Somehow, Jamie caught a break and traffic was cooperative enough to get them to the stadium at ten fifty-five. They pulled into a VIP entrance, flashed their all-access credentials to security, and motored to the artist check-in tent. Tex and Sammi were waiting by a narrow stairwell leading up to the main stage.
“Where the hell have you been?” Tex barked, the first time he had ever raised his voice at him.
Jamie rubbed the back of his aching neck. “I’m sorry, we got here as soon as we could. We went to see Mamaw and?—”
“You don’t answer your phone, you don’t tell anyone where you are. I was scared you got kidnapped,” Tex bellowed.
Sammi brandished her phone at Jamie. “With how mad your daddy is, you might consider making that happen,” she said, her shrill voice cutting through the ambient backstage noise. “Or get a fake passport and flee to Mexico, because he’s gonna be hotter than fish grease when he finds out.”
Tex nodded to Brinton. “Didshetalk you into this?”
Without thinking, Jamie stepped in front of her, shielding her with his body. He was fucking done being admonished. “It’s my fault I was late, you hear me?”
“Well, the promoters are threatening to pull you from the show,” Tex said, his voice lower but still tinged with ire.
“What? They can’t?—”
Sammi slid between the two men. “Yes, Jamie, they can. That’s why we called you. Your father moved your rehearsal time up for ten o’clock to make room for an extra meet-and-greet scheduled for”—she checked her phone—“right now.”
Jamie clenched a fist. “And you let him?”
Sammi’s emerald eyes narrowed and her nostrils flared. “I don’tlethim do anything, you know that. And if you’d bothered to read the contract you signed for the show, you’d know the promoters stipulated that you—the headliner—must attend soundcheck. Or you forfeit your spot.”
“There must be something we can—” Brinton started, but Sammi cut her off.
“Brinton, honey, I’m sorry. The three of us need to figure this out.” Sammi waved over a passing staff member, a lanky twenty-something guy with a headset, who immediately brightened at her attention.
“Excuse me, could you please take my friend to Jamie’sgreenroom?” Sammi asked, sweet enough that Jamie almost forgot she planned to whoop his ass.
The concert staffer nodded.
“I’ll meet you there as soon as I can,” Sammi told Brinton as she answered her buzzing cell phone.
Brinton peered up at Jamie for the answer. He nodded, rubbing slow circles on the small of her back. “Don’t worry about me, Bee. I’ll see you tonight at the show. Everything’s gonna be fine.”
He needed to believe it.
Jamie looked back at Tex, arms now crossed over his broad chest, and Sammi, who held her phone between them as they shout-talked to someone over speakerphone.
Brinton nodded, a little shell-shocked, and followed the guy.
Another artist’s song blared over the loudspeaker. The show had gone on without him. It was strange because on one hand, Jamie knew he was only there because he’d successfully scammed his way into fame. He hadn’t actually earned it. On the other, a tiny part of him longed for the chance to play such a prestigious show, as if he did.
Sammi hung up, then she and Tex watched him with the same expression: relief and a smidge of irritation.
“That was the promoter,” Sammi said. “After what you pulled?—”
Jamie slid his palm down his jaw. “Hell’s bells, I said I was sorry. Am I playing this show or what? Because I’ve got plenty of other ways to spend the time if not, so stop jerking me around.”
Sammi straightened her spine and raised both hands in defeat. “We deserved that. I was gonna say that you’re a lucky son of a gun. They’re gonna honor the contract, partially because I begged and partially because your father agreed to extend the meet-and-greet by an hour.”
“Tonight, you’re headlining a completely sold-out show,” Tex said. He moved closer and outstretched his hand to Jamie, who took it. “I was worried about you, son. Didn’t mean to blow a gasket.”
“I appreciate that,” Jamie said slowly, taking in that, in a few hours, he’d be performing for a hundred thousand people. He’d be happier if it weren’t another moment signed, sealed, and delivered by his father.
“No more foolishness,” Sammi said, signature grin returning. “The promoters are already cagey. Unfortunately, there aren’t any more slots for you to rehearse before doors open, so when you walk out there tonight, you’re flying blind.”
“A broken clock is right twice a day,” Jamie cracked.
