I Love You, Good Carlene

"Hon, I know you're the producer here, but when you come in the first time, I want the audience to gasp at the pure beauty of your voice...I really believe it needs to be a more assertive entrance. I want people to listen and go, 'oh, my God, it's Carlene!' Take possession of the song; I'll just shut up and play. It's got to be like, 'gee, there's some girl singing back up with that guy who I never heard of...can't quite place who it is—oh my, God, it's Carlene!"

It worked better than any could have anticipated. "You really have a gift for this stuff, Phil." Carlene said softly.

"It's pretty easy when you're the one singing the words. Let's try to nail down the final section, the real duet. Remember George and Tammy in, 'We're Going to Hold On' or Conway and Loretta in 'Louisiana Woman Mississippi Man'. They were able to sing inches away from each other, powerful singers but in perfect balance, neither voice dominating the other...equals in the moment...as all true lovers must always be."

"Okay, don't record this, Ralph. Let's do one of those songs...the Tammy and George number. I've always wanted to do that song with someone special. It's always been one of my favorites and I know it by heart."

"Same here." Phil replied, rolling into the piano intro. Ralph ignored Carlene and rolled the tape anyway. A few minutes later he was hooting and hollering again.

"Mother of God! Wow! Carlene, I ran the tape...I'm going to play it back...listen...it's really solid!"

"Well, it needs a fiddle." Phil commented.

"That we can dub!" Ralph exclaimed.

"Are you serious, Ralph?"

"Put it on the album, baby girl. Make it the lucky thirteenth hidden track. It is that good."

They put all of the pieces of the final song in place and went for a take, ultimately deciding to sing the final verse a cappella. They did three takes. By the end of the third take Phil and Carlene were back in each others arms. No one who would ever hear the recording would have the slightest doubt that the two people singing together were hopelessly in love with each other. They broke for an early lunch which Carlene, the mega star had prepared in advance. She was a damned fine cook.

"Pretty as a picture, the voice of an angel and she can cook! What more could you ask for, Phil?" Ralph quipped.

"You don't have to sell me Ralph, I've been smitten by this woman for a very long time."

Carlene got serious. "Guys, we've got the other songs done for this album, I brought the masters back with me. The artwork's done, we need to update the liner notes and figure out which songs go where. Ralph, do you mind postponing that fishing trip for a few hours? Let's do this thing and get it back to town. I need to be done with it."

"Hell babe, I thought it was going to take three days...we're well ahead of my fishing schedule. Let's do it!"

Carlene and Phil fiddled with the liner notes while Ralph listened through the entire collection and made notes as to the order of the play list. A couple of hours later, Carlene had emailed the liner note changes back to Simon and the three of them sat down to peruse Ralph's recommendations.

"First, I think you should just dump several of these songs---not that they're bad, they're not, they just don't fit the theme I'm seeing and there isn't room for all of them anyway. Other than the hidden track, the duet has to be the last song---it ties everything together. Look, I put this together differently than I normally would. This album is a story...each song is a chapter. It's your story, Carlene...your's and Phil's. We start with the broken heart, the missed love, the lost love, the new, or rediscovered love, the exploration, the 'I'm going to bed you down' number, then the solo love song and finally the duet. What do you think?"

"I think you're a frigging genius Ralph!"

"I'll second that." Phil chimed in.

"Okay, let's email 'em the play order and then...it's later than I thought."

"We can fly it back to the city first thing in the morning, Carlene. I did bring my ride."

"You don't mind?"

"Oh hell, girl, you don't think I'm going to let you get very far away from me, do you? It's only a couple of hours; we can be back here before dark if you like."

After Ralph left and as evening approached, Carlene and Phil sat together in the swing on her front porch and got caught up on the previous decade. Their easy patter was very reminiscent of their conversations so many years before. It was so very comfortable and relaxed for both of them...as if it had been yesterday.

They cooked dinner together in Carlene's well appointed kitchen, much as they had done back in college in the small apartment which they had shared. Any doubts that either had that they belonged together faded quickly. Soon it was time for bed. It was in that first night together in over ten years that the deal was sealed.

Carlene had enjoyed few relationships during that interval. Not only was she extremely discreet but she simply was not a girl who found comfort in casual romantic trysts. As Shania had sung, "If you're not in it for love, I'm outa' here". As the two lovers enjoyed their morning coffee out on the porch, Carlene chuckled to herself as another Shania lyric came to mind..."You've got the moves, but have you got the touch?" There was no question...Phil still had the touch...at least as far as her body was concerned.

"What time do you want to hit the road, babe, not than I'm rushing you."

Carlene's business side kicked in. "Damn, Phil, flying back to the city is the last thing I want to do right this minute but the sooner we do the sooner we get home. Thank you..."

"Pardon me?"

"Thank you for making me feel like that special little girl you met back when we were both so damn young...I haven't felt that way in too long..."

"I love you."

