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“Wow,” I breathed.
“Isn’t She Lovely” by Sinatra was playing and this guy was spinning Chloe around. My heart melted. “He’s singing to her! Who is that?”
Trevor laughed. “That would be Wade Adams, the friend I picked up the day I dropped you off at the airport. He works for us now,” he said, nudging Waylynn.
“Hello, Wade hotter-than-hell Adams,” Waylynn said.
The way Chloe was smiling made me smile. “He sure knows how to swoon a six-year-old.”
Trevor laughed. “He can swoon more than a six-year-old.”
I laughed. “Not these two Parker women.”
Waylynn lifted her drink and agreed. “Girl power all the way.”
Trevor narrowed his gaze and said, “Watch this.”
He headed over to the band. The players were setting back up after their break. He talked to them and then shook what looked like the lead singer’s hand. Turning to the mic, Trevor tapped it and got everyone’s attention.
“So, as most of you know, we have a new guy on the ranch. He’s our new agricultural engineer. Fancy name for a fancy cowboy.”
Cheers rang out, and I couldn’t help but glance over to Wade. He smiled and tipped his cowboy hat to the crowd.
“But what you don’t know is that Wade here is also a musician.”
Wade’s smile faded. He shook his head and mouthed Don’t.
Trevor smiled from ear to ear. “Dude, come on. Entertain the ladies, please. I’ve got a challenge going on. For a friend?”
When Wade laughed, something in the air changed. I swallowed hard and tried to ignore the way it made my stomach drop slightly.
He had a nice laugh. That was all, right? And he was good looking. And he was dancing to Frank Sinatra with my niece.
Ah, hell.
Wade glanced around the room and our eyes met for the briefest moment before he looked away.
Every nerve in my body felt like it caught on fire.
What. The. Heck?
My sister’s voice broke my trance. “If he wasn’t so young I would probably find out what other talents he possessed.”
With a giggle, I hit Waylynn on the shoulder. “You’re still married, remember!”
I glanced back to Wade, who was arguing with Trevor. “Nah, no one wants to hear me play.”
One of the band members handed Trevor something. He held up a harmonica and said, “I think you’re wrong. Come on, dude. Let’s get in a state of mind.”
I couldn’t help the grin that moved over my face. Clint Black. Trevor wanted him to sing that song. Every single time he played that song he would say we needed to get into the right state of mind. Wade tossed his head back and laughed as Trevor worked the crowd into chanting Wade.
I needed a distraction. “There’s Steed and Paxton!” I grabbed Waylynn’s arm and pulled her over to their table.
Paxton smiled, jumping up to hug us. Steed stood and kissed me, then Waylynn. “What are you doing here?” Steed shouted over all the noise.
“Long story. Tell ya later.”
We sat, and I focused back on Wade, who had walked up to the stage. Trevor hit him on the back and handed him a guitar and the harmonica.
Turning to Steed, I asked, “Is he going to sing?”
He shrugged.
“Alright, y’all. Seems like Trevor ain’t gonna stop till I give you a little song.”
Waylynn turned to me and wiggled her eyebrows. “Yummy.”
I laughed and turned to the stage. Wade was talking to the band, his back to us.
Then he spoke into the mic. “Clint Black was always one of my favorite country singers growing up. I made the mistake of playing the beginning of this song once for Trevor and a few guys in college. Now they think I need to sing it whenever a band is around.”
Everyone laughed, including Trevor who was making his way over to us. He sat down behind me and laughed at something Steed said. For some reason, I couldn’t pull my eyes away from Wade. His smile was beautiful. Big and bright, like he lit up the area around him. He instantly melted into the band like he had been a part of it from the very beginning, but there was also a sadness to him. I saw it in his eyes.
Wade started counting down, and I was acutely aware of the crowd going silent with anticipation.
“Three, two, one.”
The sound of the harmonica filled the air over the rhythm of the drums.
“Holy shit!” I said with a laugh as I watched him fill the air with amazing music.
Cheers and hollers rang across the tent as Wade really got into it. I’d never heard anyone play the harmonica like that. Okay, besides Clint Black. It wasn’t lost on me he went a little longer with the intro.
“Get after it, cowboy!!” Waylynn shouted as Wade held the last note.
“Hell, yeah!” Trevor shouted as the whole band started to play. Wade strummed a guitar the moment he started to sing, and I thought I was hearing Clint Black.
