The Hottest Ticket in Town

by Kimberly Van Meter

  “God, that’s rough. Okay, I’ll clear my schedule.” He paused a beat, then asked, “You want me to call Laci and tell her the news?”

  Kane scowled. Hell no. If the news would come from anyone, it would come from him. “I got this. You just handle your end. Have you found anything on that manager of hers?”

  “Not really. I mean, aside from the fact that he’s a dick. Not well liked in certain circles, but he seems to have a knack for turning out stars.”

  That wasn’t the news he’d been hoping for, but then, what had he expected Rian to find? That the guy was a wanted terrorist, living under an assumed name? “All right. Keep looking, you never know what might pop up. Hell, maybe he cheats on his taxes or something.”

  Rian chuckled ruefully. “Yeah, okay. I’ll see you in a few days.”

  Kane clicked off and he stared at the text message with Laci’s contact number. He supposed he ought to keep it short and sweet. Maybe he’d just send a text and let her decide whether or not she wanted to call back. But sending a text for something so personal seemed chickenshit, so in the end, he just punched in the numbers and held his breath.

  One ring, two rings, three rings—voice mail.

  Well, hell. He didn’t want to leave that kind of message, either, so he clicked off. He’d try again later.

  He yawned and pocketed his phone before turning off the lights in the house and climbing into bed.

  The only good thing about working his ass off was that sleep came easily even if his brain didn’t want to shut off.

  He just didn’t have a choice.

  Thank God for small favors.

  19

  THE FOLLOWING DAY they were somewhere between Tulsa and New Mexico when Trent picked up Laci’s silently vibrating cell phone and waited for the call to go to voice mail. He didn’t recognize the number and it wasn’t in Laci’s contacts, but his gut told him it was that hulking country guy who didn’t need to be calling and pestering his number one star.

  Laci, sacked out in the private section of the tour bus, had put on one helluva show last night and the ticket sales were enough to make him forgive Laci for her momentary lapse in reason. But this—he stared at the cell phone with distaste—was enough to bring back bad memories. Without hesitation, he listened to the voice mail, curling his lip when he heard that man’s voice.

  “Laci, this is Kane... Call me when you get the chance. It’s important.”

  Hmm...no loving send-off, just a curt message left behind. What could be more important than keeping his country angel focused and on-target? Trent didn’t think anything was more important than that. In a deliberate action, he deleted the voice mail as well as the missed-call signal. His job was to keep Laci focused on the future, not looking back to the past. He began to return the phone to where he found it, but then he reconsidered and pocketed it instead. Best way to keep his star focused was to remove distractions.

  * * *

  LACI AWOKE AND rubbed bleary eyes as she attempted to focus her vision. Her head was splitting and every muscle ached. She needed a good, deep massage and a handful of aspirin with her morning coffee.

  She rolled to her side to grab her phone and realized she’d left it in the front of the bus last night. She’d been so exhausted, she hadn’t even taken the time to clean the makeup from her face, and normally she never slept with makeup on because it clogged her pores.

  She slowly climbed from her bed and stumbled to the private bathroom to rinse her face. Staring into the small mirror, she saw unhappiness staring back at her. She needed to call Kane. Part of her was ashamed by how she’d run out on him, moving on autopilot instead of using her brain to think things through, but then Trent knew how to get the right reaction out of her, too. She shook her head, bogged down by the weight of her own life.

  She braced herself on her elbows against the counter and stretched her back, wincing as her muscles screamed and her back ached. She felt a hundred years old today. Straightening slowly, she exited the bathroom and went in search of her phone, but Trent intercepted her with a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice and a bran muffin, packed with protein, no doubt, which would taste like cardboard but serve as the necessary fuel for the day.

  “Thanks.” She accepted the muffin and took a bite, grimacing. Yep. Cardboard. Nothing like Cora’s muffins, which were loaded with butter and eggs, and love. She chewed dutifully and washed the muffin down with a swallow of orange juice. Well, at least the juice was good. “Have you seen my phone?”

  Trent shook his head. “No, but I’m sure it’s around here somewhere. Is there someone you need to call? I can do it for you.”

  She hesitated, not sure if she wanted to rely on Trent any more than she already did, particularly when she was considering letting him go, but her head hurt and she didn’t want to add more stress to the day, so she just said, “It’s not important. I’ll take care of it later.”

  “Excellent,” he said briskly with an efficient smile as he continued without missing a beat, “because you have a full day on the schedule. You have an interview with Country Talk magazine as well as a photo shoot for the December cover of Cosmopolitan, so let’s get our head in the game. I want you to talk up the new album, give some private insight to the meaning of a song—people love that—but make sure you leave some mystery, too. An overexposed star is a star whose fame is waning. Got that?”

  She nodded wearily, too tired to scowl or argue with him. “What time does everything start?”

  “I have hair and makeup scheduled in one hour, so you’d better scoot and get showered up. Go on, girl, get the lead out. Time’s a-wasting.”

  Oh, shut up. She did manage a faint scowl this time, but it was lost on Trent. He was already moving on, heading to the front of the bus to give the driver their next destination.

