Poked (A Standalone Romance) (A Savery Brother Book)

by Naomi Niles

  I woke up with a slight headache. I'd definitely had a few too many drinks at the bar the night before. I didn't usually do that, and often I didn't even have one drink after playing a show, but since my brother was back in town for a visit, it had been an occasion to celebrate and cut loose a little – although Will had cut loose a little too enthusiastically. I couldn't help wondering how he felt.

  I got out of bed, downed the tall glass of water I'd left on my nightstand, and then headed over to the kitchen. A coffee and a good green smoothie would help this little hangover . . . I hoped. I got some celery and spinach out of the fridge, added two apples for taste, and then threw it in the blender while I put the coffee pot on.

  As soon as the noise from the blender started, I heard a groan come from the living room, which was attached to the kitchen of my apartment.

  “Dammit, Mackenzie; do you have to do that at this ungodly hour?”

  I sighed.

  “Good morning to you too, lil' brother.”

  “Ain't no good morning, I'll tell ya that. Feel like a damn truck hit me – and then backed over me a few times to make sure I was dead. Ugh.”

  “Well with the amount you drank last night, I'm surprised that even the noise of this blender was enough to wake you.”

  “Just shut it off so I can get back to sleep. Hell, what time is it? Like five in the morning?”

  “It's eight in the morning, actually.”

  I shut the blender off now that my green smoothie was ready.

  “Hey, Will, you want some of this? It'll help you feel better.”

  “What is it?”

  “Green smoothie. Celery, spinach—”

  “Gross! Hell no, just leave me some coffee. And try not to make too much more noise; I gotta get more sleep.”

  I shook my head. I really had hoped that my brother would have grown up a little bit after moving to Texas, but it seemed that little had changed with him. At least he was no longer a burden on my mom and dad anymore because Lord knows they'd had their fair share of struggles with him. At least now he was independent, and even if he wasn't doing that great for himself, he wasn't mooching off them anymore.

  I walked into the living room with my smoothie and stared for a while at Will as he snored on the sofa, having fallen quickly back into a slumber soon after I turned the blender off. For all his foibles, he was still my brother, and I loved him – and that boyish face of his, which looked so innocent now, and his natural charm had gotten him out of a lot of trouble over the years.

  “Oh, Will,” I sighed, “you're lucky you were born with those looks, or I think you might well be in prison now, or worse. I just really wish you'd grow up just a little bit more. Especially with, you know, things the way they are right now with the family. Mom and Dad don't need any more stress and worry than they already have. They really don't.”

  Will carried on snoring, oblivious to what I was saying, but I hoped that somehow the message would drift into his mind and that he'd take it to heart.

  After I'd had my green smoothie and coffee, I felt a whole lot perkier, so I took a shower and freshened myself up. As I was drying off, my phone rang. I checked who was calling and saw that it was Lilly.

  “Hey, Lil,” I said as I answered. “How are you feeling this morning?”

  “Ugh,” she groaned. “Not great. Not great at all.”

  I chuckled. “I figured that'd be the case, considering how many shooters you and Jason were throwing back last night. How's he?”

  “Oh, he got up three hours ago and is already at the office. I don't know how he did it, but he seemed all bright and chipper, while here I am feeling like someone dropped a damn piano on my head.”

  I laughed.

  “So anyway, Lil, what's up?”

  “I got a message this morning from a promoter who was at the show last night. He knows me from my Wild Oats days. Says he was real impressed with you and I last night, and wants us to play in a festival he and some others are putting together.”

  “That sounds great!” I exclaimed.

  “It is! I mean, it will be. So, should I tell him we're in?”

  “You're not too busy? I know you've got a lot of stuff going on with being in the studio and teaching drums and—”

  “C'mon girl, you're my best friend, and I want to see you break through with your music. I'm happy to help.”

  I couldn't help smiling. Lilly really was such a great friend.

  “Aw shucks, you're the best, Lil. Well, when is it? Where is it?”

