Page 98 of Ten Beach Road

She smiled at them all, still surprised by how urgently Trent had tried to convince her to come back; she wished she’d had a tape recorder to play back all the things he’d promised.

“Oh, he apologized all right,” Avery said. “But then he told me he knew just how bad things were for me, how he’d heard I had pretty much nothing left, and that the show was doing great, but he really wanted to help me.” She grimaced at the memory. He’d been so certain of himself. And of her.

“And?” Nicole asked the question Avery saw in all of their eyes.

Avery’s smile turned even grimmer as she remembered how thick Trent had poured it on: how much he missed her; what an unappreciated asset she’d been to the show; how different it would be if she came back. His feigned sympathy had made her want to puke.

“And if I were as big an airhead as Trent and the producers of the show seem to think I am, I’d be on my way back to Nashville right now,” she said.

Deirdre’s eyebrow went up. She smiled. “They always underestimate us blondes.”

“But I saw a recent blurb in the trades about how Victoria Crosshaven, Trent’s biggest admirer, has lost interest in the show. And that there’s some question about whether it’ll be picked up for another season.” She looked up and smiled. “And, of course, he made the mistake of mentioning the following we have on YouTube. How there’s been chatter all over the Internet about Ten Beach Road. Apparently someone’s even set up a fan site for us.”

Only Kyra didn’t look surprised at the level of Internet interest. All of them leaned closer.

“And?” Madeline asked, clearly needing to hear her answer.

“And I thanked him for his belated concern.”

Avery smiled as she remembered the shock on Trent’s face at what followed. It had been so incredibly sweet. “And then I told him to go fuck himself. And I showed him to the door.”

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