Baby, just come back’
Her throat started closing. Her eyes burned. And Poppy, seeing her tears, reached up to gently touch her face. ‘Why are you sad?’ she asked, her own big eyes starting to tear up.
‘I’m not sad,’ Nina insisted, and hugged the little girl to her. ‘I’m happy.’
Overhearing their conversation, Sierra turned serious eyes on Nina. ‘You should listen to the original sometime. Even Mav can’t hold a candle to George Strait.’
Nina doubted that. But she didn’t reply. She was too busy listening to the song, holding on to every word.
‘There’s a shortcut to the highway out of town
Why don’t you take it?
Don’t let that speed limit slow you down
Go on and break it
Baby, run, cut a path across the blue skies
Straight in a straight line
You can’t get here fast enough
Find a truck and fire it up
Lean on the gas and off the clutch
Leave LA in the dust
I need you in a rush
So, baby, run
Baby, run
Oh baby, run
Baby, run’
People started cheering the moment he finished the song.
‘Thank you.’
From the back of the crowd, Markus shouted, ‘Encore!’ and had people applauding in agreement.
Maverick passed the guitar back to the lead singer. ‘One’s all I’ve got in me, folks. I’m gonna let Jessie take it from here.’
The lead singer took the mic again. ‘What’d I tell you?’ she shouted.
People hooted and whistled.
Before she started her next song, Jessie laughed into the mic. ‘I hope you enjoyed it. He’s only ever sung for us once and I had to get him blackout drunk first.’
She started strumming her guitar. ‘This is “Feathered Indians”.’
As the music filled the night, Maverick ambled back to where they sat, Nina and Sierra’s drinks now in his hands. He passed them each one and then sat down by Nina.
Poppy immediately slipped from Nina’s lap onto his. ‘You sing so good, Daddy,’ she praised him.
