The Best Medicine by Dellani Oakes – Part 16

Morgan takes Tanya to his sister's restaurant where his brother's band is performing. At the end of the set, Cullen sings a beautiful and sorrowful song.

The song wound to a close and the band stopped playing. There was absolute silence. No one spoke, hardly anyone breathed. Even the sounds around them seemed strangely muted. The cameras were still rolling when someone started to clap. First one pair of hands, then three, then many, until the woods echoed with it, sending it reverberating back like a counterpoint to the fading strands of the song. The director broke the spell by saying "Cut," but it took a while for the camera people to respond.

"Jesus," Tanya heard the director whisper to the sound man, as he wiped his eyes on his sleeve. "They never sang it like that in rehearsal! I can't top that, no matter what I do. That was perfect!" He raised his voice. "Take a short break, people!" He turned to his cameraman. "I want to see a playback of that. Was the sound okay, Smitty?"

The sound man shrugged and nodded. "We could tweak the instrumentals a little in the studio, but I don't think we can top that vocal. It was wicked awesome, Ted."

"Damn, that kid can sing! Someone should have signed them a long time ago!" He and his production team gathered around the monitor, watching a playback of the video in silence.

Morgan walked over to where Tanya and Molly were standing, grinning from ear to ear. "So what did you think?"

Tanya couldn't talk, she just grabbed him, kissing him softly on the lips. Her eyes glittered with tears as she hugged him. Startled, he put his arms around her, shivering slightly in his thin leather clothing.

"I'm freezing," he said abruptly. "Let's find a place to get warm."

Molly led the way to the catering trailer that was parked a short distance from the stage. "We can go in here. My restaurant is providing the food. Let me get you some coffee, Morph. Your lips are turning blue."

It was warm and cozy in the trailer and full of nice smells. There was a small table at one end that folded down from the wall. Molly led them to it, pulled up three stools then fetched the coffee. Morgan sat huddled against the wall, trembling with the cold. Tanya reached out and took his hands in hers to warm them.

"How did all this stuff get over here," Tanya asked when Molly sat down. "Did you hire a boat?"

Molly chuckled. "No, there's a bridge on the north end of the island, that abuts with my place. You can't see it from the restaurant, most people don't even know it's there. The bridge and island are private property, so you can't access it without permission. But since Uncle Stan owns the place, we can do anything we want."

"Uncle Stan? I thought it was Uncle Scott?"

Molly smiled. "Right family, wrong uncle. Stan and Scott are twins, Tanya. Scott owns the boathouse and the marina. Stan owns the island and the inn. They share ownership of the hunting lodge up where you parked. Most of the land around here has been in our family since around 1742. The island has been in the Fellowes family at least two hundred years."

"Wow! And I thought my family roots went way back! Gran's family's been around these parts since the 1830s. Granddad's was here in the 1780s or something like that. My older brother is the historian, I'll have to ask him sometime."

"What's the family name? O'Toole?"

Tanya shook her head. "That's my mom's maiden name, and I took it when I divorced. It's my middle name and I always liked it better then my maiden name. My family's name is Waycrofft."

They spent a few more minutes discussing family history while Morgan warmed up. Once he stopped shivering, he looked at the two women expectantly. They stopped talking, gazing at him quizzically.

"So, you never answered me. How was it?"

The door burst open and Cullen stuck his head inside. "The director says that's a wrap! Can you believe? He says it's perfect and he couldn't do a better take if he worked at it all day. We're some kind of miracle, since most bands mess up a few hundred times. We're going to clean up the instrumental track in the studio, but you should hear the vocals, Morph. It's fantastic! Come on, you have to get out of that costume. Tanya, you can come watch us change if you want." His wink was wicked and inviting.

"Thanks, Cullen. I don't think I could handle seeing that many nearly naked men at once. My heart couldn't take it."

He shrugged, tugging on Morgan's sleeve. "Your loss! I guess you'll just have to settle for seeing Morgan."

Morgan punched his brother hard in the shoulder, knocking him back a step. "I told you not to talk like that to a lady, Cull."

"Okay, okay. She's a doctor. Not like she hasn't seen naked men before, sheesh!"

Morgan followed him out, quietly admonishing his younger brother.

Molly watched them fondly. "It was beautiful, wasn't it? When those two sing together, it's like magic. I can't describe it any other way."

"They're really close, aren't they? It's incredible, such different personalities, too."

"Morgan helped save Cullen's life. The baby wouldn't eat after our mom died. He was literally starving to death. He wouldn't even take a bottle from Dad. Only Morgan could get him to eat. Morgan took Mom's death really hard, but having Cullen, pulled him through. They grew up as best friends, not just brothers. Theirs is a deep bond."

© 2020 Dellani Oakes

To Buy Dellani's Books