  A part of her insisted that she find a phone and call Kane, but the other part of her, likely the part that was still reluctant to go against Trent, was telling her to get her butt in the shower. It was a big deal to land the Cosmo cover. Country singers weren’t always the ones sought after for that iconic cover, but as Trent liked to point out, she had the goods. Trent made sure she was made up for the public eye so she always looked radiant and beautiful, but truthfully, she’d enjoyed the fact that when Kane had looked at her, no matter if she’d just woken up and her hair was standing on end, or if she’d spent time on her hair and makeup, she knew he liked what he saw. No, more than liked—he’d loved it. Tears sprang to her eyes and she dashed them away, knowing she didn’t have time to cry. The world didn’t wait for a forlorn heart to mend—or to make up its mind.

  She’d call Kane tonight, no matter what.

  * * *

  RIAN ARRIVED AT the Bradford ranch two days after Warren had returned. The air in the ranch house was stoic, as if no one dared to break down because if one fell to tears, they’d end up a sobbing mess and there was work to be done.

  “How’s Warren doing?” Rian asked once they were alone. Rian and Kane had headed for the barn to saddle up the horses to check the fence line where Kane had mended it a week prior.

  “As good as can be expected, I suppose,” Kane answered as he mounted Amelia, and Rian took Dancer. “He’s real quiet, but then Warren’s never been a man of many words. What can he say? She’s gone and nothing’s bringing her back.”

  “True. I just feel terrible for the old guy. I don’t even know how he’s going to function without Cora around. You know, Cora ran this ranch even if he did the heavy lifting. She paid the bills, the taxes, kept the house from falling down around their ears...and Warren’s not up to learning a whole new set of skills.”

  “I know,” Kane said grimly. Rian wasn’t voicing anything he didn’t already know. “But we knew sooner or later this day would come. It’s just here now. But Warren’s not going to let anyone come in
and help him. His pride is thicker than molasses in winter.”

  “I been thinking...what if we offered to buy the ranch—me and you—and just kept Warren on to manage the operations?”

  The idea had merit, but Warren wouldn’t sell. Not even to him and Rian. “I wish that were the answer, but you know Warren’s not going to let go of the ranch. Not until the good Lord takes him. That’s the only way it’s going to happen.”

  “Aw, hell, this ain’t gonna work. We live in LA. We can’t move our base of operations to Woodsville, Kentucky, to make sure Warren ain’t killing himself here on the ranch.” Just like Kane, when Rian was frustrated, the Southern came out in him, revealing his Kentucky roots. “This is a right pickle. Talk about being between a rock and a hard place.”

  Kane agreed, adding almost hopelessly, “Maybe I could convince Warren to take on a ranch hand...”

  “Are you kidding? He wouldn’t even let anyone take over temporarily while he took Cora for that stupid treatment. He ain’t gonna let no stranger come in and help out now.”

  Kane swore under his breath because Rian was right. They rode in silence for a long while then Rian said, “You heard from Laci?”

  “Nope.”

  “Did you leave a message with that number I gave you?”

  “Yep.”

  “Are you sure she got the message? I know Laci wouldn’t have kept radio silence if she knew about Cora. She loved the old gal like we all did.”

  Kane shot Rian a quelling look. He didn’t want to talk about Laci. “It is what it is. I left a message. She hasn’t called back. Can’t get more clearer than that.”

  Rian looked confused. “I don’t understand... Laci would never—”

  “You’re confusing what you knew of Laci when she was a kid with the woman she is now—they ain’t the same. Trust me.”

  “I guess you’re right, but I still can’t believe she’d ignore a call like that. I mean, not even a text message back?”

  “Nothing,” Kane answered, trying not to let his anger get the best of him. He’d been damn surprised that Laci hadn’t lifted a finger to call him since she’d bolted, but then, what had he expected? They’d shared some good times and now it was time for everyone to get back to reality, a reality that apparently didn’t include him, and it stung. “Laci McCall is not the center of the universe. We got bigger problems to solve than whether or not Laci is going to remember who was there before she got famous.”

  Rian was quiet for a minute and Kane thought, Good, he’s dropping the subject, but no such luck. “I don’t buy it. She didn’t get the message, Kane. Try again. You can’t just send a single message and leave it at that. Sometimes technology eats messages, you know that. Remember that time I texted you to get beer and you came back from the store empty-handed?”

  “This isn’t like that,” Kane retorted, shaking his head. “C’mon now, we got bigger stuff to figure out.” He did a double take at his brother. “And why are you so hell-bent on me and Laci mending fences? You got a stake in this or something?”

  “Yeah, actually, I do,” Rian snapped. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that you’re still in love with the woman. And I have a feeling that if you don’t chase after her, you’re gonna regret it for the rest of your life and, frankly, I don’t have time to babysit your sulking, crybaby ass just because you’re too chickenshit to just lay it all on the line and tell her how you feel.”

  “Feeling your oats today, boy?”

  “I’m not a boy,” Rian growled as Dancer shied away from Amelia, reacting to the tension in her rider. “That’s your problem, Kane. You’re too bullheaded for your own damn good. You can’t recognize when you need to listen to someone else.”

