Brock

Fame is very corrosive and you have to guard very strictly against it – Edward Norton

"Okay, what do you think of this?"

A pause as Caroline listened to the string of notes that Bailey played on the piano. Then, "I like it. Lyrics?"

"I was thinking something like this—" Bailey slid a piece of paper with scribbled words on it across the top of the piano towards Caroline who was sitting on a stool at the other end, a guitar balanced on her lap. "But I'm not sure yet."

Caroline read over the words that had been written, her mouth forming them but making no sound. Her light brown hair was unbound and strands of it kept falling into her face no matter how many times she paused to tuck it behind her ear.

From the corner of the studio, seated on a plush leather couch, Brock watched the two women work. It was clear that they had developed an easy rapport with each other and both had a significant degree of expertise though Caroline had a habit of deferring to Bailey whenever she wasn't entirely confident about something. Bailey was like a mentor to Caroline, Brock had learned. She'd taught the other woman to play guitar and write music and though Caroline had gone on to work and mentor under different individuals in the industry, the trust and camaraderie they shared was palpable.

Brock felt very out of sorts as he watched them work and all at once he was very aware of how little songwriting he'd actually done in his career. Frontier had always selected his music for him. Finding songwriters to develop pieces specifically for him. Often, they'd sent pre-recorded demos for him to listen over and while they welcomed his feedback, it wasn't always incorporated unless it would inhibit his ability to perform the song on a stage at some point.

Bailey, it seemed, had an abundance of creative freedom. She wrote most of her own music and though she often collaborated with the other songwriters at Eclipse, Bailey had the final say about what went on each of her records. She had sampled some of her new music for him, a collection of songs that ranged from heartfelt to dance to kill-my-ex. All of it was good and more than a few had the potential to go far.

The one song of Bailey's that stood out the most was one she hadn't even sung. It was framed on the wall, a simple sheet of white paper peppered with blue ink behind a piece of glass. Above it was a painting: a near-solid black image broken up only by a single dot of white in the dead centre of the page.

"What's this?" Brock had asked when he'd entered Bailey's studio.

He hadn't noticed it the day before when she'd given him the tour. Of course, they'd only stopped into the studio for a moment before they had found themselves on the back deck with cool glasses of pink lemonade, discussing his future musical direction.

Brock had walked over to the framed sheet of paper and read the lines of lyrics and chords that had been written out. His eyes skimmed the first verse and landed on the chorus.

Welcome to the void. It's dark inside and empty. There's nowhere left to hide. The world is grey, my hope is gone. There's nothing left, I can't move on. Welcome to the void

Bailey had looked up, her eyes glassing over slightly as she swallowed. "Nothing really. It's just a song I wrote last year."

"Is it on your new record?"

"No." Bailey had taken one breath. Just one single laboured breath. "I'm sure you noticed a bit of awkwardness last night when we talked about the rough year we had leading up to Noah winning that bull riding championship?"

Brock had nodded and he'd noticed the way that Caroline's fingers had clenched a little bit tighter on the frets of her guitar. "Yeah."

"It's a long story but the gist of it is that Noah got really hurt. As in, he spent almost six hours in surgery and was confined to a bed for a while afterwards." Bailey had glanced towards the music on the wall. "There was a moment when Noah's heart stopped beating. I was sitting next to him in his hospital room and the second that I heard the flatline on the monitor, everything inside of me just went silent. Empty in a way that I'd never been before.

"Even once they got him back, that feeling didn't leave me for another twenty-seven hours until he opened his eyes. I sat in a hard plastic hospital chair and didn't leave his side the whole time. I couldn't. That song – The Void – was born from that emptiness and fear. But once I knew that he was going to be okay, I knew that I would never be able to sing that song. It would never sound right. I'm too happy for it now."

"Why display it?"

Because he couldn't understand why she would want a reminder of death and dying plastered in this place of warmth and creativity.

Bailey had simply looked at him and it was if she'd aged a decade. Not physically but emotionally. There was a look to her eyes that was older and wiser than he'd ever felt in his entire life.

"It's a reminder to myself that things can be replaced. Houses can be burnt to the ground. Careers can be changed. But the people in our lives...They're only here until they're not. The Void is my reminder of that. To never let myself forget what's important in life."

Now, Bailey looked at him and that darkness and emptiness had edged away. Replaced by someone lighter and filled with laughter. She patted the piano bench beside her and said, "Come here. I want to get your opinion on this."

Brock crossed the room and sat next to her. "Shoot."

