AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Lyric.” Her dad said her name like she’d exasperated him, even though he was the kind of man who had infinite patience for his four kids. “Spill it in a concise manner that I can follow.”
“A guy I don’t really know, who follows me online, showed up at the New Year’s gig I did in Nashville. At the time I met him there in person, I didn’t know he was the same guy I’ve been purposely ignoring the past few weeks online.”
“Okay. So did he post something about seeing you at the performance?”
“No. He showed up here this morning.”
Her dad eyed her. “Here. At the ranch.”
She nodded.
“Did you invite him?”
“Absolutely not. I barely remembered his name.”
“He followed you here from Nashville.” Her dad looked stunned, then pissed. “That is not okay, Lyric. Did you tell him to leave?”
“He rented one of the cabins. He’s moving in this afternoon.”
“What? No.” He fisted his hands. “How did he even get your address?”
“Some helpful person in town told him that if I wasn’t at the bar and it’s Tuesday morning, I’m at the ranch. He looked it up online, booked a room, then drove out here.”
Her dad’s eyes went wide. “What the hell?”
“It’s a small town. Everyone knows everyone’s business. Still.” She gave him a look he read all too well.
“They gave that information to a stranger, who could be anyone and want anything from you.”
She scrunched up one side of her mouth. “He wants to write a song.”
“That’s what he said?” Confusion joined the anger in his eyes.
She nodded. “But the vibe I got . . . He’s . . . I don’t know how to explain it. He’s here for me.” Thatsounded conceited, but she didn’t care. It felt like the truth Rick was burying under pretense.
Her dad cupped her face and looked adoringly at her. “I’m calling Hunt.”
Her cousin was a cop. Maybe he could help.
“I think that’s a good idea.”
Her dad looked even more distressed that she agreed so readily when she usually insisted on handling things herself.
He pulled her into a hug. “I don’t like this.”
She pressed her cheek to his chest, taking in his comfort and protection. “I don’t either. But right now, I think we need to tread carefully.” She stepped back, and he released her. “I don’t want to make Rick mad. That could go wrong in a lot of ways. But I also don’t want to give him any hope that something could happen between us either.”
“I bet Hunt’s going to say the same thing. Maybe he can run a background check on this guy, and that will tell us who we’re dealing with. Let’s go tell your mother, so she knows what’s going on, especially if this guy is going to be here for a little while.”
They bypassed the truck in favor of walking up the short road to the house in silence. She could only imagine what her dad was thinking about all this.
Someone had parked a white Subaru in the driveway.
Her dad glanced at her, then rushed up the steps to the porch and burst into the house.
Lyric was right next to him.
Her mom looked up from her spot in the kitchen behind the big island and across the huge living room. As always, her mother had music playing in the background. This morning it was classic Tim McGraw. “Wade? Lyric? Everything all right?”