"Yea, I'm pretty damn sure you do, cowboy, I'm pretty sure you do. I'm different back in the city...different because I have to be...but I don't want to be different for you...I love you so much...God don't let me screw this up!"

"Shower time?"

"It's a very big shower...I often wash the pups in it but I certainly wouldn't mind sharing it with you this morning." Carlene said with a devilish grin.

They made love under the warm stream in Carlene's massive shower until the hot water ran out. It was playful, urgent and delightfully nasty.

"So how'd you happen to learn to fly this beast?" Carlene inquired as they turned on the end of her air strip and prepared for take-off. Phil paused in his pre-takeoff check to respond.

"Not unlike you I also took ROTC...I had a full scholarship from the Air Force. Fortunately we were between wars when I graduated and they really didn't want me on active duty unless I'd agree to eight years and to accept pilot training. They did pique my interest with a summer flight program---I got my private license. I joined a flying club. I bought my first plane, a single engine prop job...my first Cessna...when I was just getting started in business and was not remotely international. I started out essentially in the energy industry and spent a lot of time visiting remote oil, gas and coal exploration sites, most of which were miles from a commercial airport. I lost the engine one night in the hills of West Virginia coming back from a coal mine and had to land in a WalMart parking lot. I quickly traded up to a twin engine model, then a turbo prop and finally a turbofan...another Cessna. I normally have a flight crew so that I can work, or in this particular aircraft a paid pilot. I guess I've put over 5,000 hours into my log book over the last ten years."

"So I'm in good hands this morning? I'm not sure my insurance carrier would be excited about me flying without a Commercial, Airline Transport rated crew." Carlene quipped. "By the way, mine's bigger than yours....I have a G150."

"Who says I only have one?" Phil shot back.

Pardon me?"

"I fly international a lot in my business. My G550 is the longest range biz jet in the industry---almost 7,000 miles---but it's not certified for single pilot operations and it would be a tight fit on your runway. It makes a great flying office, and can accommodate a bunch of friends but it's a big bastard. It's also a bit faster than this Cessna, but this particular Cessna---the CJ3---while only having a range of less than 2,000 miles---is single pilot certified and very easy to fly alone. It's also under six million as opposed to...what, damned near fifty million? And, just for the record, I am Airline Transport Rated. Let's do it."

Less than an hour later, the sleek jet and its special passengers touched down at a private air park less than a mile from Carlene's headquarters in the city. Simon and Marie walked over to greet them. Marie was beaming; she knew. Simon was slightly confused. Carlene gave Marie a huge hug that said not only that all was forgiven but, "thank you". Simon became even more confused. As Simon settled behind the wheel of the modest passenger van, Carlene brought him up to speed. From then on all Simon could do was grin. His "little girl's" personal life was taking a decidedly wonderful turn.

By early afternoon the work was done. All involved agreed that the album was ready to go and that Ralph's play order was sheer genius. A couple of selected cuts would be put on line and transmitted to radio station managers within seventy-two hours. The three new songs, the ones Phil had written, would be held back. They would be introduced at the final concert in a little over two weeks. The CD would be on the record shelves and iTunes the day following the charity concert for an audience of over 100,000.

Carlene and Phil flew back to her farm later in the afternoon. They had three days together; then Phil would be gone for most of the remaining two weeks prior to the concert. Carlene would be equally busy promoting the concert and the upcoming album. They would reconnect two days before the concert.

"You are going to sing the duet with me."

"Carlene, I'm not really a stage performer..."

"I'm not singing that duet with anyone else. Nor am I going to sing the other two---the first time in public---without you to sing them to. Are you worried about stage fright?"

"A little."

"You have stockholders, don't you?"

"Some very annoying ones."

"Well, think of it as a really big stockholders meeting with stockholders who paid money to come to the meeting, are there to have a good time and are disposed to like what we do on stage. I'll have a grand piano for you. We do it just like we recorded it...very simple staging. The final verse a capella...just you and me up there...and then you kiss me, we thank them and say good night."

"And how are you going to introduce me?"

"I'm working on that."

The weekend was far too short. On Friday evening they joined Carlene's parents for dinner. As Carlene and her mother chatted in the kitchen, Phil and Carlene's dad moved out to the front porch. Phil and Carlene's parents had met a few times many years earlier. Both parents were surprised but very pleased that Phil and Carlene had found each other again.

"She's always glittered like Hollywood, Phil, but when she looks at you she lights up like a Christmas tree....and vice versa..."

"I want to ask her to marry me, sir...formally...if you have no objections."

"You make her smile...you always did...I've never seen her happier."

"We're going to be apart for the next two weeks; I plan to give her a ring as soon as I get back...before the concert."

"That'll work."

Saturday they flew up to Phil's farm and spent the evening with his parents at their farm. They had met Carlene many years before and had fallen in love with her. They were ecstatic and surprised that the couple had reunited. Phil's mom quickly got past being star struck as the two women became fast friends.

"She always was the one, wasn't she son?" Phil's dad intoned.

