“They loved the sampling you submitted and are optimistically hopeful,” Brody said, and Hunter relaxed with relief.
He took his first deep breath since he’d signed on the dotted line for this upcoming album. The expectation he’d been drowning in lifted enough for his chest to ease up. “Not what I thought you were going to say, but Christ, this is great news.” He paused. “You’re not screwing with me, right?”
Hunter knew he was far from a solid album, but now he had the freedom he needed to make it happen.
“I never screw around when it comes to business. Ever.” Brody grinned at him. “Which is why I replaced all your songs with the two from Mackenzie, then explained to the label that it was only a small sampling of what was to come.”
And just like that, Hunter’s lungs stopped working. “I haven’t fully convinced Mackenzie to get on board.” It was only a matter of time before she caved. “If she finds out we are using her songs, I lose all my leverage with her. You have to call the label back, tell them those songs aren’t locked in.”
“No can do, cuz. They already started the paperwork to secure them. And before you go all menstrual on me, those songs are the only reason I didn’t show up with another Cody Kelly in tow,” Brodyexplained. “We take Mackenzie off the table and peach fuzz will just be the start of your problems.”
“I don’t want to take her off the table. I want to bring her back into the fold.”
“Until I hear from her that she wants to change the terms of your working relationship, we move forward with those songs.”
“We don’t have a working relationship. That’s the problem!”Jesus,was he the only one who was looking at the big picture? “And I need time to fix it.”
“Did you ever stop to wonder whether maybe by fixing your problem, you’re creating a truck full of ones for her?” Brody asked.
“The only way this can become a problem is if I let her walk away again,” Hunter explained. “And that’s not an option.”
“Right, I forgot—your big plan. The one where, when this is all said and done, she’ll go back to sitting in that same house while you’re off living the dream.”
“Maybe it’s time she was reminded of her own dream,” Hunter pointed out, still trying to reconcile the headstrong and vibrant Mackenzie he knew with the hesitant and scared woman from the other day.
“Dreams change,” Brody pointed out. “Sometimes they die.”
“Yours didn’t,” Hunter said. “Even when Savannah was one step from saying ‘I do’ to that suit, you didn’t stop dreaming about her.”
“My situation was different.”
“The woman you loved was marrying another man, making the likelihood of living outthatdream impossible. Yet here you are, married to her and raising a family with her,” Hunter said, because if there was ever a time to give up hope on a dream, that was it. But Brody had never let go, and even though his life hadn’t panned out exactly how he’d imagined it, he’d found his way back to Savannah, finding his own happiness in the process.
Brody thought about that for a moment, his face going soft. “Mackenzie’s still healing, Hunter. Tread lightly.”
“What better way to do that than with music?”
“This could be a good thing for her,” Brody said, his focus lasered in on Hunter. “But you need to ask yourself if you are the right guy for the job.”
Well, that pissed him off more than it should. “I’d never do anything to hurt Mackenzie.”
“I believe thatyoubelieve you won’t. But your drive is infectious.” Brody shook his head. “You’re like a tornado when you get focused on something—you kick the door down and sweep up everyone along the way and carry them with you.”
“Maybe Mackenzieneedsto be carried for a little while, so she can remember what it feels like to fly,” Hunter said.
“This is all about Mackenzie, then?” Brody asked, studying Hunter as if he wasn’t buying what Hunter was selling.
Hunter ignored the warning bells going off in his head that suggested his cousin was onto something and nodded. Confident and firm. “Yeah, and if a hit album comes from it, it’s a win-win in my book.”
Brody skewered him with a look. “Yourbook being key in that statement. What about Mackenzie’s book? Maybe working with you won’t be a win-win for her.”
“I’ll make sure it is,” Hunter vowed. “Why are you so against this? I thought you’d be on my side,” he asked, wondering how Brody wasn’t grasping the situation. “Ninety percent of our sales from the last album came from single downloads. Two songs, to be exact. The rest of the album tanked. With the right writing partner, that won’t happen again.”
“Which is why I’ll be sending over some tracks for you to listen to tonight.” Brody pulled out his phone and scrolled through a small list of names. “Before you ask, no, Mackenzie won’t be there to throw more of her time into the hat. I asked. She declined. End of story.”
She’d also stayed in the shower for more than an hour to avoid seeing him out.
“She told me she was going to think about it,” he said, and Brody leveled him with abullshitlook.
