Page 96 of Playing With My Heart Strings

The landing isnotsmooth, and the basket tips over, causing Valerie to land directly on top of me. We thank Austin, though, laughing it off as we head back to the car—makes for a good story.

About thirty minutes later, we walk through the front doors of my favorite café for breakfast. We have a good amount of time before we have to be at our next location, and I heard Valerie’s stomach rumble a few times after we got out of the hot air balloon.

“Good morning! Just the two of you?” the host greets us.

“Just the two of us.” I nod.And the camera crew following us, but you know.

“Perfect. You can follow me back.”

She leads us to a booth in the back corner, away from the other patrons, most likely so they won’t feel uncomfortable with the cameras. But it’s likely they aren’t paying attention anyway. This is one of my favorite places because of that fact. I can come get breakfast without fans interrupting me. Here, I can just be Dusty.

“Wow, I can’t believe no one’s come up to talk to you or stared at the cameras or anything,” Valerie mumbles. “How did you find this place?”

“Charlie and I just kind of stumbled upon it. The food here is incredible, so we kept coming back. It’s kind of a hidden gem that tourists haven’t found. The place has its regulars and they’re not hurting for business, so they haven’t said anything about this being my breakfast spot.”

“That must be nice to have a place where you don’t have to worry about being famous.”

“It is. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy being a country singer, but sometimes I just want to be me.”

A server walks up, forcing us to pause our conversation. “Hi, Dusty! Who’s this with you?”

“Morning, Taylor. This is Valerie,” I introduce them.

“Very nice to meet you. What can I get for y’all today?”

“Ladies first.” I gesture to Valerie.

She looks down at her menu. “I’ll do the waffle combo, please. And a coffee with cream and sugar.”

When Taylor looks at me, I order my usual, chicken fried steak and a black coffee.

“I’ll get these going for you two. Nice to see you again, Dusty.”

“Okay, I can see why you like this place.” Valerie giggles once Taylor’s out of earshot.

“It’s definitely special when all the employees are on a first-name basis with their customers. I selfishly hope the touristsdon’t find it, but at the same time, I’d be thrilled for the owners. Anyway, I did want to let you know that after breakfast we’re going to head over to the label. I don’t want you to feel overwhelmed or nervous.”

Her eyes widen, and she opens her mouth, but then closes it like the words won’t come out.

“It’s a casual meeting, no pressure. They just want to meet you.” And I want to use this meeting to ensure that I can set Valerie up for success—maybe even a spot at the label—even if she’s not the woman I’m ending this experience with.

“W-wow, I don’t know what to say.” She manages to get the words out. “Thank you, Dusty. Seriously, you’ve done so much for me the last couple months, and I don’t know what I did to deserve it.”

I take her hands across the table. “You’re amazing. And you deserve good things in life. You deserve to be happy.”

The air in Ace High Entertainment is a bit stifling as I lead Valerie down the hallway to the elevator that will take us up to the conference room. The same conference room I sat in three months ago when Rob told me I was going to star as the lead ofHeart Strings.

It’s also been three months since I’ve had to see the guy, and I can’t say I’m looking forward to facing him today, even if the meeting isn’t only about me.

As if she senses my shift in mood, she takes my hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

Rob and a few other executives are already sitting at the table when we approach the conference room. Craig is there as well,and he gives me a nod of acknowledgment through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

I hold the door open for Valerie, and we both step inside. I can tell she’s nervous by the way she shifts on her feet and wrings her hands.

Rob isn’t making any effort to say something, so I take the lead. “Hello, gentlemen. Good to see you again. This is Valerie.”

Rob finally stands, approaching us to shake Valerie’s hand. “Very nice to meet you and congratulations on making it this far. We’ve been really impressed with you on the show here at Ace High Entertainment.”

---