“I… might have chatted with a guy at the last open mic night,” she admitted shyly, a becoming flush lingering on her cheeks. “This guy named Levi, Levi Hawkins, came over and complimented my singing.”
“Wait,” Cadence said, blinking in surprise. “Levi Hawkinssaid you were a good singer?”
June frowned, as did Miriam and Eleanor. But Diana’s excitement mirrored Cadence’s.
“Um, yeah,” June said. “Do you know him? I figured he was new to town.”
Diana and Cadence exchanged a look.
“Uh, yeah,” Cadence said. “I would say that Levi Hawkins is a very famous country singer.”
June’s face lost all its pinkness. Lost all of its color, actually. She went bone white.
“What?” she asked.
Diana and Cadence looked at one another again.
“That’s good though, right?” Diana asked supportively. “I mean, if he said you’re a good singer? He obviously knows what he’s talking about.”
June clapped her hands over her face.
“I offered him singing lessons!” she wailed from behind her fingers. “I thought he was flirting with me, and I don’t know what came over me! He said something about me being good enough to be a professional singer, and so I offered to give himlessons. But he actuallyisa professional!”
There was a pause as the women took this in.
“Wait…” Cadence said. “You offered him singing lessons and he still didn’t tell you who he was?”
“No,” June said behind her hands.
“What did he say about your offer?” she prodded.
“He agreed to the lessons,” June mumbled.
Cadence looked thrilled. “Juney, that’ssosweet!”
June parted two fingers and peeked out from behind them, revealing only one eye.
“How do you figure?” she asked.
“I’m with Cadence on this one,” Diana said. “If he agreed to take singing lessons from you, it was one hundred percent because he was flirting.”
June peeked out enough to show her other eye.
“I don’t know if that makes me feel better,” she said.
“It definitely should,” Miriam said. “Famous singer hears you sing and wants to flirt with you? That’s a compliment if I’ve ever heard it. Also, I’m guessing he’s handsome. Please tell me he’s handsome.”
This seemed to make June feel worse. “He’s so handsome!” she wailed. “He’s so handsome, and he was nice, and then I made a totalidiotof myself. And now I have to cancel, and that will besohumiliating.”
“Wait a minute,” Eleanor said. “You shouldn’t cancel.”
June dropped her hands entirely, apparently too shocked by this proclamation to hold her arms aloft any longer.
“What are you talking about?” she asked. “He’s aprofessional musician. He won’t get anything out of singing lessons from me.”
“He might not be in it for the lessons though,” Eleanor reasoned. “He wouldn’t have said yes if he didn’t want to spend time with you, whether to learn about music or not. Which brings us back to flirting. So the question arises: do you want to go on what seems like it’s definitely a date and not actually a professional singing lesson with this guy?”
June’s response came not in words but in a choked, anxious sound.
