A Nashville Collection Read Online Free PDF Page B

up in the same house with you, Robin. You’re about the bravest person I know. You just have this one little thing.”
    â€œOne little thing? It’s huge. The idea of singing in front of strangers terrifies me.” I square off in front of her. “And except for last night, I never sang anywhere but Granddaddy and Grandma’s porch.”
    â€œYou sang in the church choir.”
    â€œSure, hiding in the back.”
    Eliza crosses her arms with a smirk. “I’m going to England for the summer.”
    â€œW-what? Really?” Smiling, I wrap my sister in a hug. “You’ve always wanted to go to England. Good for you. What will you be doing? How long will you be gone?”
    â€œFour months. I won a fellowship to study English lit at Cambridge, all expenses paid.”
    â€œCambridge. Well, la-de-da.” How’d she inherit courage while I inherited fear? I take a seat on the bench again, thinking.
    â€œLet’s make this our summer, Robin.” Eliza joins me on the bench. “I’m living my dream—well, one of them. Live yours too.” She nudges me with her shoulder. “I’ll go to Cambridge, you go to Nashville. Why should Steve and I be the only ones who venture out? He’s married, a soldier, and a daddy-to-be. You’re the big sister, the one we looked up to, the one who fought our battles until we could take care of ourselves.”
    â€œTook your whuppings for you.”
    Eliza sticks out her tongue. “Only once, and I’ve never forgiven myself for it.”
    I slip my arm around her, and she rests her head against my shoulder. “I could’ve ratted you out, but I knew Daddy would take it easy on me. He suspected you for that mess anyway.”
    â€œShould I confess now?”
    I tug a strand of her thick, curly hair. “A little late, don’t you think?”
    â€œI suppose,” Eliza says with a grin, propping her chin in her hand. “How many songs do you have written?”
    â€œA few.” I pick up my guitar and begin to strum softly.
    â€œA few? Right, you had a few when you were sixteen.”
    I bump my shoulder against hers. “Don’t think I don’t see what you’re doing. Provoking me to go to Nashville.”
    â€œCan’t blame me for wanting a famous songwriting sister.”
    I laugh. “Do you know how many wanna-be songwriters are waiting tables in that city, or perking coffee for some Music Row execs?”
    â€œThey aren’t you.”
    â€œForget it, Eliza.”
    â€œLook, just call Skyler. See if you can stay with her.”
    â€œAh, cousin Skyler.” I shake my head. “Last time I talked to her, she was busy with her new job. Plus, she has a roommate.”
    â€œSo, you know Skyler, Robin; she’d love to help. You two were thick as thieves growing up. And—” Eliza wags her finger at me. “—she’s an entertainment lawyer, for crying out loud. Connections, my sister. Connections.”
    â€œYou want to give Momma a heart attack? You flying over the Big Pond to live for the summer and me moving to Nashville. And Steve in harm’s way overseas.”
    Eliza hops off the bench. “Forget about Momma, will you?” She grabs my hand, so I stop playing. “She had her day with the Lukeman Sisters, but she gave it up to marry Daddy. If she doesn’t want you to try because she didn’t, then too bad.”
    â€œAll right, Miss Cambridge, what if I don’t make it? Then what? Come home with my guitar tucked between my legs?”
    â€œWhat if you do make it? What if you deal with the restlessness in your soul and be who God made you to be? Robin, you’ve had four jobs since you graduated high school—a vet tech, a cashier, a clerk at the courthouse, and a stocker at Willaby’s. You liked them when you started, but six months later you talked of doing something else. You tried two