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Yeah, he told himself.But they liked it enough to offer for a full album up front.
“Okay,” he said. “I could fly out on Sunday, probably. “That’s the easiest. Stay for several days to go over everything. That should give me enough time to look at the contract, make arrangements for next week’s concert, all of that.”
Jolene laughed. “You have my number. Do what you need to and let me know. I can arrange lodging and transportation.”
“Thank you, Jolene.” He tried not to gush, but his voice came out that way anyway. “I’ll let you know.”
“Congratulations, Kyle. I’m glad we got you.” She ended the call, and Kyle lowered his phone, still dumbfounded.
I’m glad we got you.
Her words rang in his ears, and joy overwhelmed him. He reached up and ripped his cowboy hat from his head, tossed it up into the air, and yelled, “Yeehaw!”
He looked around as if someone would be there to celebrate with. No one was. He had no idea what he still had to do here, and he didn’t care. He had to tell everyone about his record deal now. Right now.
His first stop? Maddy, and his pulse started pounding again, wondering how she’d react to him leaving the ranch right when she’d arrived.
ChapterEleven
Maddy pulled the blue colored pencil from the sharpener. She was seriously reconsidering her career choices—or at least including this project so soon in the summer. She’d learned so much already, including that they needed ten pencil sharpeners for a colored pencil project and that some children didn’t want to take the art class their parents had signed them up for.
As a little girl, she’d been thrilled with anything art related at all, and she’d have sacrificed anything to be able to do an art class or lesson. Some kids here, though, didn’t want to come inside to draw or paint. They wanted to run free, ride horses, go to the milking demonstration, or simply hang out with the cowboys.
She told herself that not all the children were disgruntled. Just a couple. Yesterday had been better, and she could talk to Holly and Blake about only doing classes for younger kids. Today’s group was ten and up, and while it had filled, two of the kids had been loud about not wanting to be there.
Thankfully, Gina had been walking by the room on her way to her husband’s office when she’d heard the second boy complaining to his mother, and she’d gotten him to come in with the promise of treats afterward.
Maddy had exchanged a glance with her, pure gratitude flowing between them. The class had about fifteen minutes left, and Maddy seriously thought she might stab the next person who asked her to sharpen their pencil. She’d show them that it was indeed, pointy enough.
A commotion sounded outside the open door, and Maddy turned that way. Her classroom sat just down the hall, first door on the left, from the front working area of the lodge. Past the dining room and adjacent to the hall that led into the kitchen.
She heard shouts but couldn’t distinguish words. Perhaps Gina had made enough treats for the whole ranch.
Cheering began, and her theory could still hold true. Maddy’s curiosity got the best of her, though, and she said, “Stay here, okay? I’ll be right back,” despite one boy who’d obviously just gotten up to have her work on his red pencil.
She sidestepped him expertly and went into the hall. It only took two steps and two seconds to locate the source of all the noise.
Kyle.
He stood on a chair in the dining area, where there were no treats. Cowboys and guests had gathered around him, and he beamed out at them like a lighthouse. Like he could singlehandedly guide them all home to safety.
She couldn’t help stealing some of that energy from him and basking in it. He looked her way, and she lifted her hand in a half-wave.
He raised both hands. “All right, all right,” he said. “Now that everyone’s here, I—”
“Wait,” Blake yelled. “Mama’s not here.”
“I’m right here.” Sharon Stewart brushed past Maddy, her office down the hall and through the staff room to another hall. “What is going on? Kyle Terrance Stewart, why are you on that chair?” She parked her hands on her hips, and Maddy couldn’t help giggling. Thankfully, there was enough other ruckus that Kyle’s mother couldn’t hear her.
“I’m makin’ an announcement, Mama,” he said. Clearly, nothing was going to dim him right now. “I just got a call, and…” He nodded to Todd, who started a drumroll on his legs. Everyone immediately joined in, but Maddy folded her arms and leaned against the corner of the wall.
Kyle turned in a full circle, spread his arms wide, and said, “I just got offered a three-album contract with Black Hill Records!”
Obnoxiously loud applause began, and Maddy dutifully joined her hands together with everyone else. She couldn’t keep a smile off her face, and thankfully, everything else streaming through her only happened on the inside, where no one else could see.
His brothers rushed him, and Kyle laughed as they lifted him off the chair and into the air. He surfed through the crowd, laughing, while everyone continued to cheer. They made a beat out of their hands, and she heard Adam yell, “Get him a guitar, and let’s hear a song!”
Maddy needed to attend to her art class, and she turned away from the chaos. She’d be able to hear the song from her room anyway. “Children,” she said when she entered the room. “One of the cowboys here just signed a record deal, and he’s going to play out in the dining room. If you’d like to come watch him, you can come with me. We only have ten minutes of class left, and then we’ll come back here so your parents can find you.”
