I Did It For You ~ Part 4

Next day, Aileen opened her bedroom door to find Derek standing right in front of her. She gasped and almost fell backwards in her surprise. 

“Good morning,” he said. “Sorry if I scared you.” 

“It’s okay,” Aileen shook her head. She paused then took a deep breath and said, “Look, Derek, I’m really sorry about what I said last night. Will you forgive me?” 

He smiled. “Yeah, I forgive you. And I’m really sorry about how I was acting. You were right, I was being a baby.” 

Though she was puzzled at his sudden change of attitude, Aileen accepted his apology. 

“And to clear things up a bit, I don’t exactly hate horses,” Derek grimaced. “It’s just that - well - my dad was killed by one.” 

“Oh! I’m so sorry,” Aileen felt a twinge of guilt prick her. “I didn’t know- ”

“No, don’t apologize. It’s not your fault.” His face looked serious. “Last night, you made me remember the reason why my mom was coming here in the first place. I’d rather not explain it to you right now, but - thank you, Aileen.” 

“You’re welcome.” She hesitated, then grabbed his arm and asked cheerfully, “Now do you want to go eat breakfast?” 

After a hearty meal and devotions, the family dispersed to their everyday ranch chores. 

“Hey, Jack,” Derek called the boy back to the table. “Would you still be willing to show me the horses?” 

“But you said- ” Jack stopped and covered his mouth. 

“I know. I’m really sorry about all that mean stuff I said to you,” Derek held out his hand. “Will you forgive me?” 

“Sure!” Jack shook his hand readily. 

“You’ll have to describe the horses to me, then I can try picturing them in my mind,” Derek grinned. “Better hope you’re good at describing, Jack!” 

As Jack and Derek left the kitchen, Aileen caught her mother looking at her, eyebrows raised.  

“What?” she asked, pretending not to understand the look. 

“You want to explain that?” Michelle motioned towards the departing boys. 

“Uhhhh - not exactly,” Aileen blushed. 

“Aileen!” 

She turned around. 

“What is it?” she asked as Ed handed her his phone. 

“Just read,” her older brother leaned against the door frame. 

A few minutes passed before Aileen looked up. Her eyes were shinning brightly. She opened her mouth to speak, but the only thing that came out was a little shriek. 

“What happened?” their mother asked curiously. 

“Exec - demo - likes it - I’m dreaming-” Aileen stammered. 

Ed laughed. “What she means is that Mr. Stephens, the executive producer I told you about, really liked the demo that Aileen sent him and he wants to have her over to the States for a live audition and a few gigs. There will be a few other execs there too. But he says he’s certain she has a fairly good chance at winning them over.” 

“It’s next month!” Aileen danced around the room. “He actually liked it, Mom!”

“That’s wonderful, Ally dear!” Michelle hugged her daughter tightly. Then she looked over at Ed, a questioning look in her eyes. 

“I know,” he frowned. “There is the plane ticket, Ally.” 

But Aileen smiled excitedly. “That’s covered, Ed. I have more than enough for a trip there and back.” 

“You do?” Ed asked, surprised. “How?” 

“I’ve been saving up money since the day I made up my mind to be a country singer,” Aileen grinned. “Guess I finally get to use it!” 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Derek’s effort to change amazed Aileen. At first, she wondered if he had suddenly obtained some superhuman power. But as the two grew closer, she noticed that tease as he might, there was always a feeling of despair around him.

Finally, one night she sent up a prayer to her Heavenly Father. “Thank you, Lord, for making Derek better. But there’s a sadness about him that I don’t understand. Please, help him, Lord. Show him that you love him. If there’s ever a way that you can use me to help him, Lord, oh! please tell me! I would do anything to help Derek!” 

But Aileen wasn’t at all prepared for the answer God gave her. 

Spring finally arrived. And with it came the excitement of going to the States. Mr. Stephens had requested a cover of a song, so one day Aileen started recording Lauren Daigle’s Trust in You.  

Her clear, strong voice floated down from the loft, accompanied by a guitar. After a time, she emerged from her room. “Where did I put that sheet?” she muttered to herself. Running down the stairs, she went to the kitchen and began rummaging through the large brown desk standing in the corner. 

“Whatcha doing?” 

She whirled around and saw Derek standing in the doorway. 

“Oh, just trying to find a music sheet. I think I brought it down this morning and left it on the table. Mom probably put it in the desk by accident. I hope, anyway!” Aileen sighed as she started flipping through an immense pile of looseleaf papers. 

“You have a great voice,” Derek remarked. 

“Thanks! “ Aileen smiled. “Do you like singing?” 

“I used to be in a mini band back in the city. Not sure what happened to them now though,” he replied. “I was mostly the harmony.” 

“Hey!” Aileen suddenly grabbed his arm. “Why don’t you record a song with me? I’m sending a demo to Mr. Stephens; maybe you can help me with the harmonies? I’ve been having a bit of trouble figuring them out.” 

“Who’s Mr. Stephens?” his blank eyes looked at her, his head tipped to the side in a  questioning manner. 

“He’s an executive producer who’s interested in my music. I’m going to meet him, as well as a couple other execs, in a few weeks for an audition. And I’ll get to perform a few gigs too. He thinks that I might be able to start a singing career, which has been my dream for more than 10 years!” She stopped abruptly. Why did I just tell Derek Miller that? Now he’s got something else to tease me about and I’ll never hear the end of it. 

But instead of teasing, he commented, “Nice dream. Hope it all turns out for you.” 

There was a pause, then he said, “Are you sure you want me in your demo? I don’t want to ruin it and make Mr. Stephens send it back or something.” 

“I’m sure you’ve got a great voice,” Aileen grinned. “Maybe Mr. Stephens will love it so much he’ll make us a singing duo and we’ll go touring the country together!” 

“Very funny,” Derek laughed. “I don’t think you’re serious.” 

“Maybe I am, maybe I’m not,” she said teasingly. “But I am serious about you being in my demo. Now you go upstairs and we’ll record as soon as I find that paper.”

“Bossy!” he flung over his shoulder as he headed towards the loft. 

Aileen shook her head and thumbed through a yellow folder. 

“Bingo!” she exclaimed, pulling out a crumpled sheet covered in chords and lyrics. She was about to go back to the loft when she overheard her parents talking earnestly in their room. 

“How dare she?” her mother’s voice sounded indignant. 

Tiptoeing over, Aileen stood silently outside the door and listened intently.

“It’s true,” Will said sadly. “But that operation-”

His voice was cut off by the sound of the Chevy roaring out of the driveway. 

“Ed!” Aileen sighed in exasperation. As the sound of the truck died away, she heard the end of Will’s sentence

“- has a very high chance of regaining his sight.” 

Aileen caught her breath in shock. 

“The only problem is the money,” her father sighed. “Even if we gave as much as we possibly could, we would still be very short. We’ll have to pray about it and see what the Lord has in plan.”

“How much more do you need?” Michelle asked curiously. 

As her father named the amount, Aileen paled. In her little blue box upstairs lay the very amount he was looking for.