  “It's gonna be on a ranch about an hour and a half out of Nashville, a three-day country and Southern rock festival. Two months away. It's gonna be big, Mackenzie, real big. Some of the biggest names in country music are gonna be headlining the main stage. You and I, we'd be playing on one of the smaller stages, but they're expecting huge crowds nonetheless. I'm pretty sure it'll be the biggest crowd you've ever played for, in fact.”

  My heart started beating faster as she talked about this. I was, of course, used to playing in front of people, and the biggest show I'd played had been at an outdoor day concert here in Nashville, where I'd played in front of almost a thousand people. Now that had been a rush. I couldn't help wondering just how many people she was talking about.

  “So, you say we'd be on one of the smaller stages... but just how many people do you think would be watching us?”

  “Well, usually at these festivals, even on the smaller stages, you could easily have a crowd of ten thousand.”

  “T-ten thousand?!”

  “That's right girl.”

  “Wow.”

  “Yeah. It'll be a great way to get your name out there.”

  “It sure will.”

  “So, should I tell this dude that we're in?”

  I didn't have to think very hard about that.

  “Yes. Hell yes.”

  She laughed.

  “I figured you'd say that. All right, well I'll get right back to him and tell him we're in. Mackenzie Shea featuring Lilly Wright are signing up for the festival!”

  “Woohoo!” I hooted.

  Lilly laughed again on the other end of the line.

  “All right, well, I'm glad you're happy about it! I'm excited too.”

  “You've played at a million of these things before, Lil; why are you so excited about it?”

  “I'm excited for you, silly. Now, since we're signing up for this, we're gonna have to spend a lot more time together practicing. We gotta be super tight for this.”

  “I know. Well, are you free today at all? We may as well get started as soon as we can.”

  “I do have some free time today, yeah. This morning would be great. Can you come over to my place so we can jam in my studio?”

  “Sure. I can come over right now, actually.”

  “That sounds good. I'll just get myself outta bed, and then I'll see you in half an hour?”

  “Sounds great Lil, see ya then.”

  ***

  “We sounded really good,” I said as I put Betsy into her case.

  “Yeah,” Lilly agreed. “And I gotta say, that new song is sounding awesome. It's got such a catchy chorus hook. People are gonna be singing along to it in no time, I guarantee it.”

  “I hope so,” I replied.

  “They will, trust me.”

  “If you say so.”

  “I'm famished. How about we go out and get something to eat?” suggested Lilly.

  “Sounds good. Where are you thinking?”

  “That new Tex-Mex place just a few blocks away; how does that sound?”

  “Sure,” I said. “Let's go. I'll drive.”

  A few minutes later, we pulled out of Lilly's driveway and headed off toward the restaurant. After a few blocks, we pulled up to a traffic light, and in the lane next to us, a big, flashy truck pulled up next to us. I wasn't sure why, but both Lilly and I glanced across at the driver, and we both stared for a little too long at him. He was attractive, from what we could see of him
through his truck's window. Broad shoulders, powerful arms, and a strong chin thick with dark stubble. Neat, blond hair streaked with darker brown was tucked behind his ears. Striking green eyes glanced across and saw us staring, and then he nodded at us in acknowledgment.

  We both laughed and gave him a shy wave, and then the light changed to green and he roared off.

  “Do you know who that was?” asked Lilly.

  “Uh, just some really hot guy driving a flashy truck?”

  She laughed. “That, Mackenzie, was Chance Lawson, owner of Corral FM.”

  “Oh!” I responded.

  I'd heard a lot about Chance Lawson. Wealthy, successful businessman and rancher, and now radio station owner. I think one of his DJs played one of my older recordings on his show, actually. Chance also had a bit of a reputation around here. He'd dated some pretty high-profile women, all of them young and gorgeous – but it never seemed to last more than a few weeks, from what I'd heard, so people thought of him as a bit of a womanizer. With those looks of his, I wasn't surprised that women flocked to him. Still, while I'd felt a quick surge of attraction when I'd first looked at him, now that I knew who he was, I definitely wasn't interested. A guy like that was not the type of guy I wanted in my life.

