And now…a sneak peek at
Joe felt the same nervous knots in his own stomach as he made his way down the corridor to the room where Maggie was working. For the longest time he’d sat in his car, wrestling for hours as to whether or not he should go inside. But as he looked down at the gorgeous chain on his wrist, he knew that there was no way he couldn’t be there. He couldn’t let her leave town without at the very least confronting the situation that lay before them.
On the one hand, he was scared that Sissy was right - that it was too soon after Grace’s death for him to get into some big emotional thing. Maybe this would be too much for the families to take: the Hammonds seeing their daughter being replaced…by her best friend, of all people. Sure, the children loved her, but to see her in any role other than Aunt Maggie? He was acutely aware of the fact that they might not be able to get their young minds around it.
On the other hand, for the first time since Grace’s death, Joe couldn’t escape the fact that he was starting to feel an intense healing, and there was no denying Maggie’s presence played an enormous role in that. For the first time in a long while, he felt a sense of virility and vitality that he thought had been buried with his wife. Maybe it was too soon to call it love; but maybe it was just the right time to find out exactly what it was. Maybe…
He followed the music down a narrow hallway then down some stairs to a large, dimly lit room that was dominated by a massive sound board. Tweaking knobs and subtly adjusting levers, Charles turned from his work to acknowledge Joe’s entrance and shake his hand. He offered Joe an available chair in a back corner as he whispered, “We’re just about done; you almost missed it.”
Joe smiled and nodded as he took his seat. There were several others in the room, including a man who sat next to Charles at the board. Periodically, the two would lean their heads toward one another to converse, but everyone else in the room was silent.
On the other side of an enormous window that stretched from floor to ceiling, Joe saw three men and three women, including Maggie. They stood in groups of two in front of three separate microphones. Some had headphones covering both ears, some had one ear covered and the other exposed. They sat on stools or stood on tattered Oriental rugs that spread over hardwood floors.
Rich, thick fabric that served both acoustic and aesthetic purpose hung from sections of the colorful walls and vaulted ceiling. Antique wrought-iron candelabras stood in various parts of the room to provide ambiance.
The singers’ harmonies were glorious as they wrapped around Deana’s simple scratch vocals. Joe marveled at how the engineers could simply push a button and in a moment’s time, anything that might have been sung incorrectly was erased in a seamless transition. He was amazed at how they could perform the same passages over and over again in order to create the sound of a choir three times their size.
Caught up in the shared excitement in the control room, Joe found himself smiling broadly and nearly applauded at the song’s triumphant conclusion.
“Alright guys and gals, that was fantastic,” said Charles. “That’s gonna do it for everybody but Maggie. I want to do some quick ad-libs on this last song.”
The other singers exited the room and left Maggie alone at her mic. “Okay, hon,” said Charles, “I don’t need to tell you a thing. We’re gonna roll the track, and you just do what you do.”
The music began, and Maggie closed her eyes. Five seconds into her take, Maggie was able to cast off any constraints of tension she might have felt. She was home, completely in her element. As the sounds emerged, whole and full from her throat, the entire room unleashed a cacophony of sounds that signified the one fact that was never in doubt: Maggie was a true phenomenon.
Placing embellishments wherever she felt appropriate, building from soft, yet passionate tones to huge, gospel-infused bombast, the ride that Joe once described as Maggie’s voice was taking everyone in that room to heights and depths that left everyone virtually breathless.
Joe watched as she commandeered the journey. His heart warmed not only by what he was hearing, but also by the beautiful vessel from which it came, Joe felt a sudden rush of inspiration.
Quietly making his way back to the hallway, he asked an abundantly tattooed young man where he could find Darla Dayton. The kid pointed behind him to the smaller of two women leaning against the wall engaged in light conversation.
“Darla,” he asked.
She was willing to bet her next paycheck that this handsome guy standing in front of her was the cause of Maggie’s distraction. “Yeah,” she said with a smile. “You’re Joe, aren’t you?”
Joe was afraid of any negative conversation that might have concerned him. “Yes, I am,” he said sheepishly.
“Don’t get your knickers in a twist, all I know is good stuff about you,” she said with a wink. Joe blushed.
“And there’s no need to worry, girlfriend’s had her poker face on for the most part all day,” she said. “But I’m not gonna lie - she’s been a bit diverted. Said something about having the best and worst night of her life last night.” Her inflection of the end of that phrase went upwards, as if she was hoping to glean some information from him.
Joe smiled and said, “Well, I don’t, um…date-and tell.” He punctuated his sentence with a wink of his own.
“You’re a stinker. I like that in a man.”
