Justin
Call me delusional, but I guess I counted myself in the “million other people” she forgot. It would have been nice to be mentioned, though.
Seven
Kylie
We had the rager of the century after those CMA Awards. It was like Ryan had never been to a real party before! Like, dear lord. Get outside, girl.
All my people were hesitant about a quote-unquote “country” party, but I was like, hell, let’s lean into it. Themed drinks. Skimpy denim shorts and flannel. Tumbleweed tequila sunrises—don’t ask me, they put Frosted Mini-Wheats in them or something—and pigs in a blanket. Rodrick, the guy I was dating at the time, brought a tin of edibles and codeine and called it cowboy candy.
A bunch of my LA friends flew out for the CMAs, and we rented a big house in Nashville. Professional DJ, catered Smokey’s Bar-B-Que, the works. Some of them stayed behind to get a watch party going while the rest of us were at the Gaylord, and when we all got back with Ryan and her friend in tow, it was cranked to a hundred. I got her a red Solo cup and a vodka cran immediately.
But when I handed it to her, she said, “No, thanks, that’s okay.”
I’d—listen, I’m not proud of it now, but—I laughed at her. I said, “What? You don’t want it?”
“No,” Ryan said. “I’d take some lemonade, if you have it.”
I laughed again and her friend gave me a dirty look. She didn’t want anything, either, I guess. I asked them why the hell they didn’t.
“I’m seventeen,” Ryan said, smiling.
“Ryan,” I snapped at her. I pulled my friend Desiree over. “Do you know who this is? This is Desiree LaBelle. She does commercials for American Family Insurance.”
“That’s really cool,” Ryan said. “And?”
I’d rolled my eyes. “And, she’s literally zonked on cough syrup right now. Aren’t you, Desee?”
“Hmm?” Desiree said. She had that look in her eye.
“Yeah,” I said. “So you can keep your clean-girl image and still havefun. Everyone does it. I’m here to tell you: Age stops being a number when you literally have a career.”
“Good to know,” she said. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
I can’t be 100 percent sure, but I don’t think she touched any food or drink for the rest of that night.
Skip
I wouldn’t have faulted Ryan for doing as much celebrating as she wanted after that CMA win, as long as she was being safe. John and Barb were starting to take a very ... well, let’s just say it was a hands-off approach by the time Ryan reached seventeen. I get it. There’s no parenting book out there that’ll tell you how to raise your teenage daughter who’s bringing in more income than the two of you combined.
Barb was more like her accountant by then, managing all the money that was coming in and out and working with a financial adviser to invest it.
John ... I think John started to check out. He was overwhelmed, if I had to guess. It’s not easy seeing your little girl become the center of—well, all the attention, good and bad. We had a few long talks, the three of us, about what it means to be a public figure. They did share with me about the man who’d followed her from festival to festival, yes. And as arule, we provide security details to all our artists and make sure there are quite a few layers of separation before anyone can contact them directly.
But it’s just an occupational hazard, I stressed to them. The bigger your audience, the greater the likelihood you’ll get a wacko here or there. Barb seemed to accept it, but I know it was hard for John.
Anyway. Ryan did take some time off, which I was glad to see. Spent some time with Mari and started developing a circle of peers on her level, which was even better. I asked her how things went the day after one of their parties.
“Awful,” she said. “They all suck.”
I had to laugh. “Aren’t there thirty-something of you running around with Kylie Cameron? Every single one of them sucks?”
“Every single one.”
“Listen,” I said. “I’m not saying you have to spend any more time with them than you want to. But it might help to think of them as coworkers if you can’t think of them as friends. It’s good to have connections.”
Connections were how Andre and I built our business. It was what Madcap ran on—that and Ryan, slowly but surely.
