Spring, Month 4

The music only riled up Olivia's nerves and so she cut Wes Keats off mid-belt to keep herself from the breaking point. Her hands gripped and re-gripped the steering wheel every three minutes. Her eyes darted to her rear and side-view mirrors just as frequently as she sped across the California highway.

The small cluster of buildings that made up downtown were growing smaller behind her and the range of mountains just on the horizon was growing large as she headed east.

The air-conditioning was running full blast but Olivia could feel the walls of her car on all sides pressing in on her as her heart raced and turned that off too, opting instead for the free air that rushed in through the slit in the cracked window.

Olivia tried breathing deeply, four beats in, four beats in. But still, her heart raced, constricting inside her chest as she tried to force air into her lungs. She tried not thinking about what she was driving towards, focusing instead on getting there, concentrating on the speeding cars around her and making sure she was a safe distance from the car in front of her.

Nothing worked. Images kept flashing in Olivia's brain no matter what she did. Lights and loud music, her sister screaming at the top of her lungs, standing next to Olivia as she did the same. Singing along to an arena full of people to the songs that came charging at them from the band on stage.

Olivia especially tried not to think of that small venue, small among a mass of towering adults, being lifted on her dad's shoulders so she could see the performers. She could still remember the sweat that glistened on the guitar straps, the warm wood of the guitars glowing under the lights.

All of this Olivia tried, and failed, to not think about as she drove towards her destination.

The house was seated out in the wilderness, the only one nearby for at least half a mile in every direction, seated on a narrow plateau that jutted out of the side of the mountain. Olivia got off the highway and drove through winding single-lane streets for an extra twenty minutes before finally reaching the black iron gates that stood open, waiting for her.

Olivia was grateful for the near hour drive from her house out here as she found she could hold out her hand flat with only light tremors visible. Her breathing had slowed somewhat and her knees were slowly regaining their strength.

Everything hit the fan and Olivia felt herself start to fall to pieces once again as the large wooden front door was pulled open and her host for the evening stepped out into the warm late California evening.

Olivia froze mid-climb from the car, her eyes locked on the man approaching her. His smile widened and wrinkles appeared around his eyes as he squinted into the setting sun.

"Reeve Keller, right?"

He had his hand outstretched and Olivia took it out of habit, her conscious brain trying to thaw itself.

"Wes Keats. It's a pleasure to meet you."

He said his name as if she didn't already know it. Like she would have no reason to know it. Like he wasn't the lead singer of her favorite band since she was nine years old.

His Southern accent was lighter than she had excepted and the warmth and his casual manner helped her remember hers.

"Olivia. I mean, Reeve Keller. And it's a pleasure to meet you as well, sir."

"We can't be friends if you're gonna call me sir. It makes me feel old."

Olivia found herself laughing as he did as if she didn't have a choice in the matter.

"And which is it? Olivia or Reeve?"

"Olivia."

"Reeve just a stage name I'm guessing?"

"Yes,si- I mean. Yeah."

"I get that. My first name is Chester but my manager didn't think it fit the whole Southern Rock vibe. I've gone by Wes so long sometimes I forget it's just my middle name."

He spoke again as if Olivia wouldn't have known his real first name or even had had the chance to find it out. Like she hadn't been to several of his concerts or watched multiple interviews with him and his band. Multiple times.

"Same here. I mean, Reeve. It's my middle name. My father's name, actually."

"I bet he's proud of you. You're becoming a big deal, from what I hear."

Olivia found she had somehow climbed out of the car and was now standing on her own two feet. She found this out when she looked down at them at the mention of her dad.

"I'm sorry, about my manager," she said, changing the subject. "He wanted to come but he ended having a last-minute meeting."

"I asked him not to. I wanted to meet you on my own, get the real idea of you, not the image your manager's trying to cultivate."

Wes half-turned back towards the house as Olivia finally closed her door. She went to open her mouth about what a nice house he had when Wes caught sight of the old, neatly-cared for guitar case laying patiently on the back seat of the car.

