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“She’s singing tonight, with her sister Martha,” Joe said, putting down one of the filled pint glasses on a napkin.
“Did he just say that your mother is up on stage?” Dustin asked.
“That can’t be true. Not my mom. She would never…”
“But she did, and she has a dynamite voice. Oh, and a younger woman. Y’all must know her. She was the wedding planner for your sister’s wedding. Emily Something.” Joe finished filling the other two glasses and slid them across the bar to us.
“No fucking way,” Dustin said, grabbing for his beer.
“As soon as I saw you guys, I figured you were here to give them support. Am I wrong?” Joe stretched out his arms along the back of the bar, as if there couldn’t be any other reason in the world why we’d be there tonight.
“From the looks of this place, I don’t think they need us for support,” Dustin told him.
“Still, I’m sure they’ll be happy to see you. They go back on in about five. But you’re right. The crowd loves them. They’re doing a tribute to The Judds. It’s helping folks come to terms with the loss of Naomi.”
“I’m sure it is,” I told him, reflecting on all the emotions that swirled through me when I’d heard the news. I’d grown up on their music. My mother was a huge fan.
“Some folks drove in from as far as Sacramento and Oakland to be a part of this tonight,” Joe said. “Crazy! Plus, most of Sweet Whiskey’s here, along with probably the entire town of Cricket. Heard they closed up their shops early tonight to drive on over. Even closed Last Call, the only tavern in town. That’s never happened before. Everybody loves Tammy. She could get up there and read the Bible, and everyone would come to hear her. She’s just one of those folks who everyone loves, ya know?”
“I know,” I told him, still trying to grasp the fact that my mother was performing onstage… and Em… well, that couldn’t be true.
Someone called Joe over and before I could ask him more about Em, he was gone.
“You are not going to believe this,” Gabe said as he approached.
“Martha and Emily are the fucking headliners tonight,” Dustin said.
“That, and Jimmy told me that Emily is planning on driving back to LA tomorrow morning. I was right to fly out here tonight. It’s our only chance to fix this.” He reached between us, grabbed his beer, and drank down about half the glass.
“This is some crazy shit. I don’t know what the hell my mom is doing up on that stage, and Em. Is she singing backup or what? I don’t know what the hell to expect. I mean, maybe the audience is just being respectful of Tammy. My mom can’t sound all that good. She hasn’t sung since she was a young woman.”
“Are you forgetting this last Sunday?” Dustin reminded me. “She sounded good to me. Like she’s been secretly practicing all this time.”
“That can’t be true. I mean, how did this happen?”
The music stopped, the lights shifted, and the three women walked out on the stage, with Tammy leading the way.
My heart raced and anxiety raged. I couldn’t help the nerves that consumed me. There they were, three women I both admired and loved, putting it all out there.
“This is our last set,” Tammy said, as she took a seat next to my mom, with Em taking the other seat next to Tammy. Tammy picked up her guitar and settled the strap across her shoulder. “We want you to know how much we love y’all for coming out tonight and for listening.”
The audience cheered and clapped.
“Right before we came back on, we heard there are a few special people in the audience, and we’d like to dedicate this next song to them,” Tammy said. “They know who they are, and they have our hearts.”
“They sure do,” my mom said. “Always.”
I waited for Em to say something, but she didn’t. Was it stage fright or was she so hurt and angry that she would never, ever forgive us… me, especially?
I knew the song with the first few notes.
“Of all the songs in The Judds’ songbook,” Gabe said.
“Yeah,” Dustin said.
“But we deserve it,” I told them, then knocked off my beer and ordered three more.
Tammy sang the first solo about diamond rings and fancy clothes, with all three women joining in on the chorus, which focused on wanting love.
