Mended Hearts (New Beginnings Series) Read Free Page B

himself.
     
     
    CHAPTER 2
     
    Gracie Laurent walked through the front door of Savannah’s and noticed the rest of the band was already there. The room wasn’t very wide, but was really deep, with the stage all the way at the back end and the hardwood dance floor just in front of it. The bar, made of heavy dark wood and topped with granite, stretched the full length of the room on the right hand side. There were several pool tables on the left hand side with dark wooden tables and chairs of various heights scattered between the bar and pool tables to the edge of the dance floor.
    She scurried through the tables toward the stage , peanut shells crunching beneath her boots. There were a few customers already there. A group of guys sat at a tall table watching two others play pool. There were a couple of other patrons sitting at the bar shooting the breeze with Savannah, bar owner and, apparently, this shift’s bartender. She waved at Gracie as she rushed past.
    “Am I late? I could have sworn I was right on schedule,” she said as she got to the stage.
    Colby glanced at her as he unwound his amp cord. “No, you’re not late. I got here early, and caught Russ here flirting with Savannah.”
    Russ, Sugar Creek’s drummer, didn’t look happy about being busted. “Har, har.”
    They all knew he had a huge crush on Savannah, who was a very hot babe, even though she was almost twice his age.
    Colby continued, “ Mick, Les and Maggie got here just before you did.”
    Mick played bass ; Les guitar—sometimes steel guitar—and back-up vocals; and Maggie the fiddle and back-up vocals. Colby, of course, was lead guitarist, sang some lead and back-up vocals and was the bandleader. Gracie had been a little nervous about fitting into an existing band—especially as lead singer instead of backup. But they had all melded together easily, without a lot of fuss and drama. She was relieved, because she needed a new start so badly and didn’t know where else she would go if it hadn’t worked out.
    She’d been in San Diego about a week-and-a-half and was starting to feel settled. It had been a whirlwind of rehearsals . They had spent every waking hour trying to get her up to speed on their repertoire. She also had to eke out time to find a place to live and a second part-time job.
    Gracie spent the first few nights on Colby’s sofa until she found a place in a large, historic Spanish home that had been renovated into small apartments. It was near Balboa Park and Savannah’s. Her parents had trucked some of her furniture down and helped her move it into her new place the weekend before. Of course it was so tiny, she’d had to leave a lot of her stuff in storage in her northern California hometown.
    Finding a second job was another worry. She had strict time constraints, because her first priority had to be the band. She had to be free every evening for rehearsals as well as actual performances. Retail was out of the question, because they wanted their employees to be available to work evenings and weekends—same with waitressing. She’d scoured the want ads, hoping for a creative solution.
    While she was chatting with one of her new neighbors, the lady told her about the daycare center her children attended and mentioned they were looking for afternoon staff. Apparently they had plenty of morning staff, because there were fewer children enrolled for morning sessions. The number of kids doubled in the afternoon since kindergarten children got out of school at noon, and the older elementary school kids at three o’clock. Since school would be starting up again in a week or so, they were padding their staff. Gracie rushed over to apply and got the job—mainly because of her ability to start a new musical activity program for the kids. It was perfect for her needs and she loved children.
    She was relieved to be placed with the staff working with the older children, though. She still felt a twinge when she saw the toddlers. Her