Country Crooner (Christian Romance) (10 page)

"I'm completely overwhelmed by the turnout tonight, and so thankful for the kindness and support that you offered to my father. He was a good man, and I’ve learned that he was very dedicated to the radio station and to this community. I'm hopeful that I can continue his legacy by sharing the good message over the radio. Thank you, to each and every one of you, for helping me to see how much the radio station means to this community and to this choir."

Chelsea
handed the microphone back to Kurt, and the audience started clapping again as she walked back to her seat.

Kurt motioned for everyone to quiet down, and then spoke into the microphone. "Now, we have one more song left to perform tonight, and this song means a lot to me personally." 

Kurt paused for a moment and took a deep breath, "Many of you know that I've been through a rough time in my life. That's in the past now, and I've become a new man. Over the past two years, I've chosen not to sing in public because I didn't want to get caught up in the spotlight again. But I've decided to take the stage again. Jerry Watson was a catalyst in helping me get my life back on track, and I’d like to do a tribute to him and the great things that he did for our community.

"This time it's different. When I was performing with the record company, it was all about me and the money that could be made. Now, I recognize that I have a gift from God to share with other people, and God has asked us to not hide our light under a bushel. My hope is that my singing talents can bless your lives. So, as a surprise, the choir and I have put together a song dedicated to Jerry. This song is an original. I wrote it last week, and the inspiration came from God. God deserves all of the credit, it's because of Him that have these gifts to share. I hope that you enjoy the music."

The room was silent; everyone was waiting in anticipation to hear the song. Many people in the audience had previously heard Kurt's music years ago when he was on the radio, but no one heard him sing recently.

Kurt cued the music to start, and the other choir director stepped in to lead the choir as Kurt stepped up to sing.

The choir did a wonderful job as backup singers while Kurt sang. The combination was a beautiful blend of melody and harmony.

The words and music were incredible, and unlike anything that
Chelsea
had ever heard before. The tune was unique, and the lyrics shared a message of hope, faith, and moving forward during times of uncertainty. It told the story of a hero who saved us through His sacrifice; a hero who loved us perfectly. The song talked about how we can trust God completely, even when we don't understand his plan.

Chelsea
's breath was taken away as she heard Kurt's smooth, silky voice echoing through the room. He was obviously comfortable on stage, and had an incredible talent to share with everyone. His good looks, combined with the beautiful music and the uplifting message of the song were enough for
Chelsea
to realize that she was staring at the man of her dreams.

While he was singing, Kurt looked over at
Chelsea
a few times and made eye contact with her. No words were spoken; but there was a deep understanding between the two of them that they both felt the same way about each other.
Chelsea
could feel a chill run down her spine, despite the warm room that they were sitting in.

The music touched her soul, and she felt a closeness to God that she’d never experienced before. The feeling gave her the reassurance that she had made the right decision to leave her job in California, and that she would be blessed for moving forward in faith.

When the song was over, the audience was on their feet. There was not a dry eye in the room. Everyone had been touched by the sweet message of the song that Kurt had shared.

After it was all over, people stayed for a while to help clean up the chairs and take down the stage. Many people approached Chelsea and Kurt to say hi and tell them thanks for the work that they were doing. Again,
Chelsea
heard many stories about the way people had been touched by the messages that her father had shared over the radio station. Hearing these people's stories excited her and she hoped that she could continue to uplift others through the radio station.

After everything had quieted down, Chelsea and Kurt found themselves the last two people walking out of the town hall. They both felt a sense of accomplishment and anticipation about what the future would hold.

"Did you ride here with Mrs. Bullock? I told her that I could take you home." Kurt motioned to his car in the parking lot.

"That would be great, thank you so much for everything that you did. I couldn't have done this without you."

They got into the car and started driving toward her father's house – now her own.

"Likewise, you’ve really stepped up to make sure that this radio station moves forward. Thank you just doesn't feel sufficient to explain the gratitude in my heart." Kurt reached over and grabbed
Chelsea
's hand, and their fingers intertwined into a perfect fit.

