CHAPTER THREE
Over the next week—his first at home in about a year—Alan found himself thinking about that singer at odd times. Eileen. Pretty name for a pretty girl. Her voice haunted him, the darker quality of it touching a chord inside he couldn’t quite explain.
When the weekend rolled around again, he found himself back at The Rose, running solo this time. He arrived just after the music started and bellied up to the bar, which was as good a vantage point as any, though he strategically picked a spot near the service end, so that if a certain songbird came by between sets to get a bottle of water, he might just…say…casually, run into her.
Yeah, the ploy was about as transparent as that water bottle of hers, but it was all he could come up with on short notice. With any luck, she wouldn’t laugh in his face.
He listened through the rest of the first set, declining to make much small talk with the few who tried. He wasn’t really sure why he had come back to the bar. To see the girl, of course, but what was it about her that was so compelling? Why had he spent the better part of a week thinking about her?
Maybe tonight he would get some answers—if only for his own peace of mind. He’d been thinking about Eileen so much, he hadn’t really been able to concentrate on the life-altering decision he had to make before the holidays were up.
To stay in the Navy or retire… Either way, his life would change. A few of his teammates had already put in for retirement, so if he went back, the team would be different.
If he left, he’d have to figure out what he was good for in the civilian world. That was a scary prospect, but one that he’d have to face sooner or later—if he was lucky enough to survive more time in. He wasn’t a pessimist by nature, but he’d seen and done a lot over the past years, and he knew soldiers didn’t always live to tell their war stories. He wasn’t sure he wanted to roll those dice again, but then again, he wasn’t sure he didn’t.
He was supposed to be taking this time off to figure it out. Instead, he’d become obsessed with a woman with a sultry voice and sad eyes.
Speaking of whom… She was heading in his direction now that the band was taking a break. She came right to him, as if she’d seen him standing there at some point and wanted to come right over and say hello. The smile on her face felt like it was just for him, which made his heart feel funny things, best left unexamined for the moment.
“Hey, sailor, good to see you again,” she greeted him as she pulled up beside him at the bar.
“You remembered,” he grinned, pleased that she’d remembered his branch of service. Not all civilians would know one military group from the other.
“I did,” she agreed, grinning. “And though you probably didn’t mean it as advice, I took your musical suggestion to heart, as well. Did you notice the bluesy beat we’ve been experimenting with?”
“I did. I just wasn’t sure if that was something new.”
“Very new. For a long time, we were a traditional Irish band because our lead singer was a glamour girl who could pull off the bright and cheery façade way better than the rest of us. She set the tone, and we’ve been trying to keep that going, but our hearts really weren’t in it. We’re experimenting. Looking for a new direction that people will like and that we enjoy playing,” she told him. “When we did that song for you last week, we started to find a groove we haven’t had since…”
“Since your friend died,” he completed the sentence for her, knowing she was probably a little choked up and wanting to make things easier on her. “I understand.”
She looked up at him and met his gaze with a tilt of her head that spoke volumes. “You know? I believe you do. Thanks, Alan. You did the whole band a good turn last week just by making that request, and I need to return this to you.” She took his hand and placed a folded bill in it.
A quick glance told him it was the hundred-dollar bill he’d left for her last week. He quickly took hold of her hand and passed it back.
“That was for you, Eileen. For humoring me and playing a song not too many people in here knew. Oh, and for knocking it straight out of the ballpark, too. I don’t think I’ve ever heard that tune sound better.” He folded her fingers down around the greenback, holding her hand a bit longer than strictly necessary as he gazed into her eyes.
She really was the prettiest girl he’d seen in a very long time. And there was something about her. Some low-level sparkle, just under the surface, that made him want to be around her. To get to know her. To learn all her secrets.
“Will you go out with me?” he asked, not really knowing where the words were coming from. Sure, he’d thought about asking her out, but he hadn’t planned to spring the question on her like this. He backpedaled a bit, in case he’d come on too strong. “Maybe we could have lunch sometime this week?”
Her gaze narrowed, but the smile stayed on her face. Was that a good sign or a bad one? He didn’t know. Luckily, she didn’t keep him waiting for an answer too long.
“Yes,” she said, and his heart started beating again. “But it’s my treat.” She held up the bill as he released her hand. “As nice a meal as this baby will buy.”
He had to laugh at the way she’d turned the tables on him, but she’d said yes. He wasn’t going to argue with her now and have her change her mind. Better to wait on that little dispute about who would pay the bill when the time came.
“All right. You pick the place. I haven’t been home in a long time, and I’m not sure what’s still good around here.”
They talked for a few more minutes as she told him about a new restaurant that she liked, and they made plans to have lunch together on Monday. Before they knew it, she had to go back to work, the short break over. Alan watched the next set, listening closely to the small changes the band had made in their sound over the intervening week since he’d first heard them.
It was subtle, but there was a difference. They sounded better to his ears. Tighter. With more energy than they’d had before. To look at them, the band members actually seemed to be enjoying themselves this time. Not just phoning it in, playing stuff they’d played a million times…the same old, same old.