Joe laughed at the flirtatious moxie of the petite blonde. “I know you’re taking Maggie to the airport today, but I was wondering if I could talk to you about surprising her at the airport when she gets back.”
Darla was touched. Particularly in light of the slight despair she’d seen in Maggie’s eyes. “I think she’d love that,” she said with genuine graciousness. “I’ll not say a word.”
Just then, a muffled round of cheers could be heard from within the control room. The door opened, and people exited. “Girl, you are the Queen of the one-take! Good Job, honey,” Charles said.
“Guess they’re done,” said Joe.
“She’s got a few minutes before we have to head out,” said Darla. She handed him a slip of paper. “Here’s her return flight info. Go talk to her. I know she’d love to see you.”
“Thanks Darla. It was nice to meet you.”
“You too, sugar.” As he walked away, she looked at the woman standing next to her with whom she’d been chatting. Both of them offered low whistles of appreciation.
Joe waded through a sea of individuals to make his way back to Maggie. He stopped at the doorway and saw her chatting amiably with a striking African-American man. Joe couldn’t tell what they were saying, but if he went only by body language, it would seem that they had a very familiar level of comfort with one another. The young man touched her face, and she reached up to touch the back of his hand.
As she caught sight of Joe, he felt his own initial fears and ambivalence return. He managed a smile and strode across the room confidently. “You were amazing, Mags,” he said.
Maggie felt a rush of excitement shoot through every corner of her body as she reached out to take his hand. “I want you to meet Jared Fox,” she said. “Jared, this is Joe Buchanan.”
Jared’s smile immediately illuminated the features on his boyish brown face. “Very nice to meet you,” he said with a strong baritone. “Maggie, I’ll talk to you later. Are we still on for dinner when you get back?”
“Absolutely. Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas. To both of you,” he said as he answered his ringing cell phone.
Joe gave Jared a polite nod.
After saying good bye to Charles and acknowledging the compliments of the other musicians as they passed by, Joe and Maggie made their way out to Darla’s car.
“I wonder where she is,” said Maggie, looking around. “Oh well, she knows what time we have to leave. Did you enjoy yourself today? How much of it did you see?”
Joe hair was instantly flipped away from his face as he stood in the direction of the wind. He was no longer able to hide the mounting disappointment he was feeling and his expression began to darken. “I caught the last song, and that deal you did at the end. Like I said, you were absolutely awesome.”
Maggie noticed the shift. “Thanks,” she said tentatively. “What’s wrong?”
Joe stared down at the ground and shifted his weight from foot to foot, partly due to the chill that the wind had brought, and partly from nervous apprehension.
“Maggie,” he began.
Maggie’s heart began to sink. It was an all too familiar tone, a tone that for her had always preceded a supreme letdown.
It was the tone a 13 year old Jimmy Steinmetz used right before he discouraged her in his gauche teenage way from having a crush on him because he thought she was fat and ugly.
It was the tone that three different gospel labels had used right before they told her how great she sounded, but felt that she didn’t have the image to promote a successful singing career.
It was the tone Charles had used when she told him she still had dreams of branching out on her own.
Bracing herself once again, she immediately noticed how much more adept she was at handling the moment the older she became. Perhaps by this point, she was simply numb.
She looked him squarely in the eye. “Yes, Joe?” she said without an ounce of weakness.
Joe felt himself losing ground, and struggled to rally. He said her name again. “Maggie…”
Maggie folded her arms and raised an eyebrow, daring him to go on. His cowardice won…for the moment.
“I just wanted to say, thank you for this,” he said, showing her that he was wearing her gift.
She softened briefly. “That goes both ways. I loved what you gave me. I didn’t think it was appropriate to wear to a recording session though…”
They were both relieved that they were able to laugh, even if only for a second. But the wall in Joe’s mind was still high, so he chose to stay his course.
“Listen, about last night…”
“It shouldn’t have happened,” Maggie said, cutting him off. Better for her to administer the initial blow; she found that it hurt less that way. “It was a huge mistake. I mean, what were we thinking?”
“Mag, I don’t know what’s happening with me,” he said. “I do know you mean the world to me…”
“But…”
“That’s just it; I don’t know how to fill in that blank. I mean, I think I do. When I’m by myself, I can come up with six ways til Sunday as to why we shouldn’t get involved. Why I’m not ready to take that step…but then I see you…”
“Maggie, we need to get going in about 5-10 minutes,” Darla called from the main door of the studio.
“Okay,” she replied, turning her attention back to Joe.
He picked up where he left off. “Then I see you…and it’s like, everything just goes out the window.” He leaned in closer to her just as her perfume wafted his way.
