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Kyle got out of the car as quickly as Maddy did, but he had to circle it to meet her. Thankfully, she stepped to the back door to let out Brewster, who barked and beelined for the people walking down the sidewalk. All three of them laughed, and Maddy’s sister bent down and picked Brewster right on up.
She cradled the dog in her arms like a baby, and Kyle couldn’t help laughing.
“Don’t,” Maddy said. “You’ll only encourage her.”
“They’re cute,” he said.
“Yes,” Tammy said. “We’re cute.” She beamed a smile at Kyle. “You must be Kyle.”
“That I am.”
“I was going to introduce him,” Maddy said with a sigh. “Momma, Daddy, this is Kyle Stewart. Kyle, my momma and daddy. April and Harvey. And my sister, Tammy. She’s the oldest.”
“And the best.” Tammy grinned Brewster and then Todd, then her sister. She raised her eyebrows.
“She’s the best,” Maddy conceded. She waved her hand. “Put that dog down and give me a hug.”
“I saw you two days ago.”
“Yeah, and I want a hug.”
Tammy carefully dropped Brewster to his feet and drew Maddy into a hug.
“Nice to meet you, ma’am,” Kyle said, stepping around them and leaning in to let her momma kiss his cheek. First the right, and then the left.
“Lovely to meet you. Maddy hasn’t brought anyone home in a while.”
“So she says,” Kyle said.
Maddy stepped away from her sister and faced him. She slipped her hand into his, her smile as radiant as the almost-noonday sun. “Should we go inside? I’m sweating to death out here.”
Her daddy turned and kept one hand on his wife’s back as she did too. She moved slowly, inching along behind her walker. Kyle exchanged a glance with Maddy, but they kept to the same slow pace.
“Kyle,” April said. “Maddy says you work on your family’s ranch.”
“That’s right,” he said.
“What do you do?” Harvey asked, almost like he and his wife had rehearsed this Q&A.
“I’m the Entertainment Manager.”
“You are?” Maddy asked.
“You didn’t know that?”
“I didn’t know it had such an official title.”
“Oh, yeah.” He paused at the bottom of the stairs while her mom started up them. “I’ve got business cards and everything.” He chuckled, though he did have business cards with his name and official title on them. Ever the artistic one in the family, Nash had redesigned the ranch’s logo a few years ago, and that meant everyone got new business cards. “I have to hand them out to music executives.”
“He sets up all their concerts,” Maddy said.
“I’m basically a glorified babysitter,” he said. “I make sure all the travel plans are made for the band. I make sure they have what they want to eat at the ranch. A place to practice, sleep, whatever.
Her momma finally reached the top of the steps, and Kyle and Maddy started up them. “How many concerts do you have to put together?” her momma asked.
“About thirty,” he said. “Give or take. We do one every weekend in the summer, sometimes more. Sometimes mid-week. I do eight to ten over Christmas, and then one per month in the off-season.”
“Come help me with the food,” Tammy said, and Maddy went to do that. Kyle wasn’t sure if he should join them in the kitchen or go with her parents to the dining room table. Pretty blue dishware had been set, with cream, cloth napkins. Glasses held melting ice, and he watched as Harvey helped April into a chair.
