"Do you have any idea what the next assignment is yet?" "Nope." "Do you have any idea where we're supposed to be going?" "No, not really." "Do you have any idea of how long it's gonna be until we get there?" "Till we get where?" "To wherever we're supposed to be going." "I told you I don't know where we're going." " Then how are we gonna get there?" " The same way we always get there." "You're testy tonight." "What's the matter, are you tired?" "Why should I be tired?" "Only been driving for ten hours." "Hey, look, if you're tired, why don't you just say so?" " We'll pull in somewhere." " I'm not tired." "There's a roadhouse ahead." "You can get something to eat." "I am not hungry." "I just wanna know where it is we're supposed to be going." "They serve ribs." "They do?" "And barbecued chicken." "Chicken?" "Hey, Jonathan." "What?" "I don't know about you, but I just got my assignment." " There you go, one more bowl of ribs." " Great." "You sure you don't want anything else?" "I didn't think there'd be anything else left." "I know what you mean." " Will that be it?" " I'm fine." "Okay, we've got two barbecued chicken with all the trimmings, three pecan pie and nine bowls of ribs." " Thank you." " Nine bowls of ribs?" "What you got over there, a banquet party?" "Would you believe it, Gabe, that's all for one guy?" " Gabe?" " One human guy?" "Mister, whoever you are, the pig farmers of America ought to get down on their knees and pray you live a long life." "I can't believe it." "It's him." " Gabe." "Gabe Wilson?" " Yes, sir?" "I gotta tell you something." "I haven't heard music like you played tonight since, oh, 20, 25 years ago in a little place called the Chit Chat Club in Oakland." "You sounded better tonight than you did then." "Well, I appreciate it." "Bless your heart." "I liked it myself." "Chit Chat Club, huh?" "You don't mind if I ask you a question?" "No, go ahead." "Did you use to be black?" "Because you sound like you're white to me now." "But if you were in the Chit Chat Club 25 years ago and you weren't black and you're still alive, you must be a big, ugly cop named Mark Gordon." " How are you?" " How are you?" "Oh, man." " How you been?" " I've been up and I've been down." "The main thing is I'm still around." "That's all that counts, you know?" "Right." "Hey, listen, I want you to meet a friend of mine." " Jonathan Smith." " Gabe Wilson." "It's a pleasure." "How'd you recognise him after all this time?" "Just by his voice?" "Oh, no, his voice didn't have nothing to do with it." " I recognised the nine bowls of ribs." " That sounds more like it." "Gabe?" "Gabe, are you all right?" "Yeah." "Just a little tired." "It's funny, you don't even feel it till the music stops, you know?" "Why don't we go outside and get some air?" "Yeah, sure." "Come on." "That's better." "Back to nature." "You know what's funny?" "I was riding along about ten years ago and all of a sudden they started playing one of your records on the radio." " That was more than ten years ago." " You still cutting records?" "Mark, did you go blind too?" "I mean, does it look like I'm cutting records?" "Was somebody playing a joke on me?" "Was I playing the Fillmore or Hollywood Bowl, or was that a barbecue joint back in there?" "But it's okay, you understand." "See, when I first started out, all I wanted to do was play and get paid for it, that's all." "I mean, back then, getting paid anything was a luxury." "Then the kind of music I was playing got discovered, you understand?" "They started paying me lots of money to play the way I was playing before when they wasn't paying me nothing." "Yeah, I made a lot of money for a lot of people." "I just wasn't the one that got to keep it, that's all." " What happened?" " Well, things change." "Tastes change." "For a while, they had some white guys that started to play the way I did." "Most of those guys are out of work now too." "Some of them are dead." "Which makes for a very dull act, you understand?" "I guess one of the nice things about being blind is, big house or little house, they all sound the same to me." "Main thing is how it sounds." " Great." "You sound better than ever." " My feelings exactly." "I guess we'd better get back inside." "I got another set to do." "But maybe you could give me a lift to the bus station." "I got a gig tomorrow night that's 400 miles from here." "Hey, you got it." "Gabe, you all right?" "Yeah, yeah." "Must have ate too much of that barbecue in there." "Gave me heartburn." "But