"Hey. You brought your guitar!"

Olivia nodded and felt her cheeks redden.

"What brand?"

"It's a Taylor Electric Acoustic."

Wes let out a low whistle.

"Those'll outlive you if you take care of them. They certainly don't come cheap."

"Some kids save their whole lives to go to college."

"You saved to buy a guitar," Wes finished the idea for her. "Smart. I like that."

Olivia found herself standing straighter, meeting his eye for the first time, finding herself in the middle of a regular conversation.

"Come on, let me show you around. And bring your guitar."

Guitar case in hand, Olivia followed Wes as he headed back into the house.

It was just as beautiful inside as it was outside, a low one-story building decorated in the aesthetic of the Southwest. There was a big kitchen that led into a large family room, with hallways on either side that presumably led to the bedrooms. Two women stood among the mild chaos of the kitchen as they prepared dinner, the flavors of what sure to be taco night, floating in the air, greeting Wes and Olivia as they entered.

Wes indicated where Olivia could put her guitar as one of the women paused in her work to greet her guest. She wiped her hands on a towel first then hung it over her shoulder as she stretched out her hand towards Olivia.

"Olivia, it is so nice to meet you."

Wes's wife was prettier in real life than she was in the photos Olivia had seen of her. Her accent was thicker than Wes's but her voice came out like honey, warm and inviting.

"I am such a fan. When I heard your music, I told Wes he had to invite you to dinner, if only for my sake."

"Olivia, this is my wife, Reagan."

Olivia shook Reagan's hand, surprised at the firm grip.

"Thank you for inviting me. I haven't had a home-cooked meal since I moved out here. You have a lovely home."

"Thanks! It's not mine. This is just a rental but I appreciate the thought. And I'm glad we can invite you to our little family gathering this evening. Wes, we still have a while, why don't you show Olivia around? And get the kids. They're playing outside."

Olivia was introduced to Faye, Wes's sister-in-law, as they headed towards the large glass doors that led to the patio, opened wide to let a breeze in to help ease the heat caused by the preparations for dinner.

Wes led Olivia past a long dining table set out on the patio and out onto a long lawn that extended from the house out to a smaller house on the other end, right where the mountain started again. On either side of the lawn were two similar-sized houses and a long narrow pool that took up a portion of the yard on the right.

Two little kids ran at Wes as he stepped out onto the lawn, responding to his whistle call. The smallest of the two, a little girl no older than three, climbed into his arms. She had the same bright eyes as Wes but her mother's coloring.

"Olivia, this here is my little girl, Cleo. And this rascal is my nephew, Asher. Asher, your momma's calling. Better run inside and see if she needs help."

Faye was leaning out of the patio door calling for him and off he ran like a bullet towards the house. Cleo held tight to her dad's neck and joined the two of them for the tour.

Wes indicated which house was the pool house and which was the guest house meant for a nanny presumably, and then explained why Reagan refused to get one, determined to do everything herself.

"And this.... is where the magic happens."

Wes slid open thick wooden doors and stepped into the house that sat on the opposite end of the lawn. It had no windows, or it did but they had been covered up with sound-proof padding. It was dark and warm among the wooden walls and what floor space wasn't taken up with instrument was dedicated to long desks filled with computers and production equipment.

It was Olivia's turn to whistle and the sound reverberated off of the walls.

Wes smiled.

"I thought you might like it. Wanna hear what I'm working on?"

"Yeah. Of course. Didn't you guys just release an album?"

Olivia knew because she had listened to it on repeat and it had come out the same day her own album was released.

Wes shrugged.

"I'm always working on something."

Wes took a seat before the largest desk and pushed a spare rolling chair in Olivia's direction for her to take. Cleo sat patiently in her father's lap as he pulled up his work and Olivia looked all around her,

committing everything she saw to memory so she could report it all back to Dani, the only person she knew who was as big a Faded Relics fan as she was.

