She could be going overboard ever so slightly.
“Yes. We take these matters very seriously around here. The press hounding you isn’t cool.”
That earns another eyebrow raise. “How often have you hidden a famous country singer in your house?”
She gives me a withering look and blows out a breath. “I haven’t. I just meant when a crisis happens in the town, everyone bands together. It’s what we do.”
“Hopefully it isn’t too much of a crisis just yet,” I quip. But I guess you never know how these things are going to go, and if it weren’t for Bailey potentially being involved, I wouldn’t care less. The press can’t come onto the property, and I’ll be fucked if I’m leaving town.
“Well, from what you said, and what I’ve heard on the street, you need to be protected at all costs. The press aren’t going to wake up tomorrow and say, ‘I know where Rock Altman is—over at Cedar Hollow’. So hunkering down here seems like the way to go. I can go out and get more supplies that we may need, maybe it will die down, anyway.”
“I think we have enough supplies to last us the rest of the month,” I quip. “And I hear what you’re sayin’, but it’s only a matter of time before someone notices and squeals.”
“True. But it’s better to be forearmed,” she simply states, back in serious mode again, that signature frown on her face.
“I still need to get over to Lawless Farms, I don’t want to let them down when they’re short staffed.”
“You can’t go to work!”
I stroke my beard and secretly love the way she’s taking this so seriously. I mean, it is serious and all, but it’s kinda cute seeing her react this way.
“You don’t even need to work,” she goes on. “Why are you even doing it?”
“I made a commitment to Zane and his dad for the next few weeks,” I say. “And I wanted to come see Jed; it’s been a while since he came out for a visit. He always talks about Alpine Falls so fondly. When everything went down, it was his idea that I come to Wyoming and hang out.”
“That’s sweet of Jed. And you know I can cover things at Lawless Farms,” she says. “We managed before, we can manage again. It’ll be fine.”
I sigh, louder than I mean to. She turns again from lighting candles all over the house to look at me. I kind of like the way they flicker off the walls like little beacons of hope. “But I want to be there,” I say. “Being around the horses, and good people like you, Jed, and the Lawless family has started to open me up in ways I could never have imagined. I thought I was just going to hide out at Jed’s place, or the hotel, and strum out some new tunes by myself. I never expected to meet someone like you, or to go back to my roots on the farm, which is exactly what I needed to do.”
She blinks, her long, natural lashes beating like a slow butterfly’s wings. “Brett, I had no idea you felt like this. I know I don’t know you very well—wait, am I still supposed to be calling you Brett—or do you prefer Rock?”
I press my lips together to fight a smile. Her cuteness with everything she’s doing and saying right now far outweighs my looming problems. And that is a breath of fresh air in itself. “It’s always Brett, for you,” I say. “None of my friends call me Rock. That’s just a stage name.”
“Is it weird?” she asks. “Having two names and that whole persona that surrounds it all?”
“It takes some getting used to,” I admit, as she walks back into the kitchen and starts putting the groceries away. I pick up one of the bags and pass some things across the counter to her. “And the two worlds collide sometimes. It can be hard to keep your head straight.”
“I can only imagine.” She sets about getting two plates for our burgers and fries, fishing everything out of the paper bags. “The fame thing must be kinda surreal, or maybe you get used to it?”
I pop a shoulder. “There’s times I still have to pinch myself,” I say honestly. “It’s blood, sweat and tears for sure. And there are times where the lines get really blurred. But I know there are plenty of people who have it harder than me. I’m just making music, singing songs, and playin’ the guitar. In many ways, I’m living the dream.”
“But are you happy?”
The words stop me short as she pushes the food over the wooden countertop, a shade lighter than the cedar that adorns this beautiful space. It’s been a long time since anyone asked me that.
Usually, it’s the same questions: Is