I'm okay." " You're sure?" " That barbecue gives you heartburn?" "Yeah, I'm sure." "I'm sorry, but you'll have to wait outside." "He's an old friend of mine." "I'm sorry, but no one is allowed in the treatment area." "We're awfully busy tonight." "So if you'll just have a seat outside, the doctor will see you as soon as he's had a chance to examine your friend." "Jonathan, is he gonna--?" "I don't know." "Come on, buddy, let's let the doctors do their work." "Mr. Wilson?" "Mr. Wilson?" "Can you hear me, Mr. Wilson?" "Ellie." "What are you doing here?" "Mr. Wilson." "Can you tell me what happened?" "Can you play "Sweet Georgia Brown"?" "What?" "You're the doctor." "I'm the musician." "You tell me what happened." "He's going into cardiac arrest." "Half a milligram of epinephrine." "Let's get the paddles on him." "Clear." "Clear." "Are you Mr. Wilson's friends?" "That's right." "How's he doing, doc?" "Well, we're taking him to Intensive Care." "Now, he's had a heart attack." "We're trying to stabilise him." "Is he gonna make it?" "Is he gonna be all right?" "We won't know that for a while." "And he was calling out for someone named Ellie." "Does he have any family?" "I haven't seen him in a lot of years." "Over at that club where he was working, they said they didn't think so." "Is there anything we can do?" "Well, if you believe in that sort of thing, you can pray." "Trust me, doc, I'm a believer." "You don't happen to know if there's a church close by here, do you?" "I know the boss can hear you anyplace, but it might help." "The boss?" "Just take care of Gabe, will you, doc?" "We'll do our best." "There's a storefront church just a couple blocks from here." "Hi, Mama." "Okay, I know I'm late." "I'll just get changed." "It won't take a second." "Where have you been, Vanessa?" "We're gonna be ten minutes late for prayer meeting." " Just with some friends." " What friends?" " Just friends." " Musician friends maybe?" "The kind of friends that are talking about starting a band?" "Now, Mother Washington told me her grandson saw you down at that record store with some young people who don't belong to this church and I doubt if they belong to any other church." "And they had amplifiers and they had electric guitars and I don't know what other kind of tools of the devil" "They aren't tools of the devil, Mama." "They're just musical instruments." "And we were just making music together, that's all." "Mother Washington told me that they're talking about starting a band and they're looking for a singer, a singer." "Mother Washington sure gets around for an old lady." "I will not have you disrespect one of the saints of the church." "Now, look, I don't want you to change the subject either." "Now tell me, is this what you're planning to do?" "Are you planning on running off with some kind of band?" "I'm here now, Mama." "And I can either argue with you about something Mother Washington got third-hand from her blabbermouth grandson, who doesn't have anything better to do in this life than run around badmouthing people who never had any trouble with the law, which is more" "Don't you talk like this to me in my house, I won't have it." "I won't have my own daughter disrespect me, I won't have it." "I don't mean any disrespect, Mama." "I just wanna know what you want." "Now should we argue or should I get dressed for prayer service?" "You are just stubborn and rebellious." "That's what you are." "You are just stubborn and rebellious." "I am so glad your father is not alive to see it." "Bless his soul." "Mama, Daddy always said that I had a gift." "Your father was the best preacher I ever knew and he was the best husband to me that ever walked this Earth." "But where you were concerned, he was so soft-headed." "But I can understand it." "You could wrap that man around your little finger." "Look at the time." "If I don't get downstairs, they're gonna elect a new preacher." "But we haven't finished with this conversation yet, Vanessa." "No, ma'am, we haven't." "Heir of salvation, purchase of God" "Born of his spirit Washed in his blood" "This is my story, this is my song Praising my Saviour all the day long" "This is my story, this is my song Praising my Saviour all the day long" "Now," "I want you to remember my sermon tonight." " Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft." " Yes, ma'am." "And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry." " And I don't care who does it." " Amen." "Whether it's your husband or