Reagan called them for dinner eventually and Wes asked Olivia what she thought of what he was working on as they returned. Olivia tried to find more imaginative words other than "brilliant" and "incredible", words that meant something or offered real feedback. Wes was laughing at Olivia's stunned and stammering reply when they re-entered the house.

Three additional people had arrived while they were in the studio and all introduced themselves to Olivia even though she knew their names already. Wylie and Caleb, the other two members of Faded Relics, and Quinn, Caleb's wife, greeted her with warm smiles.

"Wylie and Caleb have their own rented houses down the road. You have to start expanding the space you rent when you expand your family. Back in the old days, the three of us would have been happy with a studio apartment in West Hollywood as long as there was a working shower and a place to sleep."

"Thank God those days are over," Wylie interjected.

Everyone laughed and Olivia was struck by how much older she found the three members of the band. But older in a way that made them real. Their enthusiasm on stage made them timeless and the band photos made sure they looked their best. But in real life, all three members were nearing the end of their thirties, with real signs of aging.

Wylie, Wes's younger brother and the youngest of the three, had wrinkles that matched his brother's but the ends of his hair hadn't yet started lightening to gray like Caleb's was starting to. Olivia found they reminded her of Hank and venue managers and event coordinators that she had gotten to know when starting her career. With each passing second, they became less the members of her favorite band and more fellow musicians and peers.

It was a hard pill to swallow, the idea that she was now playing on the same field as Faded Relics. She found herself speechless a few times during the meal when stories were passed back and forth across the table. It wasn't until Caleb asked Olivia for her worst performance that the pill finally went down and Olivia felt like part of the club.

It helped that she had a great worst performance story.

"The Hudson River Music Festival asked me to fill an early slot in the lineup. At the time it was the biggest honor I had even received. It felt like a massive stepping stone, my big break."

The three musicians nodded along with the sentiment, surely having their own version of her story popping up in their mind.

"I drove through the night to get there in time for my call time. It turned out there had been a clerical error. The festival didn't even open until after my set. They apologized and offered me free admission to the festival to say sorry but I had driven five hours to be there, I wasn't just going home. Not without performing. So I performed to an empty field, for the crew that was working to set up the fair. The music was the only sound other than the usual noise of construction."

"Did anyone stop by to watch?" Wylie asked.

"I got a few construction workers, crewmen, ticket attendants, to stop and listen for a few minutes. But they all had work to do and eventually moved one."

"But hey! You played the Hudson River Music Festival!" Reagan said.

"Yeah. Too bad no one was there to hear me."

The table laughed along with Olivia and the disappointment of that day was far from her mind. It seemed funny sitting at a table with the Faded Relics.

Cleo fell asleep on Wes's shoulder and Asher was trying not to fall asleep in his chair. Reagan took Cleo from Wes and put her to bed while Wylie did the same with Asher.

Everyone helped clear and clean up and afterward they rejoined among the various couches and chairs in the living room. Olivia found herself sitting near where she had placed her guitar at the beginning of the evening.

"Will you play for us?"

Reagan was the one who asked, sitting on Wes's lap with her head dropped down on his shoulder. Olivia looked to the rest of the crowd for confirmation.

"I'd love to hear what you've got," Caleb seconded.

Olivia swallowed past the lump in her throat as her voice suddenly went hoarse. She coughed to regain volume and asked for requests.

"'When We Were Young' was my favorite," Reagan offered.

Caleb and Wylie's wives also said that that was their favorite as well. Olivia's CD had apparently been passed around to everyone in preparation for her visit.

Olivia tried to think about how her song went, acutely aware of the eyes watching her and who exactly they belonged to. Eventually, after two false starts, she found her chords and her voice.

A long silence followed after Olivia's last chord and Olivia only dared look up when someone made a sound. She found Reagan wiping away a stray tear and caught Wylie's wife coughing to cover up a sniffle.

