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“Great. I’ve been havin’ so much fun. I’ve finally garnered seniority at the airline, so I’m gettin’ some really cool trips and a lot fewer red-eyes.”
“That’s amazin’.”
“How about you? Your tour starts in January, right?”
I nodded, my stomach turning a little at the thought of it. “Yep.”
“I bet Riley’s gonna miss you somethin’ awful,” Aubree teased, knowing full well it wasn’t like that between me and my fake beau.
“Very funny. Anyway, he’s gonna join me on the tour for a few shows so we can sing our duet.”
Aubree cringed. “Won’t it be weird singin’ a love song with him when it’s like that between you guys?”
“Could be worse,” Dakota quipped from her seat at the kitchen island as we entered the bacon-scented space.
“How so?” I asked.
“At least you’re not singing a love song with Everett.”
“Now, now,” Momma said, turning from the stove and waving her spatula at my youngest sister. “First of all, honey, you know that boy can’t sing to save his life. Second, don’t start with all that. Everyone’s accepted that Laney and Everett aren’t going to end up together as we hoped, and I don’t need her gettin’ her knickers in a knot before we all get together tonight.”
Too late, Momma.
It was strange, though. Everett and I had always joked that our moms had practically raised us to love each other, starting with having us share the same playpen under the wide oak tree in our front yard and ending with pushing Everett to ask me to the homecoming dance when we were in high school. All those years of plotting and planning, and now they simply accepted that it’d all been for nothing?
“Is Riley coming to dinner tonight?” Aubree asked with wide eyes as Dakota snorted into her coffee.
I glared at Kota again before shaking my head at Aubs. “No. I didn’t even have to ask him to hang back. He doesn’t want to be around Everett more than he has to. I think he feels guilty.”
“Smart man,” Momma muttered. She wasn’t a huge fan of us lying to the whole world about our relationship just to promote our album and ticket sales, and she made it known anytime she could.
“Paisley will be there tonight,” I said as if I were delivering the weather.
“Speakin’ of Paisley,” Aubree said, looking back toward the livin’ room, “is she staying here?”
“No, she’s at the B&B,” I replied. “She wanted to be able to work all hours and didn’t wanna offend Momma by stayin’ on the phone in her room too much.”
Momma tsk-tsked. “That girl. She’s busier than an ant at a picnic. She’s gonna work herself to death if she doesn’t watch out.”
“She’s a champ, though. It takes a lot to run my life. And now she’s addin’ another thing to her plate with this hometown concert thing.”
“What concert?” Aubree asked.
I took a seat next to Dakota at the kitchen island, grinning at my momma as she placed a cup of coffee in front of me, fixed just the way I liked it. “My car’s in the shop—”
Aubree’s eyes bulged. “The pink one? Why?”
Dakota laughed. “She swerved to miss a deer on the way into town and wrecked it.”
“What? Are you okay?” Aubree looked me over like she’d somehow missed some gaping flesh wound or broken bones. Then she leaned back. “Wait, why’d you have to swerve? You know you have to keep your eyes open on that stretch of road so you can slow down. There’re always deer over there.”
“Yeah, well, we were rockin’ out to some old country songs, and I was a little distracted when I saw Everett’s tow truck in my rearview.”
My middle sister’s brows rose. “He was right there when it happened?”
“Yep,” Dakota answered for me, wagging her own brows. “Rode in on his steed and saved the day. Paisley called him their hero.”
I glared at her and chose to ignore the way Momma’s shoulders shook as she laughed from the stove. “Back to the concert. We’re stayin’ in town longer than I planned—thanks to that unfortunate Bambi mishap—so Paisley’s turnin’ it into a PR thing. Riley’s stayin’ for it too, and we’re doin’ a set at the fall harvest festival.”
