“
I should get going, I have a few errands to run and then I’m going to stretch out by the pool for a while.”
“
Make sure you use sunscreen,” Carlee said. “We know these things.”
“
I will,” Adaleigh told her. “I enjoyed this a lot, thank you for rescuing me!”
“
It was a nice time,” Andy said.
When they got home Angel was there waiting and Carlee hugged her like she hadn’t seen her in years. “What’s for supper?” she asked.
“
Supper?” Andy asked. “We just finished lunch.”
“
I know, Papa, I was there,” she said and rolled her eyes. “I need time to get my taster ready for whatever yumstrosity Angel is fixing. I need to know!”
“
Yumstrosity?” Angel laughed and waited.
“
Whatever big’ol yummy thing you are fixin’ for dinner,” Carlee laughed.
“
Well then, that will be goat with pigeon peas and rice.”
“
Yum,” Andy replied, “island food!”
Carlee stood with her mouth gaping.
“I’m kidding, tacos!” Angel said.
“
Wheww,” Carlee said wiping her brow and walked out of the room as Angel and Andy laughed.
Later that night, Carlee curled up beside Andy on the sofa. “What do you want to do tomorrow? I took the day off,” he said.
“
What’s the choice?” she asked.
“
Whatever you want,” he replied with a grin.
“
Sea World!” she shouted.
“
OK, but that means we gotta get up early to bust outta here by seven.”
“
Breakfast at Cracker Barrel?”
“
Deal,” Andy said, adding, “You better get on to bed ‘sleepy beauty’.”
When she was ready to crawl in, Andy came in her room.
“Thank you,” he told her.
“
Thank me for what?” she asked.
“
Inviting Adaleigh to join us; I wouldn’t have shared my time with you if you hadn’t suggested it. Thanks for making me a better man.”
“
Oh Papa, you can’t be better, you’re good just the way you are.” She lay quiet a minute and finally said, “She isn’t so bad, not like she was before.”
“
Right,” Andy agreed.
CHAPTER FIVE
~ New Winds
A
daleigh was in town for another week. She had commitments and left on Friday. She and Andy never discussed their night together, but it didn’t appear that either of them was avoiding talking about it; they just moved on. She would be back in four weeks to start recording. Carlee would be back in school the following week and she’d be involved in dance and all the other things that kept her busy.
When Adaleigh returned, Marco and Andy started working with her in the studio, recording the tracks for the next album. They lined up musicians to accompany what they thought would bring it to life, and the process began. Angel would drop Carlee off at the studio on the afternoons that she would be staying with Andy. She would hang out there until he went home.
Carlee called Andy at the studio on her way home from school one afternoon, and half an hour later, she came in the door. She asked if she could talk to him privately. After they left to go to his office, Marco turned to Adaleigh and said, “She’s not supposed to be with him tonight. I know that face, her dad’s done something to piss her off.”
“
Do you know her dad?” she asked, and sat down beside him at the sound board.
“
I do, it’s sad. John’s a good man, but he’s bitter. It started with the cancer, but it was more because Beth went back to Andy. And then, before Beth died, she made it clear to everyone that she wanted Andy to remain in Carlee’s life. I think that just made John resent Carlee, because of the relationship she shares with Andy. Adaleigh, he adores that child, and he makes sure she gets from him what she doesn’t get from John. It’s just sad.”
“
I know, I see how he is with her. It
is
sad, she’s a beautiful child. She seems so grounded, and none the worse for all that she’s been through. Her dad will regret, one day, that he wasn’t there for her.” As she finished the sentence, Andy and Carlee came out of the office. Adaleigh could tell she’d been crying.
“
We’re gonna head home. Marco take over, Adaleigh, I’ll see both of you tomorrow morning,” Andy said reaching for the door.
“
Carlee?”
“
Yes ma’am?”
“
Do you need a hug?” Adaleigh asked.
Carlee looked up and smiled.
“Hugs are always good,” she said as Adaleigh wrapped her arms around her.
Later, after Carlee was asleep, he dialed Adaleigh’s number. “Hope it’s not too late,” he said when she answered.
“
Actually, I was thinking about calling you. I’m not being nosey, just wanted to make sure everything was OK.”
