Page 73 of Nashville Lights

“All worn out bythe Magic Man,” jokes Vaughn, using one of the nicknames Kade was given by past girlfriends and eventually the media.

“Shut up, Vaughn,” Travis and Kade say in unison.

It barely lands. “No one understands my sense of humor around here,” Vaughn complains. “Except you, Gi.”

She gives him a gentle smile.

Now that we’ve got the hard part out of the way, I’m bursting to tell them. “There were some interesting developments over the weekend. I signed Luke and Leo.”

“To do what?”

“To be their manager.”

All three of my brothers are speechless.

“They had this hoedown where they all got up and played. I couldn’tbelieveit. They’re incredible.”

“No shit,” Travis drawls. “They were always fucking good.”

“And Nate.”

“What about him?”

“He can sing. And I meansing. He’s so, so good. He’s going to be your new opening act for the local shows—if I can talk him into it. He hasn’tactuallyagreed to it yet but I know I can convince him.”

“I don’t doubt that,” Travis laughs. “Where is Nate? Didn’t he have a meeting in the city today?”

“Yes. He’s meeting with Ainsley Beal,” I tell them. “Now.”

“That uptight chick who stopped by his house yesterday?” Vaughn asks.

“Yep. The social worker. Their office is here in Nashville. I think he said Montgomery Street. I’m going to meet up with him after.”

Gigi comes over. “He’s at a social services office on Montgomery Street? I used to work there.”

“You did?”

“I did one of my placements there.” I’d forgotten that detail. Gigi’s a social worker. She’s also an actual saint. She’s absolutely gorgeous and incredibly nice, but she’s also got this feisty undertone to her personality that I love about her.She’s got Vaughn so thoroughly wrapped around her little finger he can hardly see straight.

“Do you…knowAinsley Beal?” I mean, maybe Gigi could put in a good word for us.

“Not well. But I do know Jenny Jenkins, the director. She helped me out a lot during my placement there. She and I have coffee whenever I’m in Nashville.”

“So she’d be…Ainsley Beal’s boss?”

“Yes. She oversees all the cases and makes the final decisions about what’s submitted to the judges and so on.”

Vaughn’s arm goes gently around Gigi’s shoulders. “I was drinking out of that whiskey flask, like you told me to do whenever I had the urge, Gi. And I had the rolled-up cigarette. Probably didn’t look too good to a social worker.”

Gi looks up at him. Then at me. “No, that wouldn’t have looked too good.”

“Let’s go down there,” Vaughn suggests. “Gi can talk to Ainsley Beal’s boss and explain everything. It might help.”

I’m not sure it’s a good idea. “I don’t know. I could call Nate and see if that would be okay with him.”

I try his number but it goes straight to voicemail. Because he’s in the middle of the meeting, obviously.

“We’ll all go,” Travis says. “We got him partly into this mess. If there’s something we can do to get him out of it, we should. If it makes even a small amount of difference, it could mean the difference between him getting custody of Daisy or losing it.”

---