"You're going for more of a country-rock feel on your album so I thought we could bring that feel into the duet. It's a little different than what I normally do but I like to have a few tracks that push my normal boundaries."

Caroline slid the paper back across the piano. "We started working on this last year, didn't we? Finally decided to pull it from the archives?"

"What do you think?" Bailey asked.

"I think it'd be fun. It's definitely different than everything else you have for the album. Edgier."

Bailey handed the piece of paper to Brock. It was a rough outline of lyrics, half-scribbled and crossed out with dark jagged lines in some parts. His eyes skimmed over the words. When he got to the end, he looked up with a grin.

"This is awesome," he said. And it was, no exaggeration. A hint of giddiness and excitement infiltrated Brock's spirit. "When do we start recording?"

"Grab your guitar so we can start figuring out the harmonies."

Brock retrieved it from the stand he'd set it in earlier and moved a chair over towards Bailey at the piano. Caroline swiped a blank sheet of music staff paper and a pencil and began tinkering with a few ideas on the guitar she held on her lap.

They spent the next few hours on and off playing and harmonizing, working out the kinks in Bailey's duet. It was an edgy piece, not quite the love ballad he'd half been expecting. Bailey had written a story akin to that of Bonnie and Clyde – a dual perspective piece about two fugitives that they would sing opposite on while converging on the choruses. It was so different from anything that Brock had ever recorded and he found himself eager to be part of a true storytelling song.

Around lunchtime, they took a break. Caroline took charge of making grilled cheese sandwiches, entrusting Bailey only to make bowls of canned tomato soup to accompany them. As they sat around the kitchen table, blowing the steam away and eating warm crusty bread, Caroline updated Bailey and Brock about some of the other artists at the label.

Brock didn't know many of the people that the two women spoke of but it seemed that Caroline had been spending a lot of time with one young man named Corbin Davenport.

"He's another Tishomingo local," Bailey confided to Brock. "He's working on his first full-length album. I think it was about a year ago now that he had an E.P. be released but now that Corbin's got a bit of a stronger following, Julio and David wanted to push to get an album out."

"You know the guy?"

"Yeah," Bailey said as she pushed away the empty plate and pulled the still steaming bowl closer towards her. "We've worked together on a few things now and he toured with me as an opening act about a year ago. Nice guy. You should have seen him during his first few concerts. He was so green. Super nervous. I thought he might actually pass out but then the music hit and it was like a whole new Corbin. He's good. Really good."

"I look forward to meeting him at some point."

"I'm sure Julio will have you two work together at some point. He's pretty big on having the younger artists learn from those of us who know the ropes and how the industry works."

Brock made a mental note of that and committed Corbin Davenport's name to his memory.

Their lunch was interrupted by a cheery knock at the door. The curly-haired woman from the night before, Ginger, entered the house. She was pretty, Brock thought, but what was more intriguing about the woman was the way that Jay hadn't stopped talking about her on the drive back to their hotel the night before. From the way he'd spoken, it seemed that Ginger had to be the type to walk on water.

It was an interesting concept because, in all the time that Brock had known Jay, he'd never seen the man get frazzled or easily excitable over a girl. Jay was more the type to be fawned over, which happened frequently when the actor was out in public. On more than a few occasions, Brock had seen the frenzy in person and had been a little glad that he wasn't nearly as popular as his roommate.

Yet last night, Brock had witnessed Jay doing things that the actor's fans did when they were in close proximity to him. Stumbling over words, awkwardness radiating out of every pore, obvious staring...

If Brock didn't know better, he'd say that Jay had a mild crush on the girl. Most likely it was simply gratitude because the woman had been so accommodating for him when few rarely were but that combined with the willingness to teach him to ride had clearly left its mark on Jay Dawson.

"Hey," Ginger said.

"Hi, Ginge." Bailey smiled. "Want some soup? We have lots."

"I'm good. Just wanted to pop in and let you know that I'm here to take Jay for his first riding lesson. You mind if we use the round pen?"

Bailey waved unconcernedly, the curls tied at the base of her neck bobbing. She'd worn her hair down earlier, loose about the shoulders, but it seemed that the humidity had crept into the house for her hair had begun to expand over the last two hours. It had been tied back in an effort to contain it but it seemed that it was still threatening to escape the hold.

"Have at it," Bailey said. "Need me to saddle up the horses?"

Another shake of the head. "I've got it. Just tell me who I should use."

"Gypsy has the calmest temper," Caroline said. "Nothing really phases her. She's probably the best for him to start on before graduating to Rafiki or Fawkes. I turned them all out to the paddock this morning. She's the palomino. I'll come with you to get her."

