Things a Man Oughta Now

A few words from the author:

Okay, finally! Celebrity involvement! However, on the advice of counsel, I have not changed categories. Still no explicit sex. Sorry not sorry.

For the real musicians who might read this, please forgive me for having nary a clue about how the recording industry really works, or how bands interact on a tour. This is all pretty much pulled out of my own head. It's fiction, after all. But I will concede that accuracy is important, even in fiction, so any constructive criticism is welcome.

I know it's completely unrealistic. But I had fun writing it. And please do Google 'Oleo Strut Gretchen Menn'. Man, I wish I could play like Stu Hamm...

I do appreciate comments and feedback. If you think it stinks, that's fine. But please don't be rude. Tell me WHY it stinks, so I can fix it.

Finally, thank you to PastMaster for his invaluable help in making this a better story.

Hope you enjoy it.

**********

Having made the decision to accept Jesse's request, they discussed logistics. Sara and Emily said they were more than capable of looking after Emma. Seth asked his mom if she'd come and stay at the house, and she said that wouldn't be a problem. Emma alternated between excitement and anxiety. But mostly she was thrilled.

With all the details worked out, Seth went up to Jesse's office first thing the next morning, and gave him the thumbs up.

"Great, you're really bailing me out here. Let me get you hooked up with the band, and you can get busy learning their stuff."

**********

The two men headed down to one of the studios, where Seth saw two guys and two girls lounging around.

Jesse said, "Hey guys, I'd like you to meet your temporary bass player. This is Seth Broderick. Seth this is Beck Anderson. He pointed to a stocky, bearded young man with brown hair. He's the lead vocalist, and plays rhythm guitar. And this, he indicated a pretty brunette, is Amanda Jones, she plays keyboard and sings backup. Floyd Pinckney here is your drummer."

Floyd, a wiry, clean-shaven African-American, gave Seth a nod and a two-fingered salute.

"And this is Lori Thompson. Lead guitar." A tall, slender redhead eyed him coolly.

"Hey," Seth said to the group. "Glad to meet you."

Beck eyed him doubtfully.

Seth tried to put them at ease. "Don't worry about me, guys. I'm easy to get along with. You tell me what you want and I'll play it that way, no issues."

Jesse handed him a folder. "Speaking of that, here's your music." He looked around at everyone. "Well, I'll leave you to it. Let me know if you need anything." And he was gone.

Seth looked over the sheets, while the rest of the band got warmed up. It looked pretty straightforward.

After their session, he felt good. He smiled a little to himself when he saw their surprise at how quickly he picked it up. But he wanted to stay low-key, so he just said, "Hope that was ok guys, I'll work on it some more tonight, and hopefully it'll be better tomorrow. Don't worry, I'll be ready in time for next week."

Floyd just nodded at him. He was about Seth's age and had been around. He knew a professional when he heard one. Amada smiled and waved as she headed out. Beck and the redhead just left.

"Don't worry about them," Floyd chuckled.

"All good," Seth replied, bumping fists with the man.

**********

He felt like he had a good handle on the GDY set by the weekend. Remembering his old mantra,

always be prepared

, he started learning the songs from Lainey's set list as well. What could it hurt? And who knew, she might need some studio time.

On Sunday night, as he was working through Lainey's songs, he discovered something interesting. He called out to Emma. "Hey sweetie, can you come in here a sec?"

She came into his little studio, looking curious.

"Have you heard this song?" He played a little bit of one of Lainey's newest songs.

"Oh cool, it has a mandolin!" she said, excitedly.

Without a word, Seth handed her some sheet music. "Want to give it a try?" he grinned.

They practiced the song together whenever they had time that week, and Seth continued to work on the GDY songs, and the rest of Lainey's set.

The day of departure came far too quickly. It was a six-hour ride to Mobile, and they were leaving bright and early Friday morning.

"Ask Aunt Sara to help you with the song, 'k? She can show you how to do the playback and everything," he explained. "I love you, sweetie, and I'll try to call you before school every day."

"Love you Daddy," Emma teared up a little, but she really was excited for him.

He hugged her, and Sara, and his mother. "Look after my baby, please?"

"Of course, dear," his mother said, hugging him back. "You know we will."

It was a long, boring ride to Mobile. Floyd slept most of the way, and Beck and Lori ignored him. He wound up chatting with Amanda, when he wasn't trying to nap himself. But he hadn't played with a band in a long time, and he was surprisingly nervous.

