CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CASH

Two days later, I called Stacey. My stomach was in knots as I dialed her number, not knowing what reaction I would receive. I had to ask a favor of her; one that I knew she wouldn’t want to do.

“Stacey, it’s me,” I said, tentatively. I was half afraid she’d hang up on me. The idea came to me as I brooded in my room the day I came home from school. It had taken me two days to arrange everything, but it was happening. Now, I just needed Stacey to play her part.

“Cash,” she said, her voice icy. I could feel her anger coming through the phone like waves of frost.

“I need a favor,” I said. I could feel my heart pounding.

“A favor?” she asked, her tone incredulous. “What makes you think I would do you any favors?”

I took a deep breath and plunged ahead. “I need Bren to listen to the radio today at 10 am. I’m doing an interview and it’s important that she hears it.”

There was a long pause on the other end. When Stacey spoke again, her voice was full of warning. “You better be on your knees praying that she’ll forgive you.”

I promised her it would be worth it. Hopefully, I thought, Bren would see that too. “I’ll do my best. Just make sure she’s got the radio on.”

“I’ll see what I can do. I’m not making any promises, though, Cash.”

“That’s all you can do. Thanks, Stacey.” I hung up and headed out to drive to Crossroads.

I arrived at the radio station, my heart beating wildly in my chest. I was both excited and nervous; excited that Bren would hear my song, but nervous that she wouldn’t forgive me. And that I was about to expose myself to the entire world.

“Good morning, listeners. We have a treat for you today. Cash Saunders has come into the station here in Crossroads and he’s going to chat with us for a little while. So, Cash, tell us what you’ve been up to.”

“Thanks for having me, Allison. It’s great to be here. I’ve been working on some new music for my next album and if it’s alright with you, I’d like to play one of the songs that will be on the album later.”

“That sounds amazing with a capital A, Cash. A chance to hear a song before it’s out? Yes, please.” Allison laughed and I smiled with her.

She asked me some more easy questions, leading me into a conversation about my favorite bands. She really seemed to understand music and I calmed down a lot, finding myself back in my element.

“So, a new album? Are you feeling the pressure?” She asked with a wince.

I took a deep breath and nodded before I remembered the listeners couldn’t see me. The jockey asked me questions about my career as a musician, what inspired me, and how long I’d been writing songs. I answered each question honestly, feeling more confident with each one. By the end of the interview, she seemed genuinely impressed with my work.

When she was finished asking questions, Allison said I wanted to play something special for the listeners, something they had never heard before. That’s when I remembered what I had come here for: to give Bren the chance to hear my new song on the radio for the first time.

My hands began to shake as I picked up my guitar and Allison announced that we were going to hear a brand new Cash Saunders song before anyone else. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and waited for calm to overtake me to play the unrecorded song over the airwaves. My manager and the record label might hate it, but I didn’t care. I’d written this song for Brenda and I was going to sing it to her.

When it was finally over, there was silence in the sound booth as I looked up and saw Allison and everyone outside of the studio was grinning with joy. Allison even had tears in her eyes.

“What a wonderful song of apology and forgiveness. And growing beyond our past experiences too. Wow. It was amazing, Cash, thank you for playing that for us. Let’s get some reactions from the listeners, shall we?” Allison turned to the laptop beside her and scrolled through the online reactions.

I smiled softly knowing Bren had heard it too; hoping that she’d understand why I had done this.

“I hope the woman I wrote that for heard it. Brenda, if you’re listening, I want you to know I love you. That news article was wrong, and so was I. I shouldn’t have bought into it and I should have been a better man. Also, to show you that not everyone in this industry are jerks, I paid your hospital bills. All of them.”

Allison looked at me with shock and blinked. “Wow. You really do love her, huh?”

“It’s an amazing feeling, and I messed up, but yeah, I do love that lady. A lot. People in this industry can be cruel, but I’m not like that. And she deserves to have the world handed to her and if she’ll let me, I’ll give that to her.”

“Cash, I knew you were different, but wow. You’re an amazing romantic, too. I’m impressed.” Allison smiled at me, but gave me a wink and showed me her wedding ring to let me know she was teasing me.

I smiled and thought it was time to drive back to Mom and Dad’s. “Thanks for having me, Allison, it’s been great.”

Allison nodded and broke into an announcement about what was coming up in the next hour. I got up and left the sound booth, waving at her as I left.

As I walked out of the radio station, I felt both relieved and anxious. I had put everything out there, aired my heart and soul on the radio for everyone to hear. And now, I just had to wait and see what would happen next. Would Bren forgive me? Would we be able to move past this and start again?

There were no messages or missed calls on my phone which made my heart sink. I really wanted to see a message on there telling me she forgave me, but that’s not what I saw. I saw messages from my manager, though, a very angry manager by the excerpts of the messages I saw on my screen. I threw the phone in the passenger seat and started the car. Maybe Stacey hadn’t been able to get her to listen to the interview and song? Maybe this had all been for nothing? I turned the radio on, needing some music to drown out the silence.

“What a great visit we had from Cash Saunders. He reminded us that love isn’t just about the flowers and romance. It can be about forgiveness and being big enough to know when you’re wrong. I can’t wait to buy the whole album now, how about you, listeners?”