"No other woman ever came close, dad. I plan to spend the rest of my life with her."

And while they spent every spare moment during the painfully short weekend in each others arms making love they spent a lot of time just grinning and gazing into each others eyes.

"It's real, isn't it baby...you're stuck with me?" Carlene whispered late Sunday evening.

"Which makes me the luckiest man on earth. I love you good Carlene..."

Monday morning was painful for both of them. Phil flew Carlene back to the city to Simon's waiting arms and departed to tie up the final loose ends of his global interests. Carlene moved into full work mode preparing the world for her final concert and album. They spoke often on the phone; the busy schedule both had made the time pass very quickly.

The buzz surrounding a new album from a major star was sweeping the industry. Add to that the fact that this was to be Carlene's last album for an unknown period of time and the excitement was almost over the top. The songs released to the online downloading sites set records for most downloads in the first twenty four hours. The radio station managers did their jobs and the first two songs on the yet-to-be released album debuted at the top of the Billboard country chart. They shot a quicky video for CMT and GAC and both networks had it at number one by the end of the second week just days before the concert.

The concert would be one of the biggest events since Garth played Central Park. The top artists in the industry would be there but everyone knew that it was essentially Carlene's show and no one objected. Phil flew in late Friday to reunite with the special girl who now owned every corner of his heart.

"Did you get everything taken care of, cowboy?" Carlene said, as she rested her head on Phil's shoulder during the drive from the airport back to her hotel.

"I'm done; all the loose ends are tied off...you?"

"Well, almost. In between rehearsals we're going to try to shoot another video, Sunday night is the concert...and then...we both get to get a life...you and me...together. That's pretty damn exciting." Carlene paused. "Are you sure you're okay with the grown up Carlene?"

"Baby, I love the Carlene that's sitting next to me just fine...how about you?"

"I think you'll do, cowboy, I think you'll do."

It was a hectic couple of days but it all came together before Sunday evening. With less than an hour to go before going on stage, Carlene sat in her dressing room alone as she always did, "getting her game face on".

There was a knock at the door and Phil was there. He took her in his arms and they stood silently holding on to each other for dear life.

"One more essential piece of business, hon, before you go out there."

Down on one knee with the biggest diamond Carlene had ever seen, Phil asked her to be his wife. And of course she said yes.

Music fans always want to hear the hits, the previously recorded songs but any concert event is also very much about promoting the new album. Carlene planned to do twenty songs without intermission, mixing the established hits with the new material and then come back for the three song encore...spotlighted with Phil and the grand piano.

The response of the crowd to the new material exceeded everyone's expectations. The following day, even the Rolling Stone critic would be gracious and admit that once again, Carlene had surpassed everybody's expectations and quite possibly delivered an album that would not only outsell her others but become a landmark in country music. Not a single reviewer or fan had missed the glimmer on the third finger of her left hand and whispers abounded between songs.

She finished the twentieth song and left the stage. Phil's arms were there to hold her.

"Are you ready for this, cowboy?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

Carlene returned to the stage to the thunderous applause of over 100,000 fans. A scrim had been dropped so all that was visible was Carlene and a grand piano with her favorite six string sitting on top of it.

"Folks, thanks for coming out tonight! It means a lot to me and even more to the people who so desperately need our help. I want to introduce you to a very special friend of mine...he wrote the three songs we're going to end with...and he's agreed to help me out with them. Ladies and gentlemen, I listen to a lot of songs...songs I've written...songs others have written for me...but these three songs are without question the best I've ever had the privilege of singing for you."

And with that, Carlene invited Phil on stage and introduced him. He took his place at the piano and she assumed control of her guitar and took her place a few feet away from the piano.

In the clear, pure, perfect voice that had made her a superstar, the angel sang that special love song to the only person in the world that mattered at that moment...the man who had written it just for her...the man who loved her...had always loved her...the man she would love forever. No one who heard or saw the incredible performance had any doubt who she was singing it to....her man. Tender, gut wrenching, sweet and authentic, the performance brought the house down and no one was prouder than the man sitting at the piano.

In the same pure voice, she delivered the tease song sitting as close to Phil on the piano as was humanly possible. There wasn't a guy in the place that didn't know that Phil, whoever the heck he was, was one damn lucky cowboy. Again, the audience went nuts.

Then came the final duet and there wasn't a dry eye---male or female---in sight. As the final verse started and the two special lovers stood close, singing only a few inches away from each other with no accompaniment, Phil and Carlene set a new and lofty standard for musicians who would follow. Even the best artist just can't fake that kind of song; if it's not real it doesn't work. This was real...real love...love you could wrap your arms around.

Her ardent fans would miss her but they also loved her and cared for her. She had brought them all so much joy, happiness and love...and now she had found the happiness, joy and love that she so desperately needed and so richly deserved. They cried not because they would miss her but because they were happy for her. Each in his or her own way prayed for the couple's happiness...prayed that it would endure...that it would be a love without end.

And it was.