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“Just tired,” I lied.
“Alright, I’ll get on out of here, then. Night, Laney.”
“Night.”
“Oh,” she said, spinning on her heels and holding up her finger, “one more thing. The news’ll break tomorrow that you’ll be in town, so you might wanna call your momma so she hears it from you first.”
I sighed, glad she’d warned me. I’d never hear the end of it if my momma found out I was coming home for the first time in years from the local radio station. “Good call.”
Paisley waved and bowed her head before heading out the front door, her hand already bringing her phone to her ear so she could make a few calls of her own. She was always on the phone, that woman. Momma always joked that she’d better be careful she didn’t burn out, else she’d be too weak to whip a gnat, and what good would she be to me then?
But I knew Paisley well enough to know she was made of strong stuff, and she knew me well enough to know that if she needed some time off, all she had to do was say the word. I’d put on my bossy pants and demand she take a night off and binge-watch Gilmore Girls over pints of butter pecan ice cream. It was the very least I could do.
Getting back to the task at hand, I navigated to my mom’s name and made the call, grinning as soon as she picked up. “Hey, Momma. How are you?”
“Better now, sweet girl,” she said with so much warmth in her tone it made my chest hurt. If the feeling of home had a sound, it would be her voice. “How are you?”
“Great. I have some excitin’ news.”
She hummed. “Lemme guess. You’re comin’ home for the reunion?”
“How’d you know?”
“Oh, baby, I’ve only been hopin’ for it every day. I’m so glad! I can’t wait to have all three of my girls home at the same time. Well, as long as Aubree gets home in time to see you.”
Excitement buzzed in my veins at the prospect of getting to see my younger sisters. The youngest, Dakota, was a nurse and still lived at home since she was saving up for the house of her dreams. I saw her more than Aubree since she loved Nashville and her schedule allowed for her to have three or four days off at a time so she could visit.
Aubree, on the other hand, was a flight attendant and rarely had the energy to come see me when she wasn’t on a trip for work. But it was fine, I understood. She deserved to have some downtime whenever she could since she was gone so much, and like Dakota, she still had a room at our parents’ house as she was barely there anyway. Staying with them for the reunion weekend would be just like old times, and exactly the kind of distraction I needed to keep from obsessing over my proximity to Everett.
“That’ll be great, Momma. I’m only stayin’ for a few days, though. I’ve got a lot going on.”
She made a disappointed noise. “You sure you can’t stay longer? It’s not like you have a nine-to-five with limited vacation time.”
“True, but I can’t. We have a lot going on leadin’ up to the tour in January. I have to finish this album and do all kinds of promo for it. I’m sorry.”
Momma sighed heavily, pouring on the mom guilt for a second. But when she spoke again, it was with a lighter tone. “Well, I’ll take what I can get, Laney. I’m excited to see you.”
“I’m excited to see you too. And um, I’m also bringin’ Riley with me.”
There was silence for a full minute, then she sighed. “He’s a nice boy.”
“He is.”
“You know,” Momma said, her tone changing to giddiness so fast it made my head spin, “I should talk to Georgie about havin’ a family get-together while you’re in town. We can do it the night before the reunion so you’re sure to be here for it.”
Great. Georgia Wilson—Everett’s mom—was my mom’s best friend and always had been. They’d grown up together in Charlotte Oaks, and when both got married, they’d bought houses right next door to each other. They even joked that they coordinated most of their pregnancies so their kids could be best friends too. But the Wilsons had four boys and our parents had three girls, so that quickly turned into conspiring to make a match someday.
And they’d thought they’d succeeded with Everett and me. We were both the oldest, the same age, and after being friends growing up, we started dating in high school. The whole town thought we were gonna live happily ever after. Until it all fell apart, of course.
Now Momma wanted to get together with the Wilson family like that hadn’t happened? And even worse, she suggested it right after hearing Riley was coming with me? She was up to something. I could smell it from here. No thanks.
I bit back the groan that wanted to rise up, forcing out a tactful tone. “Oh, no, Momma. That’s really not necessary.”
“Necessary? Who said anythin’ about necessary? It’ll be fun. You can’t tell me life as the Queen of Nashville doesn’t involve any fun, can you?”
I rolled my eyes. “Momma, I’m not the queen of anything.”
“You are to me, Laney Cole. Now, let me scoot so I can call Georgie. She’ll be thrilled.”
