Wait for Me

The narrative flashes back to the autumn of 1972. Elle drives to Nashville after Weston took Merry’s mandolin and left, her hunger and sense of self-betrayal—from having given Weston her love—consuming her. She confronts her producer, Arlo, in the studio parking lot, telling him she found his cousin, Weston, at the remote cabin to which Arlo had sent her. Arlo becomes agitated and demands that Elle forget she ever saw Weston, urging her to disappear for a while. Instead, Elle sits in the parking lot and plays her entire new album for him. Arlo is moved to tears and tells her it is the album for which she will always be known. Elle understands this as a painful reminder that the Merry album will never be publicly recognized as hers. When he asks for a title, Elle reflects on her feelings of self-betrayal, and the chapter ends before she explicitly names the album.

In early 1973, Wounds from a Lover is a platinum-selling album, and Elle has adopted a tougher public image. She accepts an invitation to perform “Heal Nothing” at the Ryman Auditorium for a tribute concert celebrating Josie Starling’s only album. Backstage before her performance, Weston appears. Elle demands he return Merry’s mandolin, but he only responds with a cryptic question about her loyalties. When the curtain rises, Elle is shocked to see Weston sitting in the front row in an army uniform with his arm around Josie. She realizes that Weston is Luke Weston—Arlo’s cousin and the fabled soldier at the center of Josie’s fabricated album narrative. Despite her shock, Elle gives a mournful performance. Afterward, Josie walks from her seat onto the stage and says aloud, “Help me,” then kisses Elle’s cheek. In response, Elle punches Josie in the nose.

Immediately after assaulting Josie in 1973, Elle flees the Ryman Auditorium. Feeling no guilt, she drives barefoot out of Nashville toward a scheduled performance in Pennsylvania. Exhausted, she pulls into a gas station in the small town of Lenora and falls asleep in her car. She is woken by the young attendant, Abe Shaw, who recognizes her and asks for an autograph. While Abe is away finding a marker, Elle discovers a wicker trunk in her backseat containing a crying baby, though she does not know how it came to be there. Overcome with panic and a sense of her own destructiveness, she hastily slides the trunk to the far side of the pump. When Abe returns, she signs the pump with her name and the lyric, “Try to heal everything, and you’ll heal nothing at all” (218). She then speeds away, loses control of her car on a curve, goes over a guardrail, and crashes below the road, losing consciousness before realizing the car has started to sink.

On December 15, 1973, Elle regains consciousness in her sinking car. On the verge of drowning, she imagines being pulled from the wreck by a strong arm and collapsing on the riverbank, where she has a vision of her deceased mentor, Merry. Awakening to find herself still trapped in the car, she resolves to free herself, shoves through the window, and pulls herself out. Realizing she saved herself, Elle decides to abandon her public life and return home. Filthy and shoeless, she takes a bus to Wheeling and calls her mother, Susannah. Susannah drives to fetch her, and during the drive, Elle confesses her deep guilt over Merry’s death. Susannah comforts her but advises her not to use Merry or Josie Starling as excuses for leaving Nashville. Feeling she needs to grant herself “amnesty,” Elle returns with her mother to their mountain home, beginning her withdrawal from public life.

In 1991, after 18 years of seclusion, Elle sees a television report about a meteor strike in Lenora and recognizes Merry’s mandolin in a video of local musicians. The sight reawakens her artistic drive, and she leaves her mountain home to find it. The narrative returns to the present, where Elle takes Marijohn to perform at an open mic night. Marijohn freezes with stage fright, so Elle grabs a spare guitar backstage and joins her onstage, and they perform “Long Black Veil.” During the song, Elle studies Marijohn’s face and exclaims, “You’re her kid” (233). A talent scout then recognizes Elle, prompting Marijohn to lead her out of the bar. Back at Marijohn’s house, Marijohn confronts her, revealing she was the infant left in the wicker trunk with the mandolin and a note that read, “Call her Marijohn” (234). Elle apologizes but refuses to identify Marijohn’s suspected mother without proof, prompting Marijohn to make her sleep outside. Elle resolves to reclaim the music Josie stole from her.

Elle arrives at Arlo’s mansion in Nashville and confronts him, announcing that she is ready to end her disappearance and record a new album. Arlo coldly refuses, explaining that the myth of Elle Harlow as a tragic, gifted 22-year-old who vanished is far more profitable than a comeback. He tells her a 40-year-old woman’s album won’t sell and claims that her previous work is the best she will ever produce. He defends himself by pointing out that he has continued sending royalty checks to her mother for the past 18 years. Humiliated and furious, Elle tells Arlo he does not get to decide when her life is over. Before storming out, she steals one of his music awards for Wounds from a Lover. She leaves determined to reclaim her life on her own terms.