Finally, Lori crawled out of her bunk, grabbed a Dr. Pepper from the fridge, and plopped down beside Amanda. "You ready for this, old man?" she smirked.

"I'm only 33," he said dryly.

She peered closely at him, and reached out. She plucked.

"Ouch!"

"Gray hair."

Amanda laughed out loud. "That was mean, Lori."

"Whatever."

**********

It was after their third show together, and they were on the bus again, headed from Tallahassee to Charleston.

Seth was fiddling around on his bass, when he slid his headphones off and said, "So Lori, I'm sure you've heard this before, but you do look a lot like Gretchen Menn," naming the lead guitarist for the Led Zeppelin tribute band, Zepparella. "Only grouchier," he added snarkily.

"No, never heard that," she deadpanned, as she flipped him off.

Seth snickered, then offered, "I just had a stupid idea for a way to pass the time on these bus rides."

She looked him. "Stupid is as stupid does," she drolled. "But you have my attention."

"Yeah? Hey Floyd, got a sec?"

"Sure, whatcha got?" Floyd unfolded himself from where he was lounging, and joined them.

"Check this out. When I saw Lori, it made me think of this."

He showed them a video of a tune called 'Oleo Strut,' that featured Gretchen, Stu Hamm, and John Mader.

"I know it's completely different than anything you play now, but still, pretty cool, huh?" Seth asked.

Floyd was nodding, a grin on his face. "Yeah, she does look like you, Lor. Girl can play."

At first Lori looked doubtful, but Seth could almost hear the wheels turning.

"No pressure, just think about it. We could noodle around here on the bus, just to pass the time, and leave it at that. Or... tell me to forget it. But think how cool it would be to play at a show?"

He grinned at them. "It would be an awesome encore. Unexpected, for sure."

Amanda considered. "The audience would freak."

"Freak good or freak bad?" Seth enquired.

"I have absolutely no idea," she laughed.

Seth looked at Lori. "I guess it's your call, you're the lead. It would be your show. I'd have to call Jesse and see if we could even get permission, anyway."

"Do that, while I think about it," she said. Later he saw her with her guitar, working on... something. He just grinned to himself.

**********

It was a couple of shows later when lightning struck again. GDY had finished their sound check, and Lainey's band was getting ready to rehearse a few things. Joel, their bass player, slipped on some spilled water, tripped over a cable, and fell off the stage.

Seth had stuck around, as he usually did. He'd made it a habit to pay attention to everything that he could, from rehearsals, to sound checks, to actual performances. So, he was standing out on the floor, where the audience would be. He ran over to Joel. "Dude, are you alright? Oh shit, your arm!" Seth was pretty sure an arm was

not

supposed to bend like that.

"Somebody, call an ambulance, quick!" he called. A short time later, Joel was being loaded onto a gurney, with a preliminary diagnosis of a dislocated elbow, a fractured humerus, and maybe a broken wrist. The band was gathered around, offering prayers, well-wishes, and a little good-natured ribbing.

Obviously in pain, Joel tried to smile, and replied, "Fuck you all very much," and everyone laughed. He gave them a wave with his good hand, then winced as they loaded the gurney.

After the ambulance drove off, someone said, "What the hell are we going to do about a bass player now? We got a show tonight, last I heard."

People started to make suggestions about calling so-and-so, and maybe such-and-such was available, when Seth thought,

Screw it. Nothing ventured...

He cleared his throat.

Everyone turned and looked at him.

"Hey y'all, I know you don't know me from Adam. But I'm filling in as the bassist for your opening act, and I know your set list too."

Lainey looked at him in surprise. "What's your name, honey?"

"I'm Seth Broderick," he said. He'd only met her once or twice so far, but only briefly, and wasn't surprised that she didn't remember him.

"Really? You know the whole set?" their manager asked. "Just like that?"

"Well no, not just like that. When the studio asked me to sit in for Charley, I was able to learn their songs pretty quickly and rather than waste time, I figured I might as well work on yours too. Something to do, anyway."

A couple of the band members were scratching their heads. "Who's gonna play for GDY, that is,

if

you can actually back up what you're saying?"

Seth said, "I've been a studio musician for 10 years. I'm used to playing all day. I can do both shows."

The manager threw up his hands. "Come on, man..."

"What can it hurt?" Seth pressed. "It's a long shot to get anyone else here by tonight who already knows your stuff, right? Let me rehearse with you right now, and then you can decide."