  “Yeah, one of the most eligible bachelors of Nashville, I've heard,” Lilly commented.

  “And a giant douche, from what I've heard,” I countered.

  Lilly laughed. “I don't know about that, but I've heard he's got a giant—”

  “Lilly!” I exclaimed. “You dirty-minded little thing!”

  We both laughed. “Come on, though,” she continued, “you have to admit he's hot, regardless of his reputation, or what he's apparently packing downstairs.”

  “Oh my God, Lilly, could you stop talking about that!”

  “Well, come on, Mackenzie, how long has it been since you last got laid?”

  “Jesus, Lil, you know how it is. I don't wanna get into that now.”

  We pulled into the parking lot of the Tex-Mex place, but as I was getting out, I saw a very familiar truck pulling in to a spot at the opposite end of the parking lot – and at the sight of it, my blood froze.

  “What's wrong?” asked Lilly, sensing that something was off.

  I didn't say anything. I simply pointed at the truck that had just pulled in.

  “Oh, my God,” she said. “Shit.”

  A man and a woman got out of the truck. She was holding a baby, and he was fawning over the both of them.

  “Brad. Of all the places you and your new wife and kid could have gone to for lunch, you had to pick this place,” Lilly growled.

  I didn't say anything – too many bad memories were flooding my mind. And the sight of my ex with his new wife and child, looking so happy and innocent after what he had done to me, made my stomach turn. I felt sick.

  “He hasn't seen us,” Lilly said. “Come on, get back into the car and let's just drive somewhere else. Then you can just try to forget that we saw that asshole.”

  “All right,” I said softly and climbed back into the car.

  We both sat in silence for a while, quietly watching as Brad and his new family walked happily into the restaurant. Lilly put a reassuring hand on my shoulder and squeezed it gently.

  “Come on, Mackenzie. Chin up, girl; you'll be all right. Are you okay to drive or do you want me to?”

  “No, I'm okay, I'm fine. I can drive,” I said. “Don't worry about it; it's nothing.”

  “You sure it's nothing?”

  “I'm sure.”

  I reversed out of the parking space and got back onto the road. Everything was feeling kinda surreal, like a dream – or, more likely, a nightmare. It's amazing how simply seeing a person can flip your whole day upside down.

  “Seriously, just don't think about him, all right?” said Lilly. “He's just a selfish, shitty asshole, a pitiful excuse for a human being.”

  “I know, Lil, I know. But you know about everything that happened between him and me. You know all of it. And it's hard to just forget about all that stuff, to just erase it.”

  “I know Mack. And I'm really sorry. But you can't keep dwelling on it. It's like a weight around your neck, pulling you down. Eventually, you are gonna have to cut that weight off. And you'll feel so much better about life when you do.”

  I sighed.

  “Yeah, I will Lil, I will. Just give me time, that's all. Time.”

  “Sure. And remember, I'm here for you, whatever you need, whenever you need it. Always.”

  I leaned across and gave her a quick, tight hug.

  “Thank you, Lil. You really are one of the most amazing people I've ever met. You're like the sister I never had.”

  “I feel the same way, Mack.”

  We both smiled. I was grateful to have a friend like Lilly in my life. She had been there for me through some hard times. In fact, I didn't know how I would've gotten through those times if it hadn't been for her. Now, just thinking about how great she was started at least helping to lift the mood, but even so, it was hard not to think about the past, with all the bad memories that had come floating up when I'd seen Brad. It was hard. But I knew I had to do it – I couldn't dwell on past mistakes and tragedies, as severe as they'd been, with all the consequences they'd had. I knew I couldn't. I had to move on. I really had to.

  I put on as big a smile as I could manage for Lilly.

  “Let's go get something to eat. How about that?” I suggested.

  “That sounds great. Come on, let's go.”

  Chapter Four

  Chance

  I rose with the sun, as I'd always done, regardless of how late I’d stayed up. That was just what a man did out on his ranch; there was no sleeping in here. After a quick breakfast of bacon and eggs – all fresh and sourced from neighboring farms – I headed out to the stables to saddle up my favorite stallion, Silver. He was named, of course, for the Lone Ranger's steed, a character who happened to be a boyhood hero of mine.