No, this group looked like they were enjoying a new set of challenges. They grinned at each other during solo spots and at particularly intense riffs. They played the old Irish standards with a slightly modern twist, and the crowd seemed to respond even better than they had the week before. More dancers were treading the boards on the tiny dance floor in front of the stage, and when it came time for some of the old standards, even more people were singing along.
They played the occasional Christmas carol since the big day was even closer now, but they even put a bluesy spin on those old tunes that somehow made them fresh and new, groovy and cool. The new sound the band was playing with got stronger as the night wore on, and by the end of their second set, all the band members were laughing and joking around with each other. Every single one of them looked happier than they had been the previous week, when he’d noticed there were few smiles and no joy to be shared on the bandstand.
When Eileen came to the bar to get a new water bottle on the second break of the night, a couple of the guys from the band joined her. If Alan wasn’t very much mistaken, he was about to get the once over by a couple of protective big brother types. He didn’t mind too much.
The fact that they cared enough to check him out was good. A woman who stayed out late in bars every weekend needed a couple of big guys like those from the band to make sure she was safe. He was glad she had them, even if it meant he was probably going to have an uncomfortable few minutes getting the third degree.
Eileen looked distinctly embarrassed when the two men followed her to the bar. They put in orders for pints with the bartender before turning and demanding in a friendly way to be introduced to her new friend.
“Alan, this is Brendan and Jimmy,” she said, pointing to the guitarist and bassist respectively. The look on her face warned the two musicians to play nice, and the look she shot in Alan’s direction begged forgiveness for what might be about to happen.
“Alan,” Jimmy repeated the name, leaning over Eileen’s shoulder to shake Alan’s hand. “You wouldn’t be Alan Fraser, would you?” Alan agreed that he was and waited to hear how this guy had known his last name. The explanation wasn’t long in coming. “I’m Jimmy Dougan. You went to school with my older brothers, Christopher and William, and I know your sister, Teri. She said you were home for a visit when I saw her at mass last week. We both sing in the choir at St. Ignatius.”
Alan laughed as they shook hands. “How could I forget the Terrible Twins? How are Chris and Billy doing? They went Army, right?”
“82nd Airborne,” Jimmy confirmed. “But they said you’d gone for the trident. You really a SEAL?” he asked in a low tone that carried only to their small group, for which Alan was grateful.
While it was a source of pride to have made the cut to become a Navy SEAL, it wasn’t something he went around boasting about to civilians. He wondered if knowing he was a Special Forces soldier would make any difference to Eileen. She didn’t seem the type to chase danger or go on a SEAL hunt, like some of the women in bars near the base were known to do.
“Yeah. I’m in the Teams, but I don’t really talk about it much and would prefer to keep it quiet.” He hoped Jimmy wouldn’t take offense.
“Understood,” Jimmy said, nodding seriously. “Sorry I brought it up.”
“Brought what up?” Brendan deadpanned, then drank a long sip of his beer. The look on his face said the two musicians would keep mum.
“Thanks,” Alan told them sincerely, then decided a change of topic was in order. “I was telling Eileen,” he began, “I like the new bits you’ve added since last week. You guys actually look like you’re having fun up there tonight.”
“You know? We are,” Jimmy said, looking over at Brendan and then Eileen as if he’d only just realized it. “Damn.”
“I think the small changes have been good for us,” Brendan agreed in his deeper voice. Jimmy was more in the tenor range, while Brendan was a solid baritone.
They’d harmonized really well with Eileen, Alan thought, having learned a thing or two about vocal harmony from his sister, who was always trying to get him to sing with her at family events. He humored her on occasion and secretly enjoyed their little performances, though he’d never let her know it. A man needed all the brownie points he could beg, borrow or steal with an unforgiving lass like Teri Fraser. And woe to any man who didn’t learn that lesson early.
“Mary wouldn’t have liked it,” Eileen said softly. Her band mates looked sad at her words.
“But she’s not here, and we are,” Brendan declared in a solemn voice. “We have to find a way to go on. Either that or give up.”
If anything, the thought of giving up on the band made them even more somber. Alan felt like he should say something to turn this around, if he could.
“You don’t look like a bunch of quitters to me.” He tried to make the words a bit gentler than when he’d heard them from the Drill Instructors at the Coronado Naval Base. Somehow, though, the spirit of the phrase worked its magic on musicians as well as baby SEALs.
“We’re not,” Jimmy stated in a clear voice.
“Got that right,” Brendan agreed, clinking his half-full glass with Jimmy’s in a toast.
The two men moved off after that, moseying back toward the bandstand. That left Eileen and Alan standing by the bar, alone for the moment. Or, at least, as alone as two people could be among a crowd of people.
*
“This is good,” the angel observed to herself, having left the young spirit behind this time.
The younger spirit might be up here among the good guys, but she had a lot to learn. Some of the things she’d done while on Earth had been of a very questionable nature, but at heart, her soul must’ve been good enough to make the cut.
The angel watched the young man’s reaction to her girl, pleased with the way he watched her. He was an upright man. A man any mother would be proud to have as a son-in-law—if he could just find a way under the armor around the girl’s tender, bruised heart. For both their sakes, the angel hoped he could. She was rooting for him.