“It is now,” he said sarcastically. “I just don’t get it. She wants him to love her so badly and he just keeps turning his back. Next Friday is the Father-Daughter Dance at her dance school
; she asked him a while ago to be her date. ‘I’ll put it on my calendar,’ he told her. Kimmy and Liz took her shopping and she picked out a new dress. He would finally be there for something and she was happy. But today when he picked her up from school he told her he had to go out-of-town on business.”
“
Tonight was his night to spend with her and after their conversation she asked him to bring her to me. He just keeps pushing her further away. I don’t get it,” he said again. “He isn't going to the dance with me, Papa; he has to go to Atlanta,” she told me with tears running down her cheeks. I wanted to pick up the phone and say ‘Hey you stupid son-of-a-bitch, do you see what you do to her, over and over?’ But I held back, because she doesn’t need that from me, what she needs from me is…”
“To be her date,” Adaleigh interrupted, “and you will dress nice and buy her a corsage and take her to a fancy meal before the dance, because that’s what you do.”
“
It is, and it always will be,” he said. “I’ve been on the phone rearranging some things that I had on my calendar for Friday, because I will never let her down.”
~ ~ ~
On Friday Carlee’s school let out early, and as Andy prepared to leave the studio to get ready, Marco said, “You
are
going to come by so I can see her and give her a squeeze, right?”
“
She surely would not pass on a Marco hug,” he laughed. “I’ll see you around five.”
She was in her room with Angel when he came in the house.
“I’ll see you in thirty minutes,” he called out. He showered, dressed in a blue suit and went to the living room to wait for her.
Finally
, the door opened and Angel came out. “She wants to make an entrance,” she laughed. When Carlee came out of the room, Andy was holding the box with the wrist corsage he’d gotten her. When he saw her he had to fight the lump in his throat. She looked beautiful.
She wore a blue dress with tiny rhinestones on the bodice that looked like stars on a dark sky. Angel fixed her hair up on top of her head, leaving a few little curls falling loose, and dusted her with a little blush and powder.
“Wow, Carlee,” he said.
“
Wow is good!” she laughed. “You look pretty too! What’s in the box?”
He
removed the calla lily wrist corsage, slipped it over her hand and whispered in her ear, “To remind us of your mama,” he told her and kissed her forehead. “Ready?”
“
Yes sir,” she said and slipped her hand in his.
He opened the
car door for her and when he got in told her, “We’re going to The Bistro for dinner, but we need to make a stop first.”
He pulled up in front of the studio and she grinned. He came around and opened the door and took her hand. As they entered the studio she heard Adaleigh’s voice from the sound booth, and then heard Marco yell, “She’s here!”
Marco rose from the chair, “
Hey doll! Let me get a look at you. Wow!” he said.
“
That’s exactly what Papa said,” she laughed as he hugged her.
Adaleigh entered the room and took her hand and made her twirl so she could see her.
“Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! Come with me a sec, excuse us, gentlemen.”
She took Carlee into the room where her purse was. “I brought you a couple goodies. Did you bring a bag?”
“
Yes ma’am, it’s in the car.”
“
Hang on,” she said. “Andy, we need Carlee’s bag, please; she left it in the car.” While they waited Adaleigh pulled a pretty compact mirror from her bag and a tube of lip-gloss. Andy pecked on the door and handed her the bag.
“
These are for you.” She opened the mirror and stooped down beside Carlee, “Watch in the mirror,” she said as she dabbed the gloss on Carlee’s lips. “If you dab, it won’t be too heavy, just a little shine.”
When Adaleigh finished, Carlee
looked in the mirror and a big smile flashed across her face. “Pretty!”
“
Slip this in your bag, after dinner dab a bit on. I have one more thing; I heard your dress had some sparkles so a necklace would just take away from that, but a bracelet… now that’s another story!”
She slipped a stretchy blue and clear rhinestone bracelet over her wrist.
“If anyone asks, tell them they’re sapphires and diamonds!” she laughed and Carlee hugged her.
“
Thank you, it’s so pretty.”
“
Are you wearing perfume?” Carlee shook her head no. “Then we need just a mist of this, if you like it.”
“
Mmm,” Carlee said after Adaleigh sprayed a little so she could smell it. “Yes, please.”
“
Step back and I’ll spray you with just a little,” she said.
