“What’s up, my man?” Charlie wrapped me in a huge hug and the normally quiet, sullen artist was all smiles and pep when I walked through the door.
“Man, she’s done a number on you, huh? I can’t wait to meet her,” I said, looking around for some sign of the new girlfriend.?
“She’s gone back to her hometown with Doyle for her baby shower. Honestly, everyone thinks Magnolia and I are nuts, but Tally and Doyle give us a run for our money where siblings are concerned.” A smile played on his lips. “Howlong are you in town for?”?
My heart skipped a beat at the sound of her name, but I shrugged it off and pointed to the fridge silently asking for a beer. Charlie nodded. “We’re leaving the day after tomorrow. Marc has a solo gig tonight for a charity, no openers, and then the show’s tomorrow. You should come.”?
He winced, then let out a long, dramatic sigh.?
“Charlie, come on, man, what is it?”?
“Opening night at Magnolia’s new place. It’s a soft open, so just friends and family. And before you ask, no, you’re probably not invited. And no, I was not under any obligation to tell you about it.”
Months before, Charlie and I had talked about me giving my stake in the family’s Trust to Magnolia. And as we talked over FaceTime, he let me know that not only did my momma give up hers, but my father did, too.?
Charlie told me about the old bed and breakfast that my parents had bought for Magnolia and my brother for a wedding gift and how Maggie was leasing-to-own the property from my parents.?
She’d not only built a bar on the first level, but had the second floor bedrooms for rent to guests, and the third and fourth levels she’d turn into an apartment for herself eventually.?
The property was massive—of course, my parents thought that Maggie and Dane would one day fill it with children, living happily ever after.?
At least one part of that was true.?
“She’s really happy, Lee. I think she finally figured out that she didn’t need anyone’s approval or help to make her dreams come true.” Talking about his sister always made Charlie’s eyes light up, but this time, there was something else beneath the surface. “Can I show you something?”
He led me to the back storage room, a space crammed with canvases, buckets of paint, and what I assumed was discarded trash—but for all I knew, it could’ve been his latest masterpiece.
Charlie crossed the room and yanked a tarp off a large framed piece leaning against the wall. I had to crouch and steady myself with my hands on my knees.
There it was, slightly burned around the edges but no less perfect—Magnolia’s portrait.
My throat tightened with tears as I stammered, “How?”
Charlie patted my back as I stepped closer to the canvas. Some of the photos had melted at the edges, along with a few pieces of handwritten lyrics, but the damage only added a rugged, hardened edge. Kind of like that night did to all of us.
“The fire started in the back but didn’t reach the barroom until it tore through the green room and office first. After I checked upstairs and found Pickle in the back hallway, I kicked open the door and grabbed it off the wall.” He turned to meet my gaze, but his eyes were far off, lost in the memory of that horrible night. “I don’t know if it was pure adrenaline or shock, but somehow I managed to get the cat and the portrait out. I guess I thought… if Maggie was gone, at least I’d have this left of her. She doesn’t know I still have it. She never noticed it leaning against a truck in all the chaos, and Eddie Donovan called me when he left the scene, told me they’d stashed it at the firehouse for me. I picked it up the next day.”
The trauma of that night—almost losing his sister and their family’s legacy—was written all over Charlie’s face. I struggled to catch my breath, my voice hitching as I whispered, “She’s beautiful.”
“She sure is,” he replied, his own tears choking his words.
“You’re giving this to her tomorrow night, I suppose?” I asked, finally managing to get out a full sentence without breaking down.
“I am,” he replied, his eyes dropping to his feet. “And as much as I wish you could be there, it’s probably best if you keep your distance.”
“I will. I’ll hide out in my hotel until the show and then I’ll head back to Nashville and figure out what the hell I’m going to do with my life now.”?
Charlie led me back to the front of the studio, stopping to pull out another round of much-needed beers for us. “How’s the album coming?”?
“Just about done writing the songs and then we head to the studio to start recording. We’ve decided to call itWild Fire.Of course, I had a lot of material from my short stint back home last year.”?
He pulled back on his beer and studied me for a minute. “Remember when we were kids, and you used to say that my sister was the kind of girl you’d write songs about? Do you think that’s still true?”?
Without thinking, I blurted out my answer, even though we both already knew what I was going to say. “Yes, I do. I loved her when we were kids, and I love her even now—more than ever, really. Even when we don’t talk, she’s there,in every corner of my heart. She’s the deepest part of me, woven into my soul in a way that’ll never change. She’s always been my everything, and no matter what happens, she always will be.”?
“You should tell her that, then. No surprises, no pretenses, no guitar. Just tell her.”?
I rolled my eyes. “I thought you just told me to leave her alone. And besides, I’m not invited to the big party, remember?”?