your wife, your brother or your sister, your son or your daughter." " Amen." " Amen." "Now that concludes this evening's service." " Choir practise tomorrow at 8:00." " Amen." " Tarry servicesThursday evening." " Yes." "And may the Lord bless and keep you." " Amen." " Amen." "Good evening." "May I help you gentlemen with something?" "A friend of mine is in the hospital and he's pretty sick." " I just wanted to say a prayer for him." " Well, bless your heart, brother." " Mark Gordon." "Jonathan Smith." " Hi." "Well, you're both welcome here this evening." "There's members of our congregation that could take a lesson from you." "You don't go putting your faith in fancy doctors." "Amen." "Let the trouble come and you wanna come to the house of the Lord." "Yes, ma'am." "I'm Mother Livingston." "I'm the pastor of this church." "And you and your friend are welcome." " Thank you." " Thank you." "Boss," "I know Gabe ain't no angel, you know." "But he hasn't had a very easy life either." "I mean, when he had that accident that left him blind, he never got bitter." "He never got bitter and he never blamed anybody." "Fact is, I don't think Gabe ever said a bad word about anybody." "He's a good guy, boss." "And he's all alone right now and he needs you bad." "Well, I guess all I'm saying is," "I hope you help him." "He's worth it." "That's it." "Thanks for listening." "Amen." " Gabe?" " Mark." "Come on in." "How you doing?" "I'd be doing a lot better if they had some barbecue on this hospital menu." "I wanna thank you for bringing me in." "You and your friend saved my life." "Hey, well, it's pure selfishness." "I don't know anybody who plays music as good as you." "Ain't that the truth?" "Gabe, is there anybody you want us to call for you?" "Nobody to call, no." "I'm what you wanna call footloose and fancy-free." "The doctor said in the emergency room, you called out for somebody named Ellie." "Ellie?" "Well, that figures." "It must be 30 years since I've seen her." "But never been a day gone by that I haven't thought of her." "She smelled of sweet-smelling soap, that I remember." "Probably the only one that I ever wanted to marry." "Not the only one I ever said I wanted to marry, you understand." "But I probably would have done it with her." "No probably about it." " What happened?" " Well, bless her heart." "She wanted someone who would be home." "And I can understand that." "But I could either be home and unemployed or on the road and getting paid for what I know how to do best, and that's make music." "Speaking of which, when will they let me out of here?" "I got some gigs to get to." "Listen, the doc said you're gonna have to take it easy for a while." "Which means no road travel for a while." "Mark, like I said, I can either be in one place unemployed or on the road getting paid." "I can't take it easy, man." "Why don't you concentrate on getting out of here?" "Then we'll worry about the rest." "Things have a way of working themselves out, you know?" "Yeah, I guess they do." "Look, the doc said for us not to stay too long." "You look like you could use some sleep." "As long as you're sure I'll wake up." "I got some gigs to play." "Don't worry, Gabe, you're gonna wake up." "You guarantee that?" "Yeah." "Yeah, I guarantee it." "You heard the man." "Good night." "I can't tell you how much we appreciate this." "Well, there's not much to appreciate." "You and your friend need a place to stay and we need the repair work done." "Besides, you'll have your hands full cleaning up this place and making it fit to live in." "Because we been using it as a storeroom." " We'll have it fixed up in no time." " Lord knows we can use it." "We don't have much of a congregation left." " We're having to start all over again." " What happened?" "We used to have three times as many people as we have now." "They're backsliders, all of them, every one of them." "They say, Mother Livingston, she's too hard on them." "Because she won't stand for them wearing their skirts up to their belly button like a lot of them want to do." "And she won't let them go dancing at night in the discos and smoking cigarettes and going to the movies." "Now, I tell the same thing to my daughter, Vanessa." "But somehow, I don't think it's gonna do any good, because she's just rebellious and stubborn." "I don't know." "She seems like such a nice young woman." "Nice young women are grist for the devil's mill." "That friend of yours, the one you said is coming out of the hospital." "Now