"Thanks. See you all later," Ginger called over her shoulder as she stepped back outside. Caroline was a few paces behind her, promising to be back momentarily.

"Is she a good teacher?" Brock asked when they were gone. "Or will Jay end up on his ass?"
"It's possible he'll end up on his ass no matter what – but Ginger's good. She has experience with teaching riding. At the very least, she's not my brother. I wasn't kidding last night when I saw that Travis made a kid cry. To be fair, the kid deserved it because he was not listening to Travis's instructions, but it was still a bit of a rough experience."

Brock reclined in his chair. "Is Travis your only brother?"

Bailey shook her head. "No. There are three of us. Jake is the oldest. I'm sure you heard us talking about wedding preparations yesterday. He's the one getting married. After him, it's Travis and then me. I'm the youngest which means they're both always on my case and super overprotective. You should have seen them the first time that Noah took me out on a date."

"They didn't approve?"

"They did which was part of the problem. Both of them wanted to make sure that Noah didn't try anything stupid but they also liked him and wanted him to hang around. It was a delicate balance but now they're all pretty good friends." She chuckled but it was only fondness in her face when she spoke of her brothers and partner. "What about you? Siblings?"

"No, it's just me. I always wanted siblings, though. Pretty sure that's why I was so in love with Tallahassee for a long time. It was like having three brothers. Then again, once we found out what Trace did to you, it was like the whole fantasy I had just popped. Nothing felt quite the same after that."

There was no bitterness on her face as he might have expected. Only understanding as she reached out and patted his arm. "Well, if you ever want a sibling, you can steal one of mine. Fair warning, though. The Grant's can be a handful. And all of us sort of have a packaged deal. But hey, two for the price of one, right?"

A laugh bubbled up out of Brock's mouth. "That's more people than I bargained for."

"You know what they say about wishes and being careful."

"I do." Brock tapped his fingers against the table, smiling with good humour. "So, there's you and Noah, Stephen and Caroline, Jake and the unnamed fiancé, and Travis and Ginger...Did I get that right?"

Bailey nodded and scraped the bottom of her bowl with the metal spoon in her hand. "You did."

"Was Jake a rodeo cowboy too?"

"For a while. He still competes occasionally but he's finishing up his veterinary training so most of his attention has been on that and the wedding preparations. Travis is really the only one who spends a lot of time on the road competing now."

Brock said, "He must be good. Travis, I mean."

"He is...But I think it's because he's always been more comfortable with horses than he is with people. It's just how Travis is made, you know? Sometimes, I can barely believe that he got himself a girlfriend, even if it did take a little intervention on my part. I often think that he'd be quite happy on a ranch with the animals and no people around to bother him."

One word caught Brock's ear more than the other. He looked at Bailey with her innocent face and raised a brow. "Intervention?"

She flushed a little, cheeks and neck reddening. "I heard through the town gossip grapevine that Ginger thought Travis was cute so I told him and encouraged him to ask her out. That was about six months ago."

"They seem pretty happy. Guess your matchmaking was a success."

Bailey shrugged, a thoughtful expression crossing her face. "I don't know. Don't get me wrong, they seem to like each other well enough. Just sometimes it seems that they're both going through the motions. I think back to when Noah and I first started dating and we always wanted to be together. Talked on the phone every night for hours, hung out on the ranch, went for trail rides, and long drives in his truck. Even if there was nothing to do, it was better to do nothing with him than without him."

Brock absorbed that. She wasn't wrong but from the way she spoke and the glint in her eyes, Brock was sure that he'd never been in love. Not like Bailey was in love with Noah. Never had that soul-deep kind of relationship where that simple company was all he needed to be blissfully happy. He was pleased that she had it but also a little jealous. It was the kind of thing that he wanted in his own life.

"I'm probably just reading too much into it," Bailey continued. "Every couple is different. I just like to see my family and friends as happy as I am. So I meddle when I probably shouldn't and tell myself it's an act of love."

Deftly, she began to arrange the dishes, stacking the plates and placing the bowls on top before carrying them towards the dishwasher and began loading it. When her hands were empty, she looked at Brock. "Anyway, enough about my gossip. Travis would have my head if he knew that I was talking about him."

"I swear not to tell him." For good measure, Brock crossed his heart. It earned him a snort from Bailey who looked only amused.

"Thanks. Now – ready to get back to work?"

"Let's do it."

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Due to a bit of a crazy work schedule at the moment, I'm going to be updating this book every 2 weeks for the next few updates but will resume weekly updates shortly.

The next update is scheduled for: April 9