Carlee took her hand and they walked out of the room.
“Mr. Stevens, I believe you called her Cinderelly, the last time she was all prettied up. She’s ready for the ball.”
Carlee turned to hug Adaleigh, and Andy took her hand.
“Ready?” he asked. As he did, he smelled Adaleigh’s fragrance and it brought a smile that he didn’t expect. He looked over his shoulder. “Thank you,” he whispered.
“
Have fun!” Adaleigh and Marco called out as they left.
At the dance, Andy danced with Carlee every song and when they played “Brown Eyed Girl” told her, “This is our song…”
The next day before Carlee was up, Andy called Adaleigh to thank her, “That was awful sweet of you. I appreciate your thoughtfulness. If Kimmy isn’t available, Angel and Liz do the best they can. You made her night special and she loved it.”
“
I loved doing it,” she replied.
“
Kinda sneaky, though,” he chuckled.
“
Sneaky?” she asked, but he knew she knew what he meant.
“
That perfume thing…”
“
Oh, that,” she said turned the talk to the evening in the studio. She and Marco had stayed until after midnight, working.
~ ~ ~
In December, Carlee turned ten and there was a big party to celebrate. Carlee loved when her ‘big family’ was together. They were all there for the milestones in her life. It wasn’t just her relatives; Nanny and Pops, Beth’s Mama’s four brothers and their wives, and Carlee’s cousins, her ‘family’ also included Kimmy, her husband Lane, and Jenna. Andy’s friends, Roddy and Vince, and Dina and Nathan, were always at family gatherings, and Marco was always included. Her dad was an only child and his parents passed away when Carlee was younger and her dad…
well,
Carlee thought… He took her out to dinner, choosing not to attend the family party.
As much as she loved Angel, the best gift that year was that she didn’t have to be there if Carlee was with Andy. They all agreed that the two of them could make it on their own.
They finished recording the tracks for Adaleigh’s next album and Marco was working with her label to release “Forgiven” as the title song from the album.
Mistakes, you accuse
But y
ou’ve made them too
My heart you confuse
Forgiven renews,
But who forgives who
?
~ ~ ~
In January 2008, with everything tied up, they released the album. The title song held the number one spot on BillBoard for several weeks. Adaleigh’s career was off and running. She called after the album’s release to invite Andy, Marco and Carlee to the party.
“
The label is planning a big shindig in L.A. the weekend before the GRAMMYs. Can you come?”
“
I heard you’re performing. The music is good, Adaleigh, you should be very proud of the gift you are sharing. I’ll see what’s happening around here and get back to you.”
Andy called Marco and he wasn
’t available. He called Kimmy to make sure she’d be available if the arrangements they made with her dad fell through.
When Andy arrived in L.A. on Thursday, Adaleigh was at the airport waiting to take him to the hotel.
“
I’m so glad you’re here!” she said.
Andy watched her chattering away excitedly about the album, the party, her performance at the
GRAMMYs, and suddenly, he realized that he’d missed her.
“
I’m talking too much! Sorry, just so much going on!”
“
Nothing to be sorry about, I’m enjoying your merriment, it’s pleasant,” he said and looked away.
“
So, here’s the plan,” she said, “tonight is dinner with Tate Marrow, the record label president.
“
I know Tate,” he responded. “Tomorrow is the party, I guess.”
“
Yes, fancy, suit kinda party.”
“
I know how these things work,” he laughed.
“
Nothing planned for Saturday,” she said.
“
Wait, I know you got an invitation to Cleve Davids’ pre-party. I got one, are you not going? I was planning on it,” he said.
“
Well then, how can I possibly not go,” she laughed, “and Sunday… the GRAMMYs!”
For each event, Andy stood back and allowed her to be the belle of the ball. She dazzled, and he tried to remember the pushy, brash Adaleigh he’d met three years ago. But it was the Adaleigh he’d had ‘crazy sex’ with five months ago that he kept thinking about.
After the
GRAMMY pre-party, Andy walked her to her door. She reached in her bag to get the room key. “Are you coming in? I have a bottle of Cuvee on ice.”
He stepped inside
; his intent was to have a glass of wine, and say good night. He eased the cork out of the bottle and poured; they sat and talked a few minutes. After he finished his wine, he rose and said, “I should go.”