if he can play the piano as good as you say he can, he can stay here, too, until he gets up on his feet." "Because Lord knows we can use a good piano player." "Now, I don't know if you've heard Mother Washington banging on that piano downstairs." " Yes, we've heard her." " Well, I'll let you get started." "I swear, a whole congregation full of coloured people and not one of them can play the piano." "A freak of nature." "This is a perfect idea, Jonathan." "Great gift for Gabe, couple of jazz tapes." "I'm glad you approve." "Excuse me." "You work here?" " What can I do for you?" " I'm looking to buy a couple of tapes." " Where's your jazz section?" " Right down at the end of the counter." "Right in front of me." "Thanks." "Hey, guys, you know, I got a great idea." "You know, for that track that you did that riff with" "Hi, Vanessa." "I'll be right with you." "Mr. Smith." " How are you?" " Fine." "Look, Mr. Smith, my mama didn't send you down to find out if I was here, by any chance, did she?" "No." "Why?" "Nothing." "Just" " Well, could I ask you a favour?" " Oh, sure." "Like what?" "Well, like just don't say that you saw me down here." "I mean, if she asks you, I'm not asking you to lie." "But if it doesn't come up," "I'd appreciate it if you just wouldn't mention it." "There's no reason why I should." "I guess it's not always easy being a preacher's daughter, is it?" "Tell me about it." "Can't do this and can't do that." "What would people think?" "Your mother doesn't strike me as the person who does things because of what people think." "Oh, no." "She does what she does because of what she thinks." "I just wish she'd give other people credit for being able to think too." "That's part of being a mother." "Ever watch a mother when her baby's trying to learn to walk?" "She goes through more struggles than the child does." "But she knows that baby's not gonna learn unless she lets go of him." "She loves him so much, she wants to protect him from the fall." "Hey, Vanessa." "You gonna talk or rehearse?" "Don't worry, I haven't seen you." "Thanks." "Church?" "Oh, man." "Not that I have anything against them, you understand." "It's just I ain't been in one for a long time." "It's just not for me." "Gabe, listen to me." "The doc says you gotta take it easy for a while." "Which means you cannot be sitting up all night playing in clubs." "This is a way so you don't have to worry about expenses or a place to live, and you can get your strength back." "I ain't got no strength, so there's none to get back." "I'm at the end of it and I know it." "I just wanna finish the way I started, playing my kind of music the way I know how." "At the end of it?" "That doesn't sound like the Gabe Wilson I knew." "Well, the Gabe Wilson you knew didn't have a heart attack yet." "Look, Gabe, you go back on the road, you're gonna last about three months." "You do what the doctor says, you can be playing your kind of music your way for a long time." "Why don't you start using your head?" "All right, children, let's go get holy." "I started out in church, might as well end up in one." " How you doing, Vanessa?" " Hello, Mr. Smith." "I want you to meet Gabe Wilson." "He's gonna be playing piano for the choir." "How you doing?" "I'm real well, thank you." "You mind if I take a look at your piano, get a feel of it?" "No, not at all, Mr. Wilson." "It's right over here." "There's a step up." "Yep, sounds like a church piano." "Them that's got shall get" "Them that's not shall lose" "So the Bible said" "And it still is news" "Mama may have" "Papa may have" "But God bless the child" "That's got his own" "That's got his own" "Yes" "Vanessa." "What kind of music is that you're singing in the house of the Lord?" "That is the devil's music." "No, it isn't, Mama." "It's just music, that's all it is." "It's "God Bless the Child."" "It's my fault, ma'am." "I'm Gabe." "Gabe Wilson." " Gabe?" " That's right." "But you're blind." "Well, don't worry about it." "It's not catching." "I take it that you're the young lady's mother." "Yes." "What's wrong, Mama?" "Is something going on here that I don't know about?" "Mr. Wilson, we used to know each other a long, long time ago." "I'm Eleanor Livingston." "Before I got married, my maiden name was Marcelle." "But I don't think you would remember that." " Ellie?" " Yes, Gabe." "Ellie?" "You can share this with Mr. Smith and Mr. Gordon." "There's not much room, but it is a roof over your head." "Well, looks okay to me." "I don't