“I understand,” she said softly.
Joe shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans. He was afraid that if he touched her, even put his fingertips against hers, it would all be over with no going back. He continued to speak from his fear.
“I just don’t wanna hold you back, Maggie.”
“Hold me back? How would you…”
“You’ve got so much ahead of you. I know that this is just a stepping stone for you. You should be with someone who can help you celebrate who you are and what you do so well.”
Maggie was genuinely confused. “Joe, what are you talking about?”
“You’re young. You’re on the road. You need someone with whom you’ve got more in common.” He pointed in the direction of the building. “What about that guy you were talking to a few minutes ago. Jake?”
It took Maggie a few seconds but then it dawned on her. “No, Jared. What about him?”
“Yeah, Jared. He’s good looking; you guys are in the same profession…”
Maggie held up her hand to stop him. ‘Hold up,” she said. Shaking her head as if that action will help her make sense of what Joe was insinuating, she said again, “Jared?”
Joe wondered if he was doomed to open his mouth only to change feet when it came to expressing himself to a woman. “I saw the two of you talking, it looked fairly intimate…”
“Jared?!”
“Yeah, I think we covered that…”
“Joe, I…I…don’t know how to even respond to that. Do you really think…”
Maggie scoffed again as Joe attempted to protest. “Do I think what, Maggie?”
“I have to go, Joe. Merry Christmas.”
“No!” he said as he gently grabbed her hand. “Do I think what?”
Maggie wanted to walk away. In truth, she wanted to run. But she wasn’t going to let him off the hook with a simple dramatic exit. She turned to face him.
“Joe, think about what you’ve just implied…in light of what happened last night.”
His face softened with immediate understanding. How could he have been so shallow to think that Maggie would connect with him so passionately in one moment, only to offer her affection to someone else not even twenty-four hours later? He knew that he was merely cultivating excuses for not getting close to her. He felt embarrassed and childish.
Just then, Darla came to the car. “Maggie,” she said. “We should get going.”
The tension between Maggie and Joe was obvious, forcing Darla to waste no time in getting behind the wheel and closing the door to offer them a few final seconds of privacy.
“Maggie,” Joe finally said. “I’m sorry. Really, I am.”
Maggie then said something that she would, for the rest of her days regret. She showed Joe no mercy as she sliced into him with her final comment. Her eyes narrowed as she practically hissed: “You’re right Joe. From where I stand, you’re about as sorry as it gets.”
His hurt was visible immediately. Maggie turned away and got into the car, primarily because she couldn’t believe how quickly she lashed out simply to wound him. It was something Richard would have done, and it disgusted her.
As he had done in his driveway just one night before, Joe stood in the parking lot and watched helplessly as another car took Maggie away.
Jared jogged over to Joe, a look of disappointment on his face. “Oh man, did Maggie just leave?” he asked.
“Um, yeah,” Joe said with a heavy heart. Jared motioned to a tall, sturdy woman with a deep complexion. She had a quiet beauty and uncomplicated sense of dress.
“Dang,” said Jared. “My fiancée just showed up, and I wanted her to meet Maggie.”
Joe blinked and recovered from his daydream state. “Fiancée?”
Jared glowed as the woman joined him and took his hand. “Yeah, Maggie’s gonna sing at our wedding in the spring, and we were gonna take her out to dinner when she got back so we could go over the songs, and thank her in advance.”
“She singing at your wedding,” he said, slightly stunned.
“Uh huh,” replied Jared. “I was hoping to catch her before she went to the airport so they could at least meet ahead of time. I’m sorry; I’ve forgotten your name. Joe, was it?”
“Yes, I’m Joe.”
“Well Joe, meet the love of my life, Diana.”
“Diana, like the huntress,” Joe replied, extending his hand. Diana gracefully offered hers as they shook.
“Exactly,” she said with a bright smile. “I hunted this one down for sure!”
Joe hid his embarrassment by laughing along with the couple. Completely floored, Joe set his gaze in the direction of the car and sighed. “Well,” he said as he fumbled with his car keys, “It was great meeting both of you.”
“You too,” Jared responded. “I don’t know how long you’ve been friends with her, but Maggie has been like a big sister to me since I moved here three years ago. She heard me sing at a showcase, and kinda took me under her wing. Got me connected with some cool friends of hers. Now I’m getting ready to sign my own deal. She even co wrote a couple of songs with me; didn’t charge a thing. She’s amazing, isn’t she?”
Joe found it difficult to breathe; it was as if someone has set a boulder on his chest. Somehow, he managed to say, “Amazing doesn’t even begin to cover it.”