  After saddling him up and getting him out of the stable, I took a moment to admire him in the light of the early morning sun. He was jet black, and he shone like a freshly polished sports car, with the attitude and power to match one. He was all muscle, all-purpose – a horse after my own heart.

  I mounted him and then took a leisurely trot down to the cattle pens, where Andy and some of the other farm hands were getting ready to take the cattle out to graze. Andy was berating the young hands for last night.

  “And not one a' you had the damned common sense to check your damned cell phones? I don't care how loud the music in the bar was, couldn't you have just checked and seen that I called all of ya’ll at least fifty times?!”

  “Morning, fellas,” I said, tipping my hat as I approached them on horseback. They were all looking sheepish and were presumably feeling guilty about not being around last night. It wasn't their fault, though; on Thursday nights, I always let them head into town for karaoke night.

  “So, none of ya’ll checked your phones last night at all?” I asked the four hands.

  They all shook their heads, looking down at the ground. I could tell that they really thought they were in big trouble. And they were, kinda – but like I said, it wasn't entirely their fault, so I wasn't gonna be too harsh on them. Still, they needed to know who the boss was around here.

  “So ya’ll know what happened, right? Ya’ll know that I had to race here from my radio station at breakneck speed and that myself and Andy here had to get the foal outta the muck on our own. Ya’ll know this, right?”

  They all nodded. The youngest, Sam, who was only nineteen, looked up at me suddenly.

  “Boss, I'm so, so sorry. You know that we'd a' been here in a heartbeat if we knew what was going on. It's just that, well, in the bar, we was havin' such a fun time with these girls who was from outta town, they was real pretty, an'—”

  As much as I wanted to give the guys a good tongue lashing over this, with young Sam explaining the situation with
such earnestness, I couldn't help but chuckle. As I did, I held up my hand to silence him.

  “So, Sam, you think that chasin' tail is a perfectly reasonable excuse to not check your phone for all of, what was it Andy, three hours?”

  “Damn right, Chance, not one a' these useless som' bitches checked their phones for three hours! Not one a' 'em!”

  “They must'a been some mighty fine lookin' ladies, they must'a,” I remarked with a dry grin.

  “Oh, they was, boss, they really was!” spluttered Sam.

  “Aw hell, you guys are makin' it real hard for me to be pissed off with ya’ll,” I remarked. “Even though I am! It wasn't no fun hauling a panicking foal outta that ice-cold mud late last night, I tell ya’ll that.”

  “We're real sorry, Boss, we really are,” said Sam, looking down at the ground. The others mumbled in agreement.

  “Well, ya’ll have to be a bit more responsible next time. I mean, what if it had been something worse? I don't want ranch hands around who I can't count on through thick an' thin, do ya’ll understand that?”

  “We'd do anything for ya, boss,” Sam said quickly. “Anything.”

  I sighed – it was true. These guys really would stand by me, no matter what. They were like a band of loyal soldiers, with me as their captain.

  “I know that, I know that. Just please promise me ya’ll will be a bit more responsible next time. Can ya’ll do that?”

  “We can, Boss, we can,” they all replied.

  “Good. But I can't let ya’ll go without some sorta punishment for last night. Ya’ll do understand that, don't ya?”

  They all bowed their heads and mumbled that they did.

  “All right, well, once the cattle are out grazing, I want ya’ll to go get some shovels and the old pickup, and go get a few big loads of gravel, and then fill up all the muddy puddles around here so that no more animals get stuck in 'em. It'll be backbreaking work, but ya’ll are strong boys, ain't ya? Ya’ll can handle a bit of good ol' hard labor?”

  They grumbled quietly, but all nodded in agreement.

  “Good. And while ya’ll are shoveling gravel, think about checking your cell phones regular like! Now ya’ll have a good day. I'm off for a quick ride, and then I gotta take my Cassie to school.”