believe in joking about disabilities, Mr. Wilson." "I don't have any disabilities, Ellie." "I just can't see." "But then I don't waste much money on light bulbs either." " Here, let me take your bag for you." " Just tell me where to put it." "First bed on your left." "You know, Ellie, my eyes are the only things about me that don't work." "The rest of my parts function just fine." "Matter of fact, you be surprised at some of the advantages of being a tactile kind of a man." "I see you've got the same mouth after all these years." " Yes, ma'am, I believe it's true." " I put dinner on the table at 6 and it's gone by 6:30." "So if you want to eat, you'd best be on time." "Which, as I recall, wasn't one of your strong points either." "Seems like you don't remember just what my strong points were, Ellie." "Mr. Wilson, I want to tell you a thing or two." "I'm not one of your 18-year-old girls whose head you can turn with fancy notions and gutter talk." "I am a saved Christian, amen, and the pastor of this church, praise God." "Preach it this morning." "And this is my house you'll be sleeping in." " This is my house you'll be eating in." " Amen." "And I will not stand for your mockery and your blaspheming." "Just having fun, Ellie." "Didn't mean to offend." "And, Mr. Wilson, you are not to call me Ellie." "You will call me Pastor Livingston or Mrs. Livingston or Mother Livingston." "And you will treat me with respect." "Lord, if that's the effect you have on women, you and me better have a little talk." "O what peace we often forfeit" "O what needless pain we bear" "All because we do not carry" "Everything to God in prayer" "Now, that was beautiful." "Now, that was really beautiful." "We want to welcome Brother Wilson to the congregation tonight." "Yes, the wine of the Lord can sanctify even the most profane vessel." " Hallelujah." " Amen." "And may the Lord God bless and keep you." "And may he turn his face towards you and let his holy countenance shine upon you and grant you peace." " Amen." " Amen." " Vanessa, I got news for you, girl." " What's that, Mr. Wilson?" "You're a singer." "What you do with it is up to you, but you're a singer." "The talent is there." "It needs work, but it's there." "To the glory of God it is, amen." "And she's doing with it just what she's supposed to be doing with it." "Praising her Lord." "Amen." "Nobody said the Lord didn't like music, Ellie." "I expect that's why he gave it to us, because he knew we'd like it too." "Amen." "Let's go, Vanessa." "It's past your bedtime." "Good night." "Good night." "And good night to you, Mother Livingston." "Mr. Smith, may I have a word with you outside, please?" "Certainly." "Don't worry about this paint." "We'll have this mess cleaned up in time for your service tonight." "It's not the paint I'm worried about." "Mr. Smith." "Mr. Smith, I know that man is a friend of yours." " Mark?" " Mr. Wilson." "I know the man is a friend of yours." "From what I understand, he was a friend of yours, too, at one time." "That was almost 40 years ago." "The only thing I feel for him now is a Christian sense of fellowship and a pity at the way he's turned out." "I don't think Gabe feels any need for your pity." "Mr. Smith, I know Mr. Wilson has fallen on hard times and it is my Christian duty to lend a helping hand." "But as soon as that man gets completely fit," "I want him out of my house." "Do you mind if I ask you why?" "Has he said or done anything?" "He hasn't done anything, because I won't give him the chance to do." "And it's not so much what he says but the way he says it." "Now, I have a young, impressionable daughter and he is not the kind of man I want in my house." "I can't believe Gabe would say anything out of line to your daughter." "He hasn't yet." "But he's a musician." "And the less she sees of those kind, the better off she will be." "Let me see if I understand this." "You let Mr. Wilson stay here so he could play piano for the choir." "That's correct." "Now you want him out because he's a musician?" "That's correct." "But he is a skirt chaser." "Any woman at all, it doesn't matter." "Even the pastor of a church." "Oh, Mrs. Livingston, there I know you're wrong." "When Gabe was in that emergency room, just one step away from death, he called out a woman's name." "But it wasn't just any woman." "It was your name, Ellie." " Is that true?" " Yes, ma'am, it's true." "It is unseasonably hot for this time of the year, huh?" "Well, Mr. Smith, I'm glad we had our