Two and a half hours later, he was awakened by the pilot announcing their final descent into New Orleans. As the plane made final approach, Brandon began to pack his things, prepping to hurry off the plane, get to the rental counter so he could get his rental and get on the road to Biloxi. As the plane pulled to the gate, people started shuffling around and Brandon began to make his way off the plane, luckily he was able to deplane, use the restroom and get to the rental counter in less than ten minutes. As he was finishing up the paperwork on the car, his phone vibrated with a text from Morgan, “Hey hope you’re on the ground, your parking pass and your access passes are with security, we’ve kept Sarah from seeing the guest list, Amanda and Max know you’re coming but that’s it. Look for big A/Cs and a roll up door with “Entrance” by it. You’ll see the buses and I’ll make sure I send you my location as I go in.”
As Brandon walked to his rental car, he texted Morgan back, “Thanks, I’ll let you know when I’m close.”
Brandon made it out of the parking lot, onto the highway and started the 95 mile drive to Biloxi. As he made his way onto US 90 and started up the coast towards the venue, he realized that it was just about 9pm, he had lost a little bit of time due to a wreck on I-10 as he crossed Lake Pontchatrain. He texted Morgan telling her where he was.
She responded, “I’ll send Max down to get you and bring you in. See you in a few”
Following Morgan’s location she sent earlier, Brandon pulled up to a security booth, the guard stepped out and said, “Can I help you? This area is closed.”
Brandon pulled his driver’s license out, showed it to the guard, “My name’s Brandon Baker, I should have a parking pass and some other things.”
The guard walked back into the booth, he re-emerged a moment later with a small manilla envelope. He instructed Brandon where to go, Brandon thanked him, laid the tag on the dash and drove forward. He pulled his car in beside others just as Max was emerging from the roll up door.
Brandon got out of the car, threw his access pass around his neck and jogged up to Max, shaking his hand.
Max smiled, “Hey man! Heard you’ve had a little bit of excitement over the last two weeks.”
“Holy shit dude, it has been crazy, I can’t believe you all deal with this shit.”
Max shook his head and led him into the venue, “Yeah, it’s a little bit nuts, but now you’re here, Sarah’s gonna be stoked to see you.”
“So she has no clue I’m coming?”
“Nope we all thought it’d be a nice surprise.”
As they moved towards the stage, Brandon could feel the music as it vibrated in the venue. As they began to pass the tour boxes, Max said, “FYI, Sarah’s parents are here, so you’re going to meet them sooner rather than later. They do know you’re coming.”
Brandon stopped, “Seriously!? That would have been good to know!”
Max laughed, reached into a cooler grabbing a Coke, then pulled a cup and a bottle of Bulleit bourbon out and said, “Here make a drink, it’ll calm you down.”
Brandon poured himself a drink, took a pull, then topped it off before following Max backstage. As he got to where he could see the crowd and the stage, he was intercepted by Morgan, “You finally made it!!!” He looked past Morgan to see Sarah in her blue jeans, riding boots and blue v-neck t-shirt with the Ole Miss logo across the front.
“Yeah, ran into some traffic right outside of New Orleans.”
“Well glad you’re here, stay put, you need to meet some people.”
Brandon took another drink from his cup and as he looked up, he saw Morgan walking back with two people who he knew were Sarah’s parents and two others he assumed were her siblings. With another drink, he muttered, “Here goes nothing.”
Ch. 6
As Morgan approached, Brandon decided to take the initiative, he stepped forward, extending his hand to Sarah’s father, “Good evening Mr. Bixby, I’m Brandon Baker, Sarah’s….well Sarah’s boyfriend.”
“Brandon it is nice to finally meet you, please call me Jim.” He turned as his wife stepped forward, “This is my wife Susan.”
Brandon reached out and shook her hand, “Mrs. Bixby, it’s nice to meet you, Sarah has talked about you a bunch.”
He then turned to the teenage boy and young girl behind them, “That means you must be Jackson and you must be Mia, my names Brandon and I’m a friend of your sister’s”. Sarah’s brother reached his hand out and said hello, trying hard to give a firm handshake causing Brandon to smile.
Little Mia walked up to Brandon, looked up at him, pulled the large pink shooting muffs off her ears and shouted, “Are you her boooyyyfriend?”
Brandon and Morgan started laughing and Brandon knelt down in front of her, “Yes, I am.”
Mia thought for a moment, said, “Okay!” And then walked back to the edge of the curtain so she could watch Sarah.
Brandon stood up and turned his focus back to Sarah’s parents and brother, “I know that I wasn’t supposed to be here until late next week, but Morgan mentioned that Sarah had been worried since the reporters and media figured out who I was, so I thought I might surprise her. I’ve booked a hotel room and don’t want to intrude on any of your family time, I know you haven’t seen her in a while.”
Sarah’s parents nodded, her mother looked him up and down, “Nonsense, if Sarah, Amanda, and Morgan vouch for you, you can stay at our home.”
“Thank you ma’am, I appreciate that.”
Sarah’s dad looked on with a serious look on his face then said, “Susan, why don’t you and Jack go watch the show with Mia, I’m going to talk with Brandon some more. Morgan, can you excuse us? Brandon walk with me.”
Brandon and Jim walked away from the stage and back towards the hallway where Brandon had come in 10 minutes prior. As they got to a point where they could hear each other, Jim stopped, “I’m not going to beat around the bush, you have to understand where I’m coming from, Sarah’s been through a lot and went from a student to a country star almost overnight. She is one of the biggest names in the industry, she had her heart broke when she found out that prick cheated on her, what are your intentions with her?”
Brandon nodded, “Mr. Bixby, a month ago I came to visit a dear friend from college who just happens to work with your daughter. Sure I thought she was beautiful, no man in his right mind would think otherwise, but what I have found is that her beauty on the outside is surpassed by her beauty inside.
Jim interrupted, “You realize how cliche you sound?”
Brandon laughed, “Yeah I do. I’ll never forget seeing her with the little girl on the stage in Cincinnati and how she interacted with her. I’ll never forget how she told me about drinking bourbon with you and her grandfather at your deer camp, how she talked about how hard it was to leave Mia, how choosing this over being a librarian was so hard, and a whole bunch of other things that we have talked about.”
Jim nodded, “You still haven’t answered my question.”
“Sir, I care about your daughter a great deal. She’s sweet, she’s funny, she’s selfless, she makes me want to be a better person because I see how she interacts with people and the world in general. Excuse my language but I don’t give a shit about her fame. It’s just another job, albeit a public one, just like me teaching or coaching.”