There was some more head-scratching and arm waving, until finally, Lainey said, "Come on y'all, like the man said, what do we have to lose? I say give him a chance." She looked at their manager. "You should probably keep makin' calls, just in case. No offense," she added, looking at Seth.

He held his hand up placatingly. "Hey, none taken." Then, for no reason he could begin to fathom, he winked at her.

She laughed out loud. "You got nerve, that's for sure!"

The issue decided, Seth went to grab his bass. He was even more anxious than the first show with GDY, but he had opened his big mouth, and now he had to back it up.

It went pretty well. Having never actually played with them, there was a little bit of adjusting to be done, but all in all, not bad.

Lainey gave him an appraising look. "Reckon' you'll do," she nodded at him. Then she very deliberately winked, and headed off.

Seth chuckled to himself, then thought,

I just hope these bass player injuries don't happen in threes

.

**********

Before the show, Seth called Emma. "Hi sweetie, did you have a good day?"

"Hi Daddy, yeah, it was good." She rattled on about who said and did what that day in school. Then she asked, "How's the tour going? Did you get to meet Lainey yet?"

She asked him that every time he'd spoken to her. "Well, that's part of why I'm calling, punkin'. I have a little bit of a surprise for you."

"Ooh, ooh, what is it?" she said eagerly.

"It's a surprise. Just be sure to watch the live stream for tonight's show," he grinned into the phone. "I sent Aunt Sara the link."

"Daddy, tell me!" she whined.

"Nope, it's a surprise, sweetie. But I promise you'll like it."

She tried to weasel it out of him for a few more minutes, and Seth just said he'd talk to her in the morning.

**********

It was a crazy night. GDY got some great applause at the end of their set. But the band looked at Seth strangely when he didn't follow them back to the dressing room after their performance. In all the excitement, he hadn't had a chance to tell them.

Then, before he knew it, it was showtime. As he walked back out on stage, it felt different than with the opening act. He could feel the growing excitement and anticipation from the crowd, and it was contagious.

How do you ever get used to this?

he wondered.

It didn't help his nerves that their first number was

Small Town, Girl

which began with two quick drum beats and then immediately into a thumping bass line.

They had told him to stand out front for the intro, and Lainey came over and stood next to him through the first several bars. Seth's mom told him later that Emma screamed so loudly that the neighbors almost called the police.

For him, the show went by in a blur. At the end, Lainey introduced the band, and when she got to Seth, she forgot his name again.

She started to say, "Y'all can probably see that this ain't Joel. Damn fool fell of the stage and broke his arm today." There was laughter from the audience. "This here..." she looked at him, and he mouthed, "Seth!"

"...is Seth. He stepped right up and filled in. Give him a hand, ya'll!" Seth waved to the crowd and played a quick riff. At home, Emma screamed again, almost as loud as the first time.

Afterwards, he was still in a bit of a daze. He asked one of the crew where and when they needed him to be next, and once he had the information, he started to head off to his hotel.

Lainey saw him wander by, and called out to him. "Hey Seth, hold up a sec." He went over to her.

"Nice job tonight, cowboy!" she enthused.

He looked down, embarrassed. "Umm, thanks."

She smiled at his reaction. "We usually hang out a bit after the show, y'all are welcome to join us?"

"Thanks, Ms. Wilson, honestly I would love to, but I need to go call my daughter."

She got a soft look in her eyes. "Call me Lainey, please. I understand, must be hard on you and your wife, being apart?"

"Oh, I'm not married. Single dad," he explained.

"Oh, I see. I'm sure there's a story there, that maybe you'll tell me someday. Anyway, listen. I feel real bad about forgettin' your name tonight. Maybe I could buy you breakfast tomorrow to make up for it? We don't need to leave for Savannah til noon." She smiled at him tentatively.

Seth felt his own smile creep across his face. "I... I'd... really like that."

"Well alright then." Her smile grew wider. "I'll see you in the lobby around 8?" She grinned at his raised eyebrow. "I'm still a country girl, Seth. I'm used to gettin' up early."

He grinned back. "Fair enough. See you then."

She gave him a parting smile, and walked away. Bemusedly, he headed for his room.

It was well past Emma's bedtime when he finally got back to his room. So early the next morning, he Face-Timed her and she answered as she was sitting at the breakfast table.

"DADDY! OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH! LAINEY WILSON KNOWS YOUR NAME AND SHE SANG RIGHT NEXT TO YOU, AND WHY ARE YOU IN HER BAND NOW?" He could see his mother in the background, just shaking her head, chuckling.