little talk." "I want you to tell Mr. Wilson that I expect to see him tonight at choir on time." " Oh, I'll tell him." " Thank you." "I can't understand what happened to my daughter." " She didn't say anything to me." " Oh, I forgot." "She asked me to tell you she was gonna be late for dinner and for you not to worry." "Did she tell you where she was going?" "No, ma'am." "I don't know what's gotten into that girl." "I don't think there's anything to worry about." "Here, let me help you clear these dishes, huh?" "I'll give you a hand." "Oh, Gabe," "Vanessa found one of your old albums today at the music store." "You're kidding." "You sure she wasn't in an antique store?" "The music store." "That's where she went, with that band." "Mr. Wilson, I want you to talk to her." " Me?" " Yes." "I want you to tell her the kind of toll that it takes on a person's life to make the wrath of God come down on them." "Well, I wouldn't know much about that." "How can you say that?" "You think I want my baby to end up like you?" "I didn't mean that the way it sounded." "I don't regret a day of my life, Ellie." "And I don't know anything about any wrath of God." "God and me are just fine." "How can you say that when he struck you blind to show you the error of your ways?" "He didn't strike me blind, Ellie." "It was a drunk in a '57 Chevy." "It was the will of God." "What do you think, Ellie?" "That God bought him a six-pack?" "I expect God has a lot more to do in this life than going around striking me blind." "And blind isn't the worst thing you can be in this world." "And there's more than one way of being blind." "And what's that supposed to mean?" "It means you shut me out and wrote me off 30 years ago." "And from the way it sounds, you're getting ready to do the same thing to your own daughter." "I've loved you for 30 years, Ellie." "I still do, but you won't let me in." "And you're shutting her out." "I want you out of my house." "You can't talk to me like that in my house." "I want you out." "I'm going, Ellie." "Don't shut the door on her like you did on me." "I don't believe the Lord is gonna give you another 30 years for her to come back." "Vanessa?" "Vanessa, you missed service tonight." "Now, I won't have it anymore." "You hear me, girl?" "Where's Mr. Wilson?" "I need to talk to him." "My daughter has run off and I think he knows where she is." "He left some time ago, Mrs. Livingston." " With Vanessa?" "Was she with him?" " No, Mark took him to the hotel." "What hotel?" "I need to talk to him." "He knows where she is." "He put her up to it." " No, he didn't." " Yes, he did, don't tell me no." "My daughter wouldn't just run off like this." " He put her up to it." "He did it." " That isn't true." "It is." "I heard him." "I heard him filling her head, telling her she was a singer and the rest was up to her." "I need to find her." "Why?" "Because her place is here with the Lord." "The Lord's everywhere, not just here." "She's not gonna find him in some honky-tonk." "She doesn't have to find him." "He's not lost." "And I don't think your daughter is either." "She's just left home, that's all." "Well, she's making a mistake." "All right, children make mistakes." "That's how they learn." "But I'm not talking about just some mistake." "This could cost her her salvation." "She cannot do this to the Lord." "To the Lord or to you?" "I don't know what you're talking about." "Are you angry at your daughter because she left the Lord or because she left you?" "All these years you've been angry at Gabe because he left God or because he left you?" "Because she's left the path of the Lord." "And if she does, if she's left this house, daughter or no, this door will be closed to her." "I think you'd better start taking a good look at how many people you're closing your door to." "Two-thirds of your congregation, Gabe." "You threaten to do the same thing to your daughter because she won't live her life the way you think she should." "Mrs. Livingston, she's a 20-year-old girl." "She's got her own life to lead." "And all you can do is love her." "Goodbye, Mrs. Livingston." "Jonathan." "Take me to Mr. Wilson." "He knows where she is." "I know he does." "Take me to him, please." "All right." "Well, what are you gonna do now, Gabe?" "Well, seems like every 30 years, I have to let that woman kick me out." "Guess I'll go back on the road." "But do you know what's really funny?" "No, what?" "That woman still loves me." "I know she does." "She loved me 30 years