Chelsea
loved the feel of Kurt's fingers wrapped around hers, and she enjoyed the moment they were sharing. Physically, she was exhausted after packing and moving from
California
, plus the extra work she put in to help promote the concert. But at the touch of Kurt's hand, her exhaustion completely washed away and she felt as though she could stay there forever.

"My life has been completely turned upside down over the past couple of weeks, but I know that it's all going to work out. And I'm glad to know that you're by my side helping as we figure out this radio station."

Kurt pulled the car into the driveway of
Chelsea
's house, and turned off the engine.

He squeezed her hand and smiled. "I’ll be by your side, as long as you’ll have me, Chelsea Watson... I’ve fallen in love with you. I know that it's only been a few weeks, but during that short period of time, I've seen that you are an amazing woman."

"You’re a pretty incredible guy yourself, and it was wonderful to hear you sing tonight. My feelings over the past few weeks have grown stronger as well. To be honest, your singing sealed the deal for me. I didn't realize that I was missing something in my life, but now I know that I've been missing you."

Kurt leaned in and gave her a gentle kiss, lingering for a moment to enjoy the feeling. He loved the sweet scent of her skin and the way it felt to hold her close. Even though he had been quite the ladies man when he was on the road touring, this kiss was different from any other kiss that he had experienced. He felt as though this woman was unique, and there was more depth to her than he'd ever seen. Being with
Chelsea
made him want to be a better person, and he knew that she was the type of woman that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

Chelsea
gently traced the pattern of his shirt with her fingertip. "Who would've guessed that I would end up interested in a country crooner? Kurt, you've stolen a piece of my heart, and I don't think I want it back. I like sharing part of that with you."

Two weeks later, Kurt walked up to
Chelsea
's door at 8 o'clock in the morning. He knocked, and then walked right into the house to find
Chelsea
in the kitchen making breakfast for two.

"Well hello Mr. Country Crooner, welcome to work today. Just in time for a quick bite before the interview starts at nine o'clock."

Kurt smiled and sat down at the kitchen table. "Why thank you little Miss City Girl, or maybe I should call you Miss Born-Again Country Girl?" Kurt winked as
Chelsea
swatted him with a kitchen towel.

"You can call me whatever you want, as long as I'm YOUR girl."

They ate their breakfast and headed downstairs, where the radio station equipment had been set up. The fund-raising had been enough to buy they needed in order to run an online radio station.

It had been a lot of work to line up the initial interviews and get the scripts put together in the beginning. But between Chelsea, Kurt, and Mrs. Bullock they were able to get enough done to pull together the first month's schedule. All three of them had been working on the radio station full-time; Kurt stepped away from his work in the carpentry shop and
Chelsea
was spending her days working on the radio station and a few hours in the evening wrapping things up with her job back in
California
.

Chelsea
had used her online marketing skills to spread the word about the online radio station with other people who were interested in the positive gospel message. Even though they had only been broadcasting new content for two weeks, the audience had been growing rapidly and things were looking very promising.

A contract had been signed with the ad agency, and they had enough ad revenue to cover all of the costs each month. Since the overhead costs had decreased dramatically by moving everything into the basement, it meant that there was enough money to put funds into additional marketing, and that they would also be able to pay a salary to everyone working on the production.

Every day, a message of hope, faith, and love was spread across city, state, and country lines as thousands of people from all over the world tuned in to hear the message that they had to share.

Kurt decided to take a break from the carpentry work, and instead focused on the radio station with
Chelsea
. They were able to hire some of the kids from the choir to help with small tasks around the radio station, and everyone loved the fact that they were able to manage everything from the basement of her father’s house.

The basement radio station became a good reminder of the legacy that Jerry had started in the community, and
Chelsea
was grateful she had decided to move forward with everything.

She knew that there would still be hard times ahead, it was a lot of work to keep up with the crazy schedule of managing a radio station and looking for on-going advertisers. But she wasn't scared of hard work and knew that God would help her along the way. God would help her to find the best pathway forward and the people that she would need to talk to in order to make it a success.

