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Losing her parents still hurt. It wasn’t that she didn’t feel a part of River’s new family. She did! They were so welcoming. It was that every once in a while, she got a pang, like she still didn’t quite belong because she wasn’t good enough somehow. She just wished that she could confide in her mother… like she needed to right now. She wasn’t sure what she’d say if given the chance to be in her mother’s arms again, only that she needed her comfort.
She still had her Father in Heaven. Even after her parents’ death, she’d never been alone.Father, I know that this is probably stupid to ask, but… could You help me not to be such a coward? I could use a little of Your strength here, because… I’m really bad at this extrovert thing.
Mia still watched her expectantly. Emily’s face heated and she took a deep breath. “Tell me what I need to do to be ready for tomorrow.”
Mia grinned. “Just follow my lead. Your boy is still making headlines. Look what Eva Trout uploaded on TalkieTalk. The fans love it.” She pushed her phone at Emily to give her a close-up of the heiress’s stunningly beautiful face. “Hi everyone! Here I am with West’s hot brother who just caused a commotion around town last night!”
Jealousy filled her as Eva turned the phone on Nash. She got a good shot of his handsome face before he quickly hid it from the camera. She guessed that he didn’t want anyone knowing that the two of them were a thing.
“This came out today?” Emily asked. Maybe this was long before their bike ride last night.
“Yeah.” Mia nodded. Emily’s heart dropped. So much for the hope that Eva and Nash were long over. “Isn’t this great?” Mia asked. “A love triangle. It certainly adds to the intrigue. Eva has a huge social media presence. You definitely need to win this man from her—everyone will love it.”
Her manager was acting like her life was all just a reality streaming show, and nothing was real, butthisfelt very real.
Trout’s daughter was gorgeous. She was with Nash at Love Circle having a picnic. Eva’s full lips twisted and she turned the camera back on herself. “Shhh.” She put her finger up. “Nash is trying to keep a low profile after last night. Isn’t he so cute, ladies? I mean, what you can see of him. Bad boy’s trying to retreat into his cave after saving his fair maiden.”
Bad boy! Since when was Nash a bad boy?
But it felt very real when she looked at him, and it appeared that the bad boy was doing what he did best—finding himself another woman to fill his time while she was gone. Emily didn’t expect the hurt that crashed down against her already fragile emotions. She’d thought she’d kept herself closed off enough last night, so that she wouldn’t get hurt, but she must’ve allowed a sliver of hope to creep into her heart somewhere because why the pain?
“Hmm,” Eva said. “Well, we’re going to let y’all go now!” Her vivid blue eyes seemed to look straight at Emily. “Nash and I are going to have some fun this morning. Let’s see if I can make him forget all about his songbird.” She giggled at her joke until she cut off the feed.
Emily was speechless.
Mia clicked off her phone. “We definitely can top that. Tomorrow at the rodeo, you need to be wearing a tight red dress. And when you see him…”
“No.”
Mia’s brow rose, appearing shocked that Emily had actually contradicted her. “No?”
“No.” Emily barely knew what she was saying, only that her anger against Eva was driving her, and something else—worry. Was West truly turning Nash into a bad boy?
Something about the devil-may-care expression on Nash’s face reminded her of what she saw in River before he’d gone off the deep end. She needed to carry out a rescue mission before this got worse. “I’ve got a better idea,” she told Mia. Forget begging Nash for a favor that she didn’t want anyway.
No, someone needed to bring him back to his roots, and for some reason, she was eager to be the one to do it.