  “I’m not gonna chase after her like some lovelorn kid. I wouldn’t do it when I was seventeen and I sure as hell don’t see myself doing it now. She knows where to find me. At least for the next week. After that...she’s out of luck.”

  Rian shook his head in disgust and spurred Dancer to a canter to put some space between him and Kane, which was probably a good thing. Amelia was getting happy feet and when she did that, she got skittish. He’d taken more than one spill on Amelia in his youth.

  Was he being too stubborn? What else was he supposed to do? Pack up and drag the woman back to Woodsville so she could pay her respects to a woman who’d been like a grandmother to her? And what if that pushy manager got in the way again? He couldn’t promise he wouldn’t give that man a taste of pure country retribution in the form of his fist. Just give her another call, a voice urged, and he wavered. Rian was right, Laci would’ve called back if she’d known it was about Cora. Maybe he should’ve been more specific in his message. The funeral was in two days. He had to at least try.

  If he didn’t, Cora was likely to haunt his ever-loving ass for the rest of his days.

  And he couldn’t handle that idea at all.

  20

  THE WEEK PASSED in a blur, so much so that Laci didn’t know which end was up any longer, but as Sunday arrived, she was thankful for the reprieve. Today was the day she was going to try to call Kane. Her stomach pitched and rolled at the prospect because she didn’t know what to expect. She knew she had to try to explain, to try to get Kane to understand why she’d left that day. But the reality was, if she didn’t understand, herself, why she’d left, how could she explain to somebody who didn’t understand the lifestyle she lived? Perhaps that’s why she hadn’t been able to make the call yet. Either way, she wasn’t going to sit on her hands any longer. Kane deserved some kind of answer.

  “Trent, have you seen my phone? I seem to keep misplacing it.” She began lifting papers from tabletops in search of her missing smartphone, getting frustrated by the fact that it seemed to have grown legs. “I can’t understand why this phone keeps disappearing. Maybe I need a bell attached to it.”

  “Are you sure you should be on the phone right now? You ought to be resting your voice. You sounded a little hoarse at the last interview,” Trent said. “Maybe you need a little tea with whiskey and lemon.”

  “I don’t want to rest, I want my phone,” she said, irritated. “Do you know where it is or not?”

  Trent sounded bored as he flipped through the newspaper. “Nothing worse than a woman who thinks she knows her own mind. You need sleep. Now go on and get some shut-eye. I don’t want to hear about how tired you are if you won’t get some rest when you’re able.”

  Red-hot anger washed through Laci like a flash flood barreling through a dusty canyon and she couldn’t stop her mouth from snarling as she said, “Don’t talk to me like I’m some kind of idiot. I pay your bills, not the other way around. Try to remember that.”

  “Don’t get your dander up, girl. I was just trying to help. Who are you all fired up to talk to anyway?” he grumbled, folding the paper and standing. “If you just tell me what you need, I’ll see to it that you get it.”

  But she didn’t believe him. She didn’t know why she was suddenly so suspicious of Trent, but it was as if her internal monitor was beeping like crazy and it was hard to shut it off. “I don’t think that’s any of your business,” she returned coolly. Her patience with Trent was at an all-time low. She no longer saw him as the man with the key to her dreams but rather the gatekeeper preventing her from her own life. “It’s not your job to manage who I talk to. If you have my phone, give it to me now.”

  “You’re all filled with piss and vinegar today, aren’t you? Calm down, your phone is right here.”

  Trent reached into his pocket and handed her the cell phone. “I found it underneath a bunch of costuming. You must’ve dropped it when you were changing. I was going to give it back to you after you’d had som
e rest.”

  She accepted the phone and although his explanation seemed plausible enough, she wondered if her phone had not been misplaced at all but deliberately hidden. Every time she’d asked for it, Trent had distracted her with something else. She checked her missed calls and her heart sank a little when she didn’t see any unknown numbers in the missed-call list. Disappointment sharpened her voice even further as she said, “Keep your hands off my phone. This is personal property, and don’t forget it.”

  She disappeared into her bedroom and closed the door, happy to shut him out if at least for the moment. Laci sank onto the bed, heartsick and angry at the same time. Why hadn’t Kane called? It’s true she hadn’t left her number, but Kane had ways of finding information. If he’d wanted to find her, he would have. But the absence of any missed calls told her he hadn’t been interested in finding her at all. Apparently, what she’d thought they’d shared at the ranch had been a passing diversion for him. Just because two people had sexual chemistry didn’t mean they were meant to be together. It was a tough lesson, but what could she do? She supposed she could call him, but her pride balked at that. There was no way she was going to chase after him if he had no interest in being with her.

  But how else was she going to get news about Cora? Laci chewed her bottom lip, conflicted. Maybe she’d just have to bite the bullet to find out how Cora was doing. Yes, that’s what she would have to do. If Kane didn’t want her, that was fine, but she wasn’t going to let her issues with him get in the way of her love for Cora. She quickly dialed the Bradford ranch. And was surprised when not Kane but Rian answered the phone.

  “Rian? Is that you?”

  Rian, just as surprised, exclaimed, “Laci? Oh man, am I glad to hear your voice. Where are you? Please tell me you’re close.”