Page 70 of Nashville Lights

“The talent is all yours. You’re going to be selling out stadiums before you know it.”

I invited Sky to meet with me in my apartment off Broadway, the one Kade keeps for me. I don’t know who’s at our warehouse right now and I wanted to meet with her uninterrupted. We’ve talked a few times over Zoom, but it’s been fun to meet her in person. She’s gorgeous and curvy, like a Texan pin-up girl, with a to-die-for voice.

She was actually referred to me through a very random phone call I got a few weeks ago, out of the blue, from a guy in New York. It was a crazy phone call. The guy introduced himself as Cash Maddox. I later looked him up and he’s a billionaire who runs a hugely successful investment company in New York called Invested Enterprises. He was really honest about the situation he was in and it was actually sort of sweet and endearing. He said he’d totally fallen head over heels in love and he was doing everything he could think of to impress the girl, who happens to be Sky’s sister, Dusty. Cash was trying to make all Dusty’s dreams come true, he said, and one of those dreams was her sister’s success. Cashtold me he’d pay me for my time and basically begged me to check out Sky’s Spotify.

So I did.

I could immediately hear the potential. She’s put out two albums’ worth of songs and has a decent following in and around Austin.

I have contacts at a label that’s looking for young smoky female vocalists who walk the country-indie-pop line and who write their own catchy songs with interesting lyrics. It’s a description that fits Sky to a T. And she’s very, very hungry. She wants this more than anything, so I know she’ll go the extra mile—which is what it takes for unknown solo artists to make it.

So I called Cash back and told him to put us in touch, I offered that day to manage her and she signed within the hour.

Once I see Sky to the elevator and we say our goodbyes, I take a minute to call Nate.

“Hey, Tuck.” I can tell he’s driving.

“How’d the school drop-off go?”

“I stayed for a while to make sure she was settling in okay. She was a little nervous at first, but the teacher is real nice and Harper’s in her class, so she was fine. I told Kristie I had a meeting in Nashville and she offered to pick Daisy up from school and take the girls back to their place.”

“That’s good, Nate. So you don’t have to rush. Do you want to meet up after your meeting?”

“I was thinking about taking you out for an early dinner if you have time.”

“I’ll make time.”

“Good girl. We’re getting better at this, Tuck. You’ll be happy to know I gave Shane a call and we’re going to meet and talk about him maybe coming on board. He’s job-hunting anyway and he was very interested. It kind of makes sense too. He knew Jed and Laney. He’s got those same people skills that Jed had. So it could work. Thanks for thinking of it. I don’t know why I never did.”

“I’m so, so happy to hear that, Nate. I was actually thinking about calling Kristie after I talk to you. I’ve just met with Sky and she’s fantastic. And I stopped by to see Luke and Leo like I told you I was going to. They had their pens ready before I even walked in the door. They signed with me.”

“Sounds like your roster’s getting pretty full, then.”

“I’ve got room for one more.”

I can hear his smile. “We can talk about that tonight.”

“All right.” I almost offer to come to the meeting with him, but I’m not sure that would be helpful. I’d be fully clothed this time, at least. But I figure he’ll know best how to handle it. “Love you, Boone.”

“Love you more, Roxie Tucker. I’m still not sure the entire weekend wasn’t something I dreamed up.”

“I keep having that same feeling myself. We can pinch each other and see if we’re real.”

“I had something else in mind.”

I’m standing here grinning like a fool because I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy. “That could maybe be arranged,” I say coyly.

His laugh is husky. “Maybe?”

“Depends on what you had in mind.”

“Well, it involves you being naked and wet and on your knees.”

“Oh, well my plan was to be naked and wet withyouonyourknees.”

“Dirty girl. You’re right, that sounds even better.” His deep, rasped voice makes my body clench in averyintimate place. “I can hardly wait. I miss you, darlin’.”

“I miss you too, Boone.”

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