Even Wes's voice seemed near to cracking when he finally spoke.

"Holy crap, kid."

Caleb and Wylie couldn't find the words and silently agreed with nods.

The somber mood lingered for only a second as Wes suggested a jam session, begging Reagan to join in and sing with them. She promised them three songs and then she was off to bed and a cheer rang out from the group. An extra guitar and mandolin suddenly appeared among them and Wes looked to Olivia for a suggestion.

"I like your guys' new song, 'Hard Love'."

The three men all looked at her for a long minute.

"Are you saying your fan?"

Caleb was barely holding back a laugh when he asked.

Olivia tried shrugging to seem nonchalant.

"You could say that."

The three men shared knowing looks and Wylie kicked them off with the opening chords on his mandolin.

Olivia joined Wes on guitar, knowing the chords from having learned the song on her own during her free time and thankful that she had.

Her voice melded with Wes's and Reagan's as they sang melody, Caleb and Wylie offering harmonies. The house rang with music that poured through the open windows and out into the night beyond.

Olivia left when Wylie and Caleb took their wives and Asher and headed home. They both paused before leaving to shake Olivia's hand and make sure she knew what a great time they had altogether that night and that they looked forward to seeing her soon, excited to see her and her music take off.

Olivia simply nodded under the weight of their compliments and shook their hands with silent nods. That left her and Wes standing by her car. Reagan had already headed to bed.

Far off in the distance glowing in the dark, the small clusters of buildings that made up downtown Los Angeles glowed in the night, the ocean just beyond reflecting the light.

Olivia understood the decision to rent such a place so far away from everything. There would be no resemblance to home or family if you moved closer. The distance allowed Wes and his family to lead a normal life while working. Olivia saw in an instant what she hoped her life would look like when she was his age when she had lived through the length of career he had.

"Thank you so much for inviting me to dinner. I haven't had a night like that since back home."

"It's important, for people who work in our line of work, to find a community, real people and friends they can trust. You'll never find stability until you do. This job moves too fast, things change too quickly. You gotta have people you like, that you get along with, to have your back."

Olivia nodded, letting his words soak in. Her little house back in the center of the city all of the sudden felt lonely and cold. Empty. She missed her mom and Dani.

"Olivia, I asked you here because I think you're incredibly talented. But talent isn't all there is in this business. I'm inviting you on tour because I think you'll fit in with us, with our family."

"Wait, what?!"

Olivia's words echoed off the mountain walls and Wes's laughter followed them.

"You should see your face!"

"Are you serious? Like, wait what? You're what?"

"The band already decided. We would like you to be our opening act when we head out on the road this fall."

"I mean, um, well..."

"It's a lot to take in! I know. Trust me! I almost fainted when we got our first opening slot. When your manager sent over your CD and asked us to consider you for the slot, I was pretty skeptical. We like to keep things in-house, invite our friends, people we can trust, out on the road with us. But your album is a killer. I mean, miles ahead of what our first album was like. You've got chops, kid. And I've seen some of your performance videos. You're good. You've got everything you need to go far in this business. I'm simply offering you the opportunity to get your music to a wider audience."

The picture of Jon, with that self-assured smile on his face, flashed in Olivia's mind. He was holding up his end of the bargain.

"We knew we liked your music. We just needed to know whether or not you'd get along with everyone."

"Is that what tonight was about? Why you invited me to dinner?"

"Yup. And it's safe to say you'll fit right in on the road. So, kid. What do you think? Wanna open for the Faded Relics?"

Olivia resisted the urge to pinch her arm just in case she was dreaming. She could already see Dani's reaction, hear her piercing scream when Olivia told her the news.

"My sister would kill me if I said no."

And once again, Wes's laughter echoed out into the night as Olivia extended her hand in agreement and Wes met it with a firm shake.

A/N:

If you've read "A Second Chance", then you know Wes Keats.

We love Wes Keats here in the Girl Power Galaxy.