American Diva (28 page)

“You know, I always thought he had those tendencies growing up,” Hayley opined. At Audrey’s questioning look, she said, “You know . . . drugs and that sort of thing.”

She spoke as if she had any knowledge of Allen at all. When they’d been in high school, Hayley had been a cheerleader and very popular. Allen had been overwhelmingly shy and had hung on the fringes of his class beneath a crop of long sandy brown hair and baggy clothes. Hayley had no idea who Allen was, and the fact that she was trying to pretend she did made Audrey want to reach across the bar and strangle her. But instead, she said, as politely as she could, “I don’t think he developed those tendencies until later in life. But he needs our help now.”

“He’ll work it out,” Dad said jovially. “So how are you, kid? Have you had a chance to think any more about that race car?”

“
Dad
,” Audrey said wearily.

“I’m just asking you to help out, Audie,” he said. “I’m lining up sponsors as we speak.” He swiveled around on his bar stool to Jack. “Did Audrey tell you about my plans?” he asked eagerly, and when Jack politely shook his head, Dad launched into a tale of how he was going to be the next great thing in NASCAR.

It was all Greek to Audrey. As he talked, she got up and walked to the big picture windows. Just outside was the pool, and beyond that, a long stretch of field that had been burned a crispy brown by the early August sun. Next to the picture windows was a bookcase on which several framed pictures had been artfully arranged. As Audrey perused them, she noticed they were all of Dad and Hayley in various locations. There was a picture of Dad and Gail and Dustin and Logan, and one of Allen and Dad holding up a huge fish somewhere.

There wasn’t a single picture of Audrey. Her CD was sitting on the shelf below the pictures, but there wasn’t a picture. She felt like an outsider looking in. Maybe she was an outsider. She’d left so long ago, it was hard even to remember what it was once like being here.

An hour or so later, when Jack was looking a little glazed in the eyes, Hayley announced she hated to run out, but she had to get to her aerobics class. Audrey took the opportunity to bow out, too, saying she had to get back to Mom’s.

Just as Hayley was leaving, Jack’s cell rang, and he stepped aside to answer it.

Audrey and Dad watched Haley drive away. “She’s great, isn’t she?” Dad asked.

“Yes . . . but she’s younger than me, Dad.”

“So? Age is just a number, Audrey Jane.”

She nodded. “I guess it is, because you and Mom are the same age, only she seems so much older.”

“Well,” he said, hitching up his pants with a grin, “I work at it.”

Audrey smiled and hugged her father. “I have to go back, Dad. I need to see what I can do to help Allen.”

“Help him what?” Dad asked.

“Help him
what
?” she exclaimed. “He is on a path to prison! I swear it seems like no one cares about that but me!”

“Now watch it, Pumpkin,” Dad said. “Don’t come home and act all high and mighty with me. You don’t have any idea how much help I have given Allen. You have no idea what it’s like watching your only son slip away like I have. But there is nothing you or I can do about it. Until Allen wants to make some changes, all the treatment centers in the world ain’t going to help him. You just haven’t gotten to the point of understanding that like the rest of us. It is what it is.”

Audrey’s shoulders sagged. “You really believe that?”

Dad put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed. ”Hell, I don’t believe it, I
know
it. You’re feeling guilty because you live in another world, but I’m telling you, don’t. There ain’t nothing harder to change than a drug addict and tiger’s stripes. You can throw all the money at him you got, and it won’t change a bloomin’ thing.”

Perhaps . . . but Audrey wasn’t sure she was willing to throw in the towel just yet. “It just seems like there ought to be something I can do,” she insisted weakly.

“Have you asked your mother?” Dad asked.

Audrey groaned and shook her head. “She can hardly even look at me, Dad. I don’t know why she despises me so.”

“She doesn’t despise you, Audrey. She loves you. You just got to learn to look at this from Leanne’s shoes. She always wanted to get out of Redhill.”

“I’ve tried to look at it from her viewpoint,” Audrey said.

