“Ugh. I don’t know…”
“Come on. There’s no pressure here, right? Half the people in this place are already drunk, so even if you suck, they’re still gonna cheer.”
I give her a flat look. “Gee, thanks.”
She chuckles. “You know what I mean. Look, you came here to regroup, right?”
“Yeah.”
“So maybe that means remembering why you fell in love with singing and music in the first place. Take the pressure off. Just sing because you love it. Hell, that’s what I do sometimes with cars. I rebuild one not because someone is paying me to or because I’m entering into a show, but because I simply love the process.”
Biting my bottom lip, I contemplate her words.
Maybe she’s right.
It felt so amazing to just sing the other night to Remy and Henley. I haven’t sung in months without trying to make it mean something, not since the night that changed how I felt about this career aspiration.
Dilynne is still staring at me, nodding her head as if that’s what’s going to make me decide.
“Ugh, fine.” Huffing, I stand from my chair and march over to the bar then scribble my name in the second to last spot. I traipse back to Dilynne who’s clapping excitedly.
“Heck yes! I can’t wait to hear you sing.”
“I hope I don’t end up regretting this.”
“Elodie? Elodie Olsen, is that you?”
I spin around to see a familiar face that I haven’t seen in ages standing just to my left. “Easton Bennett.”
Jumping from the table, he intercepts me into his big, burly chest. “Holy shit! It is you.” Holding me out at arm’s length now, his eyes move up and down my body. “Damn girl, L.A. has been good to you. What the hell are you doing back here?”
“Oh, uh…just visiting some friends,” I say, not wanting to get into all of the details of how I ended up in Blossom Peak right now. Motioning to my new friend, I say, “This is Dilynne Clark.”
He reaches out to shake Dilynne’s hand. “Hey… You look familiar.”
“I come here pretty often. You actually hit on my engaged best friend a few months ago.”
“Easton!” I smack him on the chest.
He simply shrugs as those dimples of his appear, using them to his advantage like always. “Hey. I’m a grown man. If I’d known she was taken, I wouldn’t have…”
“You could have asked,” I counter, crossing my arms over my chest. “Besides, I thought you and—”
He cuts me off, his tone clipped. “Nothing is going on with anyone back home, all right?”
Lifting my hands in the air, I say, “Okay. Noted. Won’t bring it up again.”
Dilynne’s eyes move between me and Easton. “Did you two ever…”
My lips curl up in disgust as Easton groans. “Absolutely not. He’s like a brother to me.”
Dilynne’s eyes shamelessly rake all over his body. “Well, he’s not my brother, and”—she takes his cowboy hat from his head and places it on her own—“it’s been a while since I’ve gone riding.”
I cover my mouth to hide my smile, but Easton’s grin is stretched a mile wide. “Then maybe I’ll warm you up on the dance floor, sugar.”
Dilynne’s face falls flat as she returns his hat. “Nope. Changed my mind.”
“What? Why?”
