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“What happens if she decides she can’t go through it? You said it yourself. The bright lights of Nashville have always called her name, so who’s to say she won’t get sucked right back in as soon as you finish up that Pepto-Bismol-mobile she rode in on?”
A flash of anger seared up my spine, and I straightened. “I was wrong about Laney and what she wanted. She wants to be done with all that flashy stuff and come back home.”
“Well, she says she does,” Adam ventured with a shrug, “but how do you know she’ll stick to it?”
“Because she said she would.” It was simple, really, and I didn’t get how they couldn’t see it. They’d known Laney and the rest of the Cole family as long as they’d been breathing air, so they should know she wasn’t one to go back on her word.
“All we’re sayin’ is, take a minute to make sure she’s serious before you go whistlin’ your way into trouble.”
Trouble? I was long past trouble. I’ve been in love with this woman for most of my dang life and now here she was, back in it after years of both of us wishing for it without letting the other one know. Now there was nothin’ but blue skies ahead, no matter what these two thought. I was sure of it.
Jackson nodded in agreement with Adam’s advice. “I’m sure she’s convincin’ with all this stuff about Oz not bein’ all it was cracked up to be, but I don’t see no yellow brick road, and she didn’t exactly head out there against her will.”
He was laying it on a little thick with the Wizard of Oz references, but I pursed my lips and searched for a fitting response. “I’ll have to disagree with you on that one, little brother. That whole thing felt more like a tornado blastin’ through our lives than you think.”
My brothers digested what I’d said but didn’t look convinced as they made eye contact before turning back to me. Adam looked down at his boots and shuffled a little. “Just keep your head on a swivel.”
19
EVERETT
I stood in the wings just off stage with my family and the Coles, watching Laney do her set with a too-big smile. She might be sick of the flashy stuff she’d been doing ever since she signed with Legends, but this down-home harvest festival was nothing like that.
She was out there with her band, a guitar, and a mic. No backup dancers, not a speck of glitter on her skin or simple white dress. Even her boots were plain brown instead of those glitzy ones she’d worn when she’d first rolled into Charlotte Oaks. She looked comfortable, happy, and relaxed, and I’d bet my last dollar no one in this crowd was missing all the stuff she’d nixed from her set tonight.
“She sounds great up there,” my mom said, leaning over and angling her face up so I could hear her over the band and cheering fans.
“She sure does,” I replied, unable to take my eyes off her.
“What’s gonna happen now? Are you two together? Are you movin’ to Nashville to be with her?”
I looked around to make sure no one was listening to my mom’s nosy questions, then bent slightly to her level. “Not here. We can talk about it later.”
My mom didn’t look pleased, especially since lately if I wasn’t working I was hanging out with Laney every chance I got. But she nodded anyway and turned her attention back to the song I recognized as being one of Laney’s first breakout hits.
I glanced around at the rest of the Original Laney Cole Fan Club who actually know her as more than a country star. Jackson and Adam were off to our mom’s right, with our dad on the other side of them. They looked supportive and wore wide smiles, though I knew full well this wasn’t their type of music. But Laney was one of ours—even if not in name yet—so of course they’d be here.
To my left, Laney’s parents and sisters watched with barely contained excitement, jumping and hollering, each looking happy as a hound dog with two tails. Even Gertrude the Guilt Goat seemed to be enjoying the show. And why the Coles thought it necessary to bring ol’ Gertie was beyond me, but it wasn’t my circus or my … monkey. Well, goat, I guessed.
There was no sign of Paisley in our group, however, so I scanned the backstage area. She was probably working hard behind the scenes to make sure it was all going smoothly. The woman never stopped, there was no doubt about it. I wondered idly if it would be rough for her to go from managing Laney’s huge schedule, keeping busy as a moth in a mitten, to a slower, less-hectic version, or if she’d even stay on as her manager at all. Would Laney need one if she took a step back from all this for a bit?
Just before I turned back to Laney again, I caught sight of Riley and Jim, his manager, arguing at the bottom of the stage’s metal staircase. My brows pulled into a tight line as I watched the guy jab his finger into Riley’s chest, causing him to step back.
I wasn’t sure what I expected the smooth country crooner to do, but bowing his head and nodding solemnly definitely wasn’t it. Shouldn’t he be squaring up with this suit and telling him to back off? Well, if he wouldn’t, I would. Riley had been nothing but a gentleman to my girl as far as I could tell—despite being put in such an awkward situation with her—and since she valued him as a friend, that made him my friend too.
I stalked away from our families and headed down the stairs, coming up on them just as Riley started to head up to the stage. He paused with his guitar in hand and one boot on the first step when he saw me coming, then his face went ghost white.
“Everythin’ okay over here?” I asked, jerking my chin toward the suit.
“Riley, head on up before you miss your cue,” Jim ordered.
Riley didn’t spare me a glance as he did what he was told, looking way too much like a kid whose rear had just seen the business end of a wooden spoon. Annoyed, my eyes went to his manager’s as I reached the bottom of the staircase.
“What’d you say to him?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest and straightening to loom over the skinny, out-of-his-element city boy. Well, city man. He looked to be about my dad’s age, but without the laugh lines that’d crinkled into deep rivers, thanks to all those years spent living a good life.
“Nothing he didn’t already know,” Jim replied with a shrug.
“And what’d he already know?”