*****

Six months later –

“So Kevin, do you have any questions about how to schedule the programs? Mrs. Bullock will be around each day in case you have problems. And you have Kurt’s cell phone number; if you need to use it, do so.”

“Mrs. Arbu…I mean,
Chelsea
, I don’t want to disturb you and Mr. Kurt while you’re on your honeymoon.  That just wouldn’t be right.”

Chelsea
chuckled at how flustered Kevin was getting.  Kevin was one of the older kids in the youth choir and had been helping out around the radio station since it moved into the basement.

Kurt and Chelsea had been married the weekend before, but because of poor weather conditions, the cruise they had intended on taking had been cancelled. The cruise line had kindly offered a replacement cruise, complete with a room upgrade and onboard services. It left from
Texas
tomorrow afternoon and they were flying down tonight.

Chelsea
had never been on a cruise ship and was looking forward to the trip.  The 10-day cruise package would take them all the way to
Honduras
and then back up the inside of the
Gulf of Mexico
for several stops.

She was even more excited for Kurt. Three weeks after the radio station had moved into the basement, a Christian music producer had shown up at the front door.  They had heard Kurt sing with the youth choir and had offered him a record deal, along with the youth choir as backup. 

He had been ready to refuse at first. He didn’t want to travel and perform stage shows anymore. The producer had compromised and agreed to let him pick and choose the venues he would perform at and to always allow
Chelsea
to travel with him. There was safety in numbers, and he figured, if anyone could keep him on the straight and narrow, it was his future wife.

Two days before the producer had shown up, Kurt had asked
Chelsea
to marry him. He felt like the luckiest man in the world because she had said, “Yes.”

Kurt came down the stairs just then. Giving a smile to Kevin, he then grabbed his wife and gave her a big kiss on the cheek.

“Did you get Kevin all situated in here?” Kurt indicated the sound room and booth where the microphone was located.

“He’s going to be great. And I told him to call your cell phone if he needed anything that couldn’t wait till we got back.”
Chelsea
gave Kevin a smile of encouragement and nodded her head.

“Yeah, Kevin, don’t hesitate to call if you need anything.  The ship has cell service and I spoke with my cell provider this morning and we’re all set for receiving and making international calls.”

Kevin shook his head. “I’m going to be fine. There’s Mrs. Bullock and many other people I can bother before I have to call you.” 

Kurt and Chelsea exchanged looks and then smiled at Kevin and nodded.

“Well, I’ve gotta get home. I’ll be here bright and early tomorrow, don’t you worry about anything. Enjoy yourselves; you deserve it.”  Kevin shook Kurt’s hand and walked up the stairs. A few moments later, they heard the screen door shut behind him.

Kurt turned back to
Chelsea
, “Well wife, are you ready to go relax for a bit. It’s been a crazy couple of months.  I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for some sun and good food. I hear they have a buffet open around the clock.” Kurt stuck his stomach out as far as he could, rubbed his belly and grinned.

Chelsea
was used to his antics by this time. She had learned so much about herself and Kurt in the few short months they had been engaged. Kurt had just returned from
Nashville
where he recorded the song he wrote for the fundraiser, which was his first hit single on the Christian charts. Their wedding had been beautiful and the sun had been shining;
Chelsea
had felt as if both of her parents were there and approved.

The radio station had never been better. The online presence had well over a 100,000 listeners worldwide and was adding new subscribers every hour. The advertisers were waiting in line for an open spot, and the radio station not only was paying it’s own bills, but had managed to pay of all of the debt it owed and also provide Kurt and Chelsea with a comfortable income.

Life was good and God had been very generous in his blessings. As Kurt and Chelsea returned upstairs to finish packing,
Chelsea
smiled as she passed the photograph of her parents hanging in the hallway.

She stopped and looked at the photograph of her parents, smiling into each other’s eyes. She gave silent thanks for having had such loving parents who set a good example for her as she was growing up. Her father had indeed left a great heritage in the community and
Chelsea
had every intention of living up to it and leaving a legacy for her and Kurt’s children to come.

With God and Kurt by her side, the radio station would continue to reach around the world with its message of love and encouragement.