In the Groove: The Jamie Keller Mystery Series, #3

By EN McNamara

Jamie, Jenny and Catherine are flying high, enjoying small town fame as their newly formed trio, Waiting in the Wings, makes local headlines. But everything takes a new turn when Jamie is witness to a kiss. Return to Promise, Oregon and reunite with the Keller family in this latest adventure of the Jamie Keller Mystery Series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: EN McNamara
• Release date: Jun 4, 2013
• ISBN: 9781497746701

EN McNamara

EN McNamara runs a small lavender farm in wesrern Oregon. She spends much of her time in the care and feeding of the twenty-six mouths on the farm including, horses, dogs, cats, goats and many chickens. 

Book preview

In the Groove

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Chapter One

Two minutes before our set is to begin, I am overcome by a sudden, unmistakable urge. In desperation, I whisper to Catherine,

Where’s the bathroom?

My sister, Jenny, overhearing the question, looks at me as if I’m crazy.

We start in less than two minutes. You’ll never make it.

Easy for you to say. You’re not the one in danger of taking a humongous -

Jenny stops my rant with a wave of her hand. She’s the one who got us into this mess in the first place. She was certain that a battle of the bands would give us exposure. Yeah, right!

Just relax, Catherine reassures me, It all goes away once you get up there. It always happens to me just before I’m up to bat.

O God, I hoped she was right. I squeezed my cheeks together in prayer.

The duo, on before us, Ultrasound, has finished its set and is exiting the stage, to a pretty good round of applause. Catherine, Jenny and I make way as two, sweaty, smiling, middle-aged women are greeted backstage with friends, family and flowers.

The announcer is back on stage cracking bad jokes and talking up future Rosemead’s Got Talent events, while I try to deep breathe.

Ladies and Gentlemen, tonight Rosemead’s Got Talent would like to introduce to you a trio of lovelies, who are performing together for their very first time tonight. Please give a big hand to Waiting in the Wings! 

Somehow my shaky legs bring me out onto the stage. The lights are so bright that I can’t see the cheering audience.  I put on my guitar and wait as Jenny makes her way to the piano and sits down. Catherine tucks the violin under her chin and begins the intro to our first song.

There is no turning back.

I really can’t remember much of what happened during our first performance. It was kinda scary and kinda fun, but mostly it was just a blur. I know that we played all three of our songs pretty well, and I remember the thrill as the audience cheered after each one. I can also happily report that Catherine was right - it really does all go away after you get up there.

Mom, my brother Jake and my little sister Jana, along with one of Catherine’s friends, Cassandra, were there to congratulate us after the performance. There were compliments and hugs all around. Jana presented each of us with a red rose.

You were great! she whispered in my ear as she gave me a hug.

Thanks. I’m just glad it’s over. I must have lost three pounds from shaking so much.

Well, Cassandra assured us all, "Waiting in the Wings will, definitely, make the finals. The crowd loved you guys. Ultrasound was good but they’re just a bunch of old ladies."

Mom raised an eyebrow at that one, then yawned and said,

It’s been a wonderful night, but tomorrow is a school day and I’ve got to be up early for work. Let’s get going.

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The sidewalks of downtown Rosemead were shiny wet but the October sky was clear and starry, as we ambled to the front of the theater. Two guys leaving the theater walked by, and one of them called out,

Hey, you girls were really cute up there. Good job.

Thanks, we murmured.

Jenny giggled.

What a jack-ass! I whispered under my breath. "Cute!"

Jamie, take it for the compliment that it is. They liked us, that’s all that matters.

Jenny was right, I guessed, but I felt as if their comment reduced us, somehow. I wanted to be more than cute.

We said our good-byes to Catherine and Cassandra and piled into the silver Saturn station-wagon. As we drove away I could see them enter the coffee shop, arm in arm, laughing and talking. Cassandra had her own car. I envied their freedom.

But it wasn’t all bad. I relaxed in the dark of the back seat, closed my eyes, and played the history of Waiting in the Wings in my mind.

We had only been together since May. I’d been grounded at the time, but Mom had allowed Catherine to come over to do homework. Everyone in my family had fallen in love with Catherine immediately. Jake liked her because she was super smart, Jenny admired her for her musical knowledge, Mom liked her because she was a nice girl, and Jana, (the big brat), referred to Catherine as the sister that I never had.

One day as we sat crossed-legged on my bed, Catherine pointed to the guitar hanging on my wall and asked if I played.  I confessed that I used to play but had recently given it up.

Why would you give up playing an instrument? Catherine asked.

I didn’t want to admit to her that it was because I didn’t want to compete musically with Jenny, who had suddenly emerged as a pretty great piano player. I knew it was some weird form of jealousy, but I just couldn’t help it.  I shrugged off the question, but one day Catherine brought over her fiddle, so I pulled down my guitar, and we just started making up songs. It felt so great to play again, and Catherine and I seemed to have some kind of strange, musical magic between us. By summertime we were obsessed, playing every afternoon, sometimes going out into the woods to practice.  It was easier, in many ways, back then. But I’ll admit our sound improved after Jenny joined us.

Jenny weaseled her way into the band by singing good harmonies. She’d hang around adding parts which we couldn’t help but notice and made us sound even better. The trouble was she bugged the hell out of me. I will admit, however, that when we did played music, we got along better than usual. All three of us seemed to mostly agree on what sounded good. The trick was agreeing on content. Jenny, a devout Christian, was always trying to slip Jesus songs into the repertoire. This inclination resorted in some very heartfelt and heated discussions. Catherine, a fine musician/singer too, was often the mediator in these matters. She and I became friends last year when she replaced me as the new kid at Promise Charter School. Because it is no fun to be the new kid, I guess I felt sorry for her, but more than that, I needed a friend too. If the truth be known, Catherine saved me from a life of boredom, bad grades and booze.  She’s one of the smartest people I know and the first real friend my own age that I’ve made since we’ve moved here.

Shortly after my dad was killed in Iraq, my mom decided to move the bunch of us from Hamilton, Ohio, to Western Oregon. My grandpa had left Mom his farm a few years back and she decided that it would be the most cost