he still worked the ranch as best he could. And when his aches kept him off a horse, he was busy meddling in everyoneâs lives.
The truth, though, was that she was scared to hear whatever he had to say, even more afraid that this time he wouldnât be so kind at all if he thought she had betrayed his grandson.
She shouldnât have worried. Either he didnât know about the baby or heâd taken it in stride. At any rate, he greeted her with his usual exuberance.
âLaurie, darlinâ girl, how are you? Pretty as ever, I know, because I see your picture in the paper and on TV all the time. You still singing up a storm?â
âIâm busier than ever,â she told him. âIâm right in the middle of a concert tour now. I wonât be back in Nashville for another month.â She figured it wouldnât hurt to reiterate that, in case the conversation was repeated to Harlan Patrick. Maybe heâd stay away from Nashville if he knew she wouldnât be there.
âAnd you enjoy all this wandering around, instead of taking the time to sit a spell in one place?â Harlan Adams asked.
âMost of the time,â she admitted. âItâs part of the job.â
âTell me about the next album. You finished it yet?â
âNo. I havenât even started. This oneâs only been out a couple of months now. I probably wonât get back into the studio until a few months after I get back to Nashville. Itâs a good thing, too. Iâve been scribbling down a few things, but I still havenât settled on the last two songs.â
âYou still writing them all yourself?â
âMost of them.â
âYou always had a way with words. I still remember that song you wrote and sang for me when I turned eighty. Not a dry eye in the place when you were done singing. I knew then you were going to be a superstar.â
âThatâs more than I knew then.â
Silence fell, and it was Harlan who finally broke it when Laurie couldnât find the words she needed.
âSo, darlinâ girl, you just calling to say hi, or is something on your mind?â There was a sly, knowing tone to his voice.
Just say it, she instructed herself firmly, then swallowed hard. âActually, well, I was wondering about Harlan Patrick. Heâs been on my mind a lot lately.â
âI see.â
Clearly he didnât intend to give away a thing without her asking a direct question. âHowâs he doing?â she asked finally.
âStill misses you, if thatâs what youâre asking. I suspect he always will. Never seen a man as lovesick as he was from the minute you left town.â
That wasnât what sheâd been asking, but in some tiny corner of her heart, she was glad to hear that he hadnât forgotten her. Talk about conflicting emotions. Her life was riddled with them.
âYouâve seen him in the last couple of days?â she asked, broaching the subject of his whereabouts cautiously.
Harlan hesitated. âNow that you mention it, his daddy did say that the boy had taken off unexpectedly. Never did mention what it was all about, though. Business, I suppose. You want me to have him call you when he gets back?â
Laurie sighed heavily. She had a feeling there would be no need for that. The timing of his unexplained departure had to be more than coincidence. If she knew Harlan Patrick, sheâd be seeing him any day now, as soon as he could get someone to give him her concert itinerary.
âThatâs okay,â she said, then added quietly, âthank you.â
âThanks for what?â
âFor not hating me.â
âOh, darlinâ girl, I could never hate you,â he said, his tone sympathetic. âThere was a time when you were practically family. As far as Iâm concerned, youâre as good as that now.â
âBut I brought so much pain into Harlan Patrickâs life.â
âAnd so much joy, too,â he reminded her. âDonât forget that. Sometimes the best you can hope for in life is that it all evens out in the end. You take good care of yourself and come see me next time youâre home. Iâll get the piano tuned, and weâll have an old-fashioned sing-along. I canât carry a tune worth a hoot, but itâll be fun all the same.â
âI will,â she promised. âGive Janet my love, too, will you?â
âOf course I will. You take good care of yourself, Laurie. Donât forget all the folks back here who love you.â
As if I could, she thought, but didnât say. âGoodbye, Grandpa Harlan. I miss you.â
Only after sheâd hung up did she realize there were tears streaming down her cheeks. For the first time in more than six years, she realized just how much she missed home. And when she thought of it, she didnât remember the little house in which sheâd grown up, didnât even think of her mother, though she loved her dearly. No, she remembered White Pines and the close-knit Adamses, who back then had been more than willing to accept her as one of their own.
And she remembered Amy Lynnâs daddy and the way sheâd always loved him.
* * *
He might as well have been traveling in a foreign country, Harlan Patrick thought on his first day in Nashville. Heâd taken off without thinking, without the slightest clue of how to go about tracing a woman who didnât want to be found.
On the flight, which heâd piloted himself, heâd had plenty of time to try to formulate a plan, but images of Laurie and that baby had pretty much wiped out logic. All heâd been able to feel was some sort of blind rage. Aside from a friendly tussle or two with his cousins growing up, he wasnât prone to violence, but for the first time in his life he felt himself capable of it. Not that heâd have laid a hand on Laurie, but he couldnât swear that her furniture would be safe. Smashing a few vases and chairs might improve his mood considerably.
Then again, it probably wouldnât. Satisfaction probably couldnât be had that easily.
After landing, he rented a car and drove into downtown. He found a hotel smack in the center of things and dragged out a phone book. It was then that he realized just how little he really knew about Laurieâs life in the past few years. An awful lot of it had been played out in public, of course, but that wasnât the part that would help him now.
âWell, damn,â he muttered staring at the Yellow Pages and trying to figure out which talent representative or which recording studio to call. He couldnât even remember which record label produced her albums, even though he had CDs of every single one of them. It was hard enough listening to her
