Free Lulu's Loves by Barbara S Stewart Page B

begun.”
    Finally, we walked a ways, holding hands as we moved toward the hustle and bustle of River Street. There was a pub near our hotel and Thom asked if I wanted to go in. We took a seat at the bar, and I observed a young man in the corner, playing guitar. I didn’t know the tune, but it was nice. The crowd in the packed bar seemed to enjoy it.
    “I’ll be right back,” Thom said after the singer had played another song.
    Slipping off the barstool, I saw him walk up to the singer. Suddenly, the crowd seemed excited and I turned to look.
    “Look who’s back!” the guy who was playing guitar yelled. Thom was standing there with him. Several people yelled his name. I wondered what in the heck was happening.
    “Thanks y’all. Thanks for letting me share the mic this evening. I’ve had this song in my thoughts for a couple of weeks. It’s a soulful song that makes me think of a beautiful lady I met recently. Thanks for indulging me.”
    He sat on the stool with the guitar the guy handed him and started strumming.
     
                  There’s a face I see
                  Looking back at me
                  Her eyes are filled with passion
                  My heart beats wild
                  She looks away from me
                  But she’s all I see
                  I cry out her name with emotion
                  She’s my wildest dream
                  She’s a part of me
                  That I can’t seem
                  To push from my thoughts and mind
                  She’s all I’ve ever wanted 
     
    I watched as he sang. The tune seemed familiar but I couldn’t place it. It didn’t matter though, because all of a sudden, it was the greatest, most beautiful love song I’d ever heard. My heart felt like it would beat right out of my chest. He watched me as he sang. His gaze caused others to turn to see whom his eyes rested on. Thank goodness it was a small place, but the discomfort of being watched was replaced with a feeling that I couldn’t explain.
    Finally, the song ended. He thanked the crowd and was stopped several times as he returned to my side. “You’ve got some explaining to do, Mr. Miller,” I teased.
    “I will, but right now I just want to go back and hold you.”
    “What? We’re in Savannah–no pralines?” I laughed.
    “We’ll stop on the way.” He grabbed my hand to hurry us along.
    We left the pub and stopped by The Candy Kitchen, just a few doors away. Thom picked up a two-pound box and took it to the register.
    “I only needed one,” I laughed.
    “You’ll want more though. I want to be prepared for whatever you want.”
    “Oh!” seemed to jump from my lips. His grin told me that he liked surprising me.
    We returned to the room and stripped down to crawl in bed. He brought me a praline.
    “Sweets in bed?”
    “Oh, how I know this is true,” he said, with the most beautiful smile.
    “Thom, tell me about the singing. They knew you, didn’t they?” I was curious how.
    “I come here a couple times a year. Some of them are regulars, they remember me.”
    “From taking a turn at singing?” I inquired.
    “No, Lulu. I used to be the front man, the lead singer for a band in the late eighties, Tainted Dreamers.”
    “I’ve heard of them.” Slowly, the idea that I’d heard the song before returned. He watched as the realization hit me.
    “We topped the charts with five singles. One day, I woke up and didn’t know where I was. Not because I was hung over or high, that’s not my thing. We’d been touring for so long that I didn’t even know what city we were in. It was that moment that I realized I hated the road. I hated it. I missed the feeling of being settled, the sense of home.”
    “The guys and I talked. They understood my decision, but they didn’t want to lose me because I wrote the songs that took the band to