Page 6 of Christmas Music
Unfortunately, Dev had seen the whole exchange, and when I got back to the table we were sharing, my best friend glanced from me to the girls behind me, and then down to my hands. “I see you didn’t manage to get the coffee I asked for.”
“Too crowded up there,” I answered, my tone sharp.
He smirked. “Too crowded? Or too many Olivia Johnses sitting at the bar?”
Yep, he definitely saw the whole exchange. I scowled at him, trying to keep the smile off my face, but he just laughed.
“How is the prom queen, then?”
“As friendly as ever,” I muttered, turning toward the stage and hoping they’d get on with the announcement. “Nothing like everyone being home for the holidays.”
The problem was, we’d all gone to high school together. More than that. When it came to Olivia and Parker and me, we’d gone to elementary school and then junior high together, as well. Dev had moved in later, but he’d been around long enough to know exactly how I’d always felt about Olivia.
He’d been around long enough to see hernotreturning those feelings.
And he’d been going out of his way to make fun of me for it since we were about sixteen.
“Remind me what it was that started this standoff between the two of you, again?” he asked, not even trying to contain his grin.
I growled. “I rescued her when we were in eighth grade. Bunch of kids thought they’d pick on the girl with the flaming red hair and I found them shouting at her. Got my ass kicked trying to distract them, but gave her the time to get away. And it’s such a happy memory. So glad you brought it up.”
He brought a hand down on my shoulder and squeezed. “Oh Connor,” he muttered. “Always playing the hero for the girl who doesn’t want one.”
I shook him off. “Yeah, well, it never happened again, so I don’t know if you can say I’malwaysplaying the hero.”
I looked up to see that the laughter had fallen of his face, his eyes turned serious and considering. “And yet here you are, home from Nashville to save the family farm. Not heroic at all.”
I opened my mouth, about to tell him that he thought way too much of my heroic qualities, when the mic on the stage suddenly came to life, crackling with static and feedback as someone turned it on.
Thank God. They were finally going to start the show.
The announcement, in case you’re wondering, was why I’d actually come into town today. And to this coffee shop that looked more like a bar and served froo-froo drinks like gingerbread lattés and mocha something-a-rathers. Sure, I’d come to town to see Dev, but that was only part of the reason.
The real reason was about to be announced.
“Ladies and gentlemen!” Duncan, the owner of the cafe, shouted into the mic.
The audience covered their ears, shouting back at him to keep it down, and he blushed.
“Sorry, not used to being up here on the microphone, I guess. This here spot is for the musicians, not a little old coffee slinger like me. And speaking of musicians...” He grinned, knowing exactly what he was doing now, and working the crowd up. “I’m guessing there’re a few of you out there tonight, aren’t there?”
A collective groan from the crowd told him that he was now pushing his luck, and he held his hands up in a surrendering gesture.
“Okay, okay, I won’t tease you. But I’m also not the one making the announcement. That belongs to this fine gentleman. I’m very pleased to welcome Harvey Arden to stage, with an announcement from... Well, I guess I’ll let him tell you about that.”
Duncan stepped back and waved a much taller, much slicker—and slimier—man to the stage. This guy looked like he’d gotten dressed up on a Hollywood side stage. His jeans were so new they looked stiff, and he’d definitely never walked in cowboy boots before.
Dev leaned closer to me. “What are the chances his shirt cost more than an entire month of mortgage payments on your ranch?”
It surprised a laugh out of me, it matched my own thoughts so closely. “About 10 out of 10. And I’m guessing he already has blisters from those brand new boots.”
“City slickers,” Dev muttered, his tone telling me exactly what he thought of people coming down here from the city and trying to fit in.
I agreed with him. But I’d also spent a lot of time in Nashville. Enough to know that being from the city didn’t make you a bad person. It just made you an outsider when you came to Arberry.
This particular outsider, though, was here to make a Very Big, Very Important announcement, and I leaned in, so excited I could feel myself shaking.
“Thank you, thank you,” Harvey Arden said, grinning around like he’d received thunderous applause from the onlookers. He hadn’t, but I didn’t think that had probably ever stopped him from acting like he had. “Duncan’s right, though I’m guessing you already knew that I’m here to make an announcement. I guess you’ve all noticed that it’s getting close to Christmas...” He paused, waiting for the chuckles, and then continued. “And I guess you know what that means. I don’t know how you do it down here, but Arberry has a habit of producing some of the best talent we see in this area of the country, and my company, Atomic Records, likes to give that talent a chance to really shine.
