Page 1 of Nashville Lights

1

“Have fun,Rox, and stay out of trouble.” My oldest brother Kade’s familiar drawl sounds as tired as I feel.

My phone is perched on its holder on the dashboard and I can see on the video call that Kade is back at his house downtown. He has a few houses in Nashville and he keeps a spare apartment for me at the one that’s just off Broadway. I know he’s got a gig tonight at the Lucky Seven. Not a solo gig, but he’s agreed to be a guest for a couple of friends who are performing.

We’ve had a grueling few months of touring. My three brothers are the Tucker Brothers Band, and currently have songs at number one, two, four, seven, eight and ten on the Billboard charts. As manager of the band, I’m as exhausted as they are. We hit thirty-eight cities and did forty-eight sold-out shows over ninety-nine days. It was byfar the biggest tour the band has done and it’s taken their fame into overdrive.

“I will, KJ. You have fun too. And please get some rest.” I can’t help adding, “Finally.” He knows I’m not referring to the tour with that last comment. I’m talking about the recent breakup with his hellish girlfriend Carmen. None of us could stand her, mainly because she made Kade’s life miserable for the entire five months they were together. He told us he broke up with her but there was something cagey about the way he’d said it. I’m starting to wonder if he’s actually done the deed yet. I’m pretty sure it’s a sure thing, I just don’t know if he’s telling us what we want to hear until he cowboys up and lets her down gently. She was never going to go without a nightmarish meltdown. “I hope you’re okay.”

“Don’t you worry about me, darlin’. You just make sure you’re getting some good R & R at the Boones’ place. Don’t let them wrangle you into doing any farm work.”

“Nope, I’m going to be sitting on that wraparound porch enjoying the view of Sugar Lake with my feet up and my phone on silent mode.”

“Good girl.”

“I’ll talk to you in a few days.”

“Say hi to the Boones for me.”

“I will. Later, KJ.”

I end the call and crank the radio up. Miles of open highway stretch out before me as I cruise along in my faithful old pickup truck with the windows down. Mybrothers tried to insist I let one of their drivers take me or at least take one of the new cars they bought me that are sitting in the huge garage underneath the band’s Nashville warehouse. But if I’m going back to the farm, there’s no way I’m doing it with a chauffeur or in a fancy sports car. The Boones would laugh me straight back down the dusty dirt road.

After monthsof being cooped up in crowded tour buses and arena green rooms, the warm summer breeze feels like heaven on my skin.

I drive past cornfields, barns, and the occasional rundown gas station. For once, my phone isn’t buzzing with concert schedules, press releases, or my brothers’ bickering in the family group chat. I finally have a moment to breathe.

Don’t get me wrong, I love being the manager of my brothers’ band. And I’m good at it, they keep telling me. With forty-eight sold out shows and six of the new album’s tracks currently in the Billboard Top Ten, I’m hardly going to argue with them. The band is riding a high and we’re making more money than we know what to do with. But I’m twenty-three years old and bone tired.

Three solid months of packed stadiums, screaming fans and non-stop life on the road takes its toll. I might not be the one singing or playing my heart out every night, but it’s just as demanding keeping everything behind the scenesrunning smoothly. Corralling the rabid crowds, making sure security is air-tight, staying in touch with the label and organizing all the publicity is just the tip of the iceberg.

It’s also a lot of work keeping Kade, Travis and most of all Vaughn steady and focused on what they need to focus on. Kade has been dealing with his awful relationship. Travis is head over heels with our new opening act, Ruby Hayes—who’s insanely talented and who I’m also managing. And Vaughn is just…Vaughn. As wild as always, and even more so now that he also thinks he’s in love. With Ruby’s sister, no less. Which of course Travis isn’t happy about at all.

I can always trust Vaughn to stir things up.

It’s safe to say that for the first time in my life, I’m ready for a real break. Three blissful days in the country to clear my head and catch up with my best friend is just what the doctor ordered.

As if on cue, my phone rings.

Dakotaflashes up on the screen and I hit the accept button. “Hey, Dee.”

“How long until you get here?”

“I’m only around fifteen minutes away.”

“I can’t wait to see you, Rox! I have the biggest surprise.”

“What surprise?”

“You’ll have to wait and see.” Dakota almost lost her mind when I called her a week or so ago and asked her if she wanted a visitor for the weekend. “It’s been way too longsince you came out to Sugar Mountain, Rox. I have a lot to fill you in on. Hurry up and get here already. I just made iced tea and put a bottle of white wine in the fridge. And of course Betty-Ann and Tobias are in the kitchen making your favorite fried chicken with cornbread and all the fixings.”

“You have no idea how heavenly that sounds. I haven’t had a home-cooked meal in I don’t know how long. I’m in need of some serious R&R that involves having none of my brothers within a fifty mile radius.”

“You get my brothers instead,” she says. “But we can avoid them as much as possible.”

“You and your brothers—and of course Betty-Ann, Louise and Earl—are the reason I’m staying in Tennessee and not spending a week on a sun lounger in Cabo. I can’t wait to see all of you.”

“Well, if I’d known Cabo was an option, I’d have packed my bags,” Dakota laughs. “The farm won’t be anywhere near as luxurious.”

---