Seth laughed. "Well, you saw the show and heard what she said, right? Their bass player broke his arm, and I told them I knew all their songs, so they gave me a chance and they liked me. Remember what I told you, the more you know, the more chances you have."

"That's so great Daddy! Are you going to keep playing with them?"

"Well, that's up to them, but I hope so. At least for the rest of the tour. We have about 14 more shows and then I'll be home. Tell, me, are you practicing the song?"

"Yes I am, very hard. I think I almost got it."

"That's great, sweetie, keep it up, promise?" He had a half-formed idea percolating.

"I will, Daddy."

"Okay, you need to get ready for school, and I need to get ready for breakfast." He moved closer to the screen and whispered, "I'm having breakfast with Lainey!"

Emma's eyes about popped out of her head, and she covered her mouth with her hands. Seth winked at her and ended the call.

**********

He was in the lobby at 7:45. Lainey showed up right at 8:00, and asked if he'd been waiting long.

"Nope, just got here," he lied.

"Mmm hmm," she drawled, with a grin.

She was dressed casually, and looked very different than her stage persona. Seth was also surprised as how normal everything was. No screaming fans or paparazzi. When he mentioned it, she chuckled.

"The team does a good job of keeping our accommodations a secret. Plus, I think most people are used to seein' me all gussied up, so it's easy to avoid attention, dressed like this. She indicated her sweatshirt, jeans, and ballcap.

He followed her movement with his eyes, and she teased, "Did you just check me out?"

He blushed. "Umm... No? Maybe?"

She shook her head, grinning. "You are just too easy to tease, honey."

Trying desperately to change the subject, he stuttered, "S-so, what did you have in mind?" He eyed the Continental breakfast dubiously.

Lainey laughed. "That ain't breakfast. Come on, there's a diner across the street."

Seth grinned and offered his arm.

She smiled in surprise, eyes widening, and tucked her arm in his.

**********

Over eggs, pancakes, sausage, and coffee, Seth wound up telling her the abridged version of his life story.

"So, a Yankee, huh?" she teased.

Seth groaned. "That's what you got from all that? And why does everyone keep calling me that? I've lived here for almost half my life!"

"Give it another 40-50 years, and you might graduate to honorary southerner," she laughed. Then she got serious.

"I'm sorry to hear about your wife. But I'm very impressed with how you handled it, and raised your little girl. She sounds like great." She reached over and put her hand on his. He gave it a brief squeeze and smiled at her.

"Thanks. She really is my whole world." He pulled out his phone and showed her some photos.

"Oh my, she's a cutie! She favors you."

Seth's eyes got soft as he thought about Emma, and Lainey noticed. She didn't say anything but her smile softened as well, as she looked at him.

Coming out of his brief reverie, he said, "Wait, you think I'm cute?"

She rolled her eyes at him, and he laughed.

"She would lose her mind to meet you, by the way. You're her absolute favorite."

"Aww, that's sweet. I'd love to meet her. Hey, why don't you bring her to our last show back in Nashville?"

"I'll do that, thanks. She would love that."

After another pause, he continued, "Lainey, I just want to be clear that my ex is in the past. My only worry is for Emma, and how it has affected her. She still struggles some with feelings of being abandoned." He had told her about the pictures, and the letters, and Emma's questions.

He fiddled with his coffee cup. "I still can't believe how I spilled my guts," he choked out a brief laugh. "Sorry. You're just really easy to talk to."

She reached out to hold his hand again. "I'm glad you felt like you could talk to me. Just keep doin' what you're doin', and I reckon things'll work out. Come on, we gotta get packed up and hit the road."

"Thanks, Lainey. Umm... sorry, I don't mean to be forward, but... maybe we could do this again?"

She considered him for a moment, gave him a slow smile, and nodded. "I think I'd like that."

**********

The GDY crew were all over him when he rejoined them on their bus. Well, Amanda was. Lori was practicing, Floyd was asleep, and Beck just glowered at him. As usual. He repeated the story of how everything played out yesterday, and she told him he was a lucky bastard.

"Oh, I know it, believe me," he said.

"On the other hand," Amanda said, "Charley is doing a lot better. Actually, the doctor said he might be able to come join us next week."

"Oh, that's great!" Seth said. "I mean it. I've loved every minute of playing with you guys, but he's part of the group, and I know you have to be anxious to have him back."