolled her eyes. “How could Owen stop me from doing anything?”

Taylor shrugged. “By telling you the truth.”

She was about to demand to know what truth he was talking about when the man in question appeared.

He said nothing to either of them, just began
packing up wires and microphone stands. Claudia had known him long enough to know he was tired and irritable even though he wore a neutral expression. His hair had spiked up in the front, a symptom of his habit of running his hands through it when he was annoyed. The muscles of his jaw looked rock hard, and his movements were stiff and abrupt.