ago, she still does." "So that's why you're going back on the road?" "Well, she just doesn't wanna have anything to do with me." "The female of the species, man, you figure it out." "Gabe, do you remember the movie Gone With the Wind?" "Babies, I don't know nothing about birthing no babies." "Right, right." "Well, what happened when Scarlet O'Hara shut the door on Rhett Butler?" "You tell me." "Well, he didn't go back on the road, I'll tell you that." "He kicked the door in." "Now, listen, if you love that woman as much as you claim to love her, you wouldn't let her shut the door." "You can't make somebody love you." "Well, according to you, she already does." " Is Gabe here?" " Yeah." "Come on in." "Mark here was just leaving." "Yeah, I was." "I'll see you later, Rhett." "Have a seat." "Mr. Wilson" "You were calling me Gabe there for a second there." "Yes, yes, I guess I did." "Gabe, do you know where Vanessa is?" " Vanessa?" " Yes." "She left a note saying she went off somewhere with that band of hers, that they went on some road tour." "Well, then that's where she is." "I don't know any more about it than you do, Ellie." "You'd tell me if you knew, though?" "You wouldn't lie to me?" "I've never lied to you, Ellie." "And I wasn't lying to you when I told you that I loved you either." "She's left me, Gabe." "Well, of course she's left you, honey." "That's what children do." "There's nothing to cry about." "Come on." "You're too pretty to cry like that." " Don't talk like that." " Like what?" "Calling me pretty like I'm some dumb young thing." "I'm not pretty, Gabe, I'm old." "I'm old, Gabe." "I'm an old woman and I got nobody and nothing." "You are pretty to me." "You look the same way you did 30 years ago in my mind." "Nothing can change that." "That's one of the advantages of having a blind husband." "You don't have to look your best for him all the time." "I'm being serious, Gabe." "So am I. If you'd been listening instead of feeling sorry for yourself, you would've heard, I said husband, Ellie." "I'm asking you to marry me." "I love you, Ellie." "I wanna marry you." "We're too old to be talking like that." "I don't feel old." "I feel good." "And you feel good." "Oh, you feel good." "You notice how warm it's getting?" "Now, I'm not saying I won't go back on the road, now, mind you, because a man's gotta work, but I wanna come home to you." "I expect I won't be on the road half as much as I used to." "And I could play with that choir of yours." "Yeah, it wouldn't kill me to play in church." "Gabe, what do you think people would say if they saw a pastor on the road with you in some honky-tonk?" "They'd say, there goes Mother Wilson." "She took that old sinner Gabe and now he's spending half his time in church." "Since when did you start to worry about what people say?" "Come on, what do you say?" "I won't stand for no drinking, no blaspheming." " I won't stand for no profanity" " Come on, Ellie." "Stop telling me what you won't stand for and answer me." "Yes." "Nuts." "I thought you said you got the car tuned up this morning." "I did." "I don't understand it." "The car was running fine." "Some way to start a road tour." "Hey, I'm doing my best, all right?" "Hello, Vanessa." "Mr. Smith, did my mama send you out here?" "No, your mother doesn't know where you are." "She told me about the note." "I'm not going back, Mr. Smith." "I never asked you to." "I'm an adult." "I've got my own life to live." "Yeah, well, you didn't handle this like an adult." "Adults don't leave notes and run away, children do." "Don't you think your mother deserves a little more than that?" "But you can't talk to her." "What would I say?" "Just tell her you love her." "And to try not to worry about you too much." "Come on, Vanessa, it's your mom." "What do you say?" "I can't believe it." "It started by itself." "I didn't even touch it." "Come on, let's go before it quits on us." "We have to go by my place." "I have to see my mom." " Vanessa." " Hello, Mama." "I am so glad you came back." "Mama, I'm" " I'm not staying, I just" " I know, who said you had to?" "I just didn't want you running off without knowing." "Knowing what, Mama?" "That Gabe and I..." "Are you joking?" "No, I'm not joking." "Oh, Mama." "Hard to believe, a preacher woman who can't stand honky-tonk musicians ends up with two of them in her family." "Now, if you're gonna be my husband, you'd better shut your mouth." "A request if I ever heard one." "I love you, Mama." "I love you too."