APRIL 6, 1975 – Nick Tyler didn’t make it a habit to stop for strangers. It wasn’t usually an issue by the time he got done packing up after a gig. By 3 a.m., signs of life were scarce in downtown St. Louis, and the stage-weary drummer could make it home with only the echo of cover tunes to distract him. Tonight was the exception. The girl appeared out of nowhere, stepping off the curb and into the stream of his headlights without a glance in either direction.
A string of expletives – pleas to God interspersed with words he wouldn’t say in front of his mother – sprang from his tongue as he slammed on the brakes. The early April mist had glazed Clark Avenue with a thin layer of ice that sent the old Plymouth into an uncontrollable skid. Its back end swung like a fishtail.
By the time the tires grabbed the pavement, the grill was only inches from her legs. He couldn’t bring himself to look at her. Even with the car sitting idle, gruesome visions of what could’ve happened kept him paralyzed in the driver’s seat until the low strains of an Allman Brothers song pulled him back to the moment.
Peeling his fingers from the wheel, Nick forced a breath and lifted his gaze. He expected to see her flashing a middle finger at him. Instead, he found the windshield wipers framing the shape of a young woman bowing at the waist against the hood of his car. Jesus, I hurt her.
The Long Road to Heaven Description:
Sometimes moving on means going home, but that’s the last place Heather Montgomery wants to be. Harrowing memories of the night she left that little Nebraska farm linger at the forefront of her mind and fuel the lyrics that propel her to stardom. But to push the truth about what really happened past her lips is a task that outweighs her by tons.
She’d be damned to forgive her father for what he did. But when a tragic accident destroys her marriage and career, Heather stumbles in her father’s footsteps, forsaking the love of her child for the comfort found in a bottle of bourbon.
Her family would be better off without her. That much she knows. But she’s her father’s daughter, too stubborn to give up. Her only hope is forgiveness. But how can she ask for something she’s not willing to give? She needs something to believe in, a reason to let go. The only place she’ll find that is on the road that takes her home.
