“Is that what she wants?”
“She said she wants to open a club and sing there, plus bring in other musicians, kind of similar to the club we went to.”
“Okay. So what’s the problem?”
Liz waited while the waiter laid their salads in front of them, then she leaned forward. “You have heard her sing, right? She has way too much talent to waste.”
He picked up his fork and dug into his salad. “And you’ve been down the interference road before, haven’t you?”
She frowned at him and pouted her lips. “Ooh, touché, Ty. I get your point. But she’s my friend, practically my sister. I just want what’s best for her.”
“Probably better if she decides for herself what’s best for her.”
“You’re right. I was just blown away by her singing, and my first thought was that someone needed to make her famous.”
“I don’t think that’s what she wants. What she really wants is a place of her own—a bar where music is played. She’s not looking to become famous. She just wants to sing.”
“You do realize that may not be what she gets. Say she does open a second bar—a music club. And she’s in there singing. She’s that good, and word of mouth travels. Some music exec happens to be in there some night and hears her, and her desire for obscurity is over.”
He chewed, swallowed, and nodded. “That may be. If and when that time comes, she’ll decide if that kind of life is what she wants. In the meantime, it’s been hard enough to get her to go for the dream she has.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know, Liz. I’ve tried to figure it out, to talk to her about it. She won’t budge. My best guess is she’s either afraid to fail, or afraid to succeed.”
“Pretty broad concepts.”
“Yeah. Either way, I’ve tried to encourage her, but I’m stepping back.”
“Don’t do that. She needs you. She trusts you and your opinion. You’re the first one she sang for. That means something. If you let it go now she might never do anything with this gift she has.”
He took a long swallow of water and set the glass down. “I don’t know about that. She’s making progress. Look, she took you and Tara to the club and sang for you. That’s a big step in the right direction.”
“Exactly. And if you back down now, she may forget the whole thing. She needs encouragement—a big push.”
“I’m not much for pushing people who don’t want to be pushed. She’s made it clear she wants me to back off.”
Liz sighed. “Fine. I’ll let you make your own decisions there. I love that girl and want what’s best for her, but I know better than to mess in someone’s business again.”
Tyler grinned and patted her hand. “It all worked out in the end for you.”
“Yeah, it did, but it caused a lot of pain for a lot of people along the way. And here I go again, meddling. I can’t seem to help myself.”
“You aren’t meddling. You’re trying to help Jenna.”
“I want her to have what she really wants.”
“So do I.” He just didn’t know how to make that happen for her.
Maybe Liz was right. Maybe Jenna did need a little shove in the right direction.
He’d had an idea that he thought might help, but after their last blowup he’d discarded it, decided to back away from the whole thing and leave her alone about singing.
Now that Liz had told him Jenna had taken her and Tara to the club to hear her sing, things were different. She was opening up about her singing to other people.
So maybe it was time to take that next step, open the door for Jenna and see if she was willing to walk through it.
TWENTY-FOUR
IT TOOK A COUPLE WEEKS FOR TY TO PUT HIS PLAN IN place. First, he’d had his hellish road trip, but at least they’d played well and picked up four road wins. The team was in position to make the playoffs and he needed to start concentrating on the game, not on a woman who made him crazy.
But the woman who made him crazy was never far from his mind, so no matter how hard he tried to shove her into a “forget about her for now” place in his head, she was always there, lurking.
He’d made a few phone calls to some people he knew who might be able to help him out. Liz had been instrumental there, since she had way more contacts than he did. By the time he returned home, he’d been able to get the ball rolling. It had taken a few days and trips around town to look around, but he’d liked what he saw. Now all he had to do was present the plan to Jenna, which he intended to do tomorrow.