“Well, try a little harder. So what do you think about that car?” he asked cheerfully as Jack strode into their midst.

“I don’t have that kind of money.”

“Sure you do. Jack tells me you are playing to sold-out audiences and that your talent is out of this world.”

Audrey shifted her gaze to Jack and smiled. “He said that?”

“He damn sure did,” Dad said with a big smile. “So if you got all those sold-out audiences, then surely you have a little extra dough for your old man, right?”

“It doesn’t work that way,” Audrey said. “I’ll be lucky if I break even on this tour.”

“Ah, come on, now,” Dad said, his smile fading. “You’ve got money. I
know
you’ve got money to help out your old dad.”

“I hate to interrupt,” Jack said, putting his hand out to Audrey. “But if we don’t get going, we’ll never make that flight, and you have to be in Nashville today.”

They had no flight to make, they had their own plane, and she didn’t have to be in Nashville until tomorrow. Jack was trying to help her out.

Audrey put her hand in his. “You’re right. If we don’t go now, we won’t make it.”

“I don’t give a shit about your flight. What about my car?” Dad demanded, his temper flaring into the danger zone.

“I’ll have my business manager call you, Dad!” Audrey said, and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before allowing Jack to pull her away to the Cadillac.

Dad was still talking as she got in, his face getting red as he went on about something to do with his car.

“Remind me to have Rich call him,” Audrey said as they backed out of the drive.

“Remind me to cross Redhill off my list of vacation destinations,” Jack said dryly, and hit the gas, barreling down the road back into Redhill. Just before they reached the edge of town, however, he turned left instead of right and headed for the town’s cemetery. He drove inside, parked under a huge pecan tree, and cut the engine.

“What are you doing?”

“What are
you
doing?” he asked, turning to look at her. “You don’t need to be here.”

“No kidding,” she muttered, and slumped in her seat. “I told you my family is a piece of work.”

“Audrey,” Jack said, “I don’t mind telling you that I have never in my life been closer to a Jerry Springer show waiting to happen than I have been in the last eight hours. These people don’t need you, they want to use you.”

The moment the words were out of his mouth, she began to tear up. It was maddening to be on the brink of tears so damn often! She squeezed her eyes shut, but two tears slipped out nonetheless and she swiped helplessly at them. “Ohmigod, I am so embarrassed,” she said.

“Don’t be. You can’t help it.” He put his hand on her knee and squeezed it. “But I don’t think you are doing yourself any favors here, sweet cheeks. You’re only adding to your stress. Over the last few hours I have seen you start to shrivel up like a withering vine.”

“Really?” she asked sorrowfully, knowing full well it was true. She could
feel
herself withering.

“Really,” he said. “I’ve got an idea. The plane won’t be serviced for another couple of hours. You don’t need to be in Nashville until tomorrow. I know a place where you can go to really get away from it all for a few hours.”

“Ha,” she said, swiping at more tears. “I’ll give you a million dollars if you can find a place like that.”

“As tempting as that is, I’ll settle for just seeing you happy,” he said, and started the Cadillac again. “Let’s go say good-bye to your mom and Allen and Gail and get the hell out of here.”

Audrey had to admit—the prospect of getting the hell out of here sounded divine.

Mrs.
LaRue did not try and persuade Audrey to stay. She stood in the kitchen, methodically wiping her hands on her apron and nodding as Audrey explained she had to get back to work. When Audrey had completed her apology—in which she seemed to be pretty hard on herself, considering how they had treated her—Mrs. LaRue shrugged.

“I’m sorry you have to rush back.” And then she walked to the stove and put a pot on a burner, as if she was going to make something.

Audrey seemed to shrink a little. “Okay. I’ll give you a call in a couple of days to see how things are going, okay?”

“If you got time,” Mrs. LaRue said without turning away from the stove.

Audrey gave Jack a helpless look, and he gestured for her to follow him. Audrey hesitated; she looked at her mother once more and then suddenly walked to where her mother was opening a can of soup. Mrs. LaRue did not turn, but continued doggedly to open the can of soup. Audrey put her arms around her mother and pressed her cheek to her mother’s shoulder, then let go. “Bye, Mom.”

“Bye now,” Mrs. LaRue said without turning.

Jack worried they wouldn’t be able to find Allen, but Audrey knew exactly where to look. Off the main square, in a coffee house that she said had once been a pool hall, Allen was sitting outside with two other men, sipping coffee and smoking cigarettes.

Audrey got out of the Cadillac and walked up to Allen. He smiled. “Hey, Audie. Want some coffee? You guys know my big sis, Audrey LaRue, right?” he asked, and then laughed. “Yep, this is Audrey LaRue, the one LaRue who escaped Redhill.” He took a long swig of his coffee as his friends shook Audrey’s hand and gushed that they loved her music.

Audrey graciously thanked them, then turned to Allen. “Think we might have a word before I go?”

“What, are you going?” he asked. “I thought you came to save me from myself.”

“Doesn’t look like I can do that,” she said. “Can I speak to you a minute?”

Allen glanced at his friends, then nodded. “Sure, Audie. Whatever you want.” He slowly came to his feet.

Jack watched the pair as they walked to the corner of the building. They looked a lot alike, he thought. Allen shoved his hands in his pockets and looked everywhere but at Audrey. Audrey, on the other hand, looked so earnest and concerned that his heart went out to her. Her desire to help was visible . . . just as visible as Allen’s desire to be left alone.

In his lifetime, Jack had known a lot of guys like Allen—hell-bent on self-destruction, trying to erase something with drugs or booze. Someone like Audrey, who was driven to succeed, could not fathom how someone could be so motivated to fail.

Jack didn’t understand it, either.

After about fifteen minutes of Audrey talking and Allen shrugging, she hugged him and walked away. With hooded eyes, Allen watched her leave, and as she climbed into the Cadillac—waving at Allen’s pals, who were calling out to her—Allen shifted his gaze to the sky a moment, then wearily pushed away from the wall and walked back to his friends.

Audrey turned as Jack pulled away from the curb and looked back at her brother until she couldn’t see him any longer, then finally turned around and settled back with a sigh. “Get me out of here, would you?”

 

 

Jack did precisely that. About an hour and a half later, having made one stop at a roadside fruit and vegetable market, they entered the lake resort of Possum Kingdom, much to Audrey’s delight. “We used to come here when we were kids!” she exclaimed happily.

“So did we,” he said. This is where I learned cliff diving.”

“You’re kidding!” she exclaimed. “So what are we going to do, rent a cabin?”

“Nah,” he said with a laugh. “You’re Audrey LaRue—only the best for you, sweet cheeks,” he said, and pulled over before a length of chain that roped off a dirt drive. In a box beneath a rock, he found the key, and let down the gate. When he got back in the Cadillac, Audrey gave him a curious look.

“Just hold on,” he said, and drove onto the dirt drive. They bounced down the drive, winding around native mesquite and oaks, and finally came to a halt before an old double-wide trailer house. It had been cared for—the shutters looked to have a new coat of blue paint, and geraniums lined the decking around the front door. The lake was just below the house, a short walk down a cliff where steps had been carved from the limestone, to a boat dock.

Audrey gave him a skeptical look.

“It’s not the Ritz, I know,” he said quickly. “But the Price family has spent some happy summers here.”

Audrey’s face instantly lit up and she squealed. “Oh how wonderful!” she exclaimed with delight and got out of the car, hurrying up the steps to the door.

The place smelled a little; no one had been up for a couple of months. As Jack walked around and opened the windows, Audrey investigated the place. It was comfortably decorated for a lake house—a pair of La-Z-Boys and couch, a big flat-screen TV. The kitchen was surprisingly large. Jack, Parker, and his dad had spent one summer refashioning a sliding glass door on the back side, which opened onto a sizable deck. Over the years, the two weeping willows Jack’s sisters had planted had grown up and now provided shade against the sinking afternoon sun.