Ford nodded. “Especially to my mama. Dad was along-distance truck driver and gone from home a lot. He couldn’t believe that I loved the farm like I did. He often told me that he couldn’t wait to get away from a place where you had to watch where you stepped.”
Billy Joe leaned up and patted Ford on the shoulder. “My son hated the farm, but I was glad that he settled down close to Whitewright and that your mama let you come stay with us a lot when you were little. He used to tell me that the Travis Tritt song ‘Where Corn Don’t Grow’ was written special for him, even if it didn’t come out until long after he’d left the farm.”
Joelle glanced over her shoulder at her aunt.
“Same story.” Sharlene answered the unasked question. “Your grandpa left as soon as he could, leaving me behind to take care of the ranch and then to be there to help with our parents when they got old. Then one day, I woke up and realized I was too old to have a family of my own, but I don’t have regrets. Your folks were good enough to let me keep you, and you’ve been a good daughter all these years.”
“Well, thank you,” Joelle said with a big smile. “You’ve been agreataunt, and I mean that as in awesome, not just a title.”
“See there, I’m great!” Sharlene told the other two.
“And I’m great at lassoing calves,” Billy Joe countered.
“And I’m great at riding a mechanical bull. I stayed on for eight seconds. Both of y’all got bucked off in half that time,” Nita added.
Joelle went back to thinking about that first item on her bucket list. She really did not want to reach the age that those three in the back of the bus were and not have a family. She stole a long sideways look over at Ford and remembered the vibes when their hands brushed against each other.
No!She fought the urge to stomp her foot on the floorboard.That old crush has been buried for years, and there’s no digging it up even if the chemistry is strong, and that’s probably just on my side.
But,her mother’s voice popped into her head,you could start all over and see if there’s something still there to build on.
Chapter 4
Ford was glad that the sun was bright and there were no threatening clouds in the sky the afternoon that they rolled into Nashville. The bucket-list crowd, as he’d begun to think of them, would be so disappointed if they couldn’t have a jam season in a parking lot. The first one that Nita had found wasn’t right across the street from the strip. The folks wanted to have supper and listen to some music at one of the bars after their concert, so he really hoped that one would work out. Driving the bus and trailer was no big thing on the open road, but navigating narrow streets was a different story.
“Are we almost there?” Billy Joe’s question reminded Ford of the times when his folks were taking him to the ranch to spend some time with his grandfather and he’d asked the same question about a million times.
And when we got there, you were so happy,his mother’s voice whispered in his ear.
Ford couldn’t argue with that, not when the happiest times in his memories were on the ranch with his grandpa.So why am I kicking against the idea of settling down there?
“Just another mile. What are we going to play and sing first?” Sharlene asked.
“Hank Williams Sr., all night long,” Nita answered. “He would have been over a hundred years old by now, so it seems fitting that we honor him while we’re in Nashville. We’ll start off with ‘My Bucket’s Got a Hole in It.’”
“So, your bucket list has a hole in it?” Joelle asked from the front seat.
“It sure does, and the top item has done leaked out, but we’ll plug that hole and refill it when we get home,” Nita answered. “Are y’all going to play and sing with us?”
“We’ll be your groupies and hold up lights when it gets dark,” Ford said as he got in line behind a car waiting to get into the parking lot.
“The concert is over when it gets dusky dark, and then we’ll go have supper at one of the places on the strip,” Nita said. “After that we’re going to the Gaylord for a few nights. I’ve told them that we’ll have a late check-in.”
“No camping out?” Ford asked.
“Nope,” Nita answered. “We need a base camp where we can catch shuttles and the tour buses. We can’t drive the bus all over the place. And besides, the bus needs to be in a safe place. We’ll have it valet parked, and no one can scratch it. I don’t want to live with Sharlene if someone hurts her baby.”
“Thank you,” Ford said as he pulled forward when itwas his turn. “That way, I can see all the sights and not have to worry about parking this thing.”
An older guy who didn’t look to be much younger than the bucket-list crew took a step forward with a brochure and handed it to Ford through the window. “You’re ridin’ in style. I haven’t seen something like this in more’n fifty years. That’ll be ten dollars for the rest of today. I should charge you double, since you’ll be taking up two parking spaces, but this thing is too cute to make you pay more. I loved the hippie age, and I hate that I ever let my VW bus get away from me. It wasn’t painted up pretty like this one, but if it was still with me, it could tell some really good stories.” He winked at Ford.
Nita unfastened her seat belt and handed a bill over the seat to Ford. “Can we play and sing in the parking lot?”
The man tipped his cowboy hat toward her. “Yes, ma’am, you can. I’m here until we close the gates at two in the morning, so I’d love some live entertainment. You might draw quite a crowd with this vehicle and a bit of music.”
“Thank you, and we appreciate the discount,” Nita said.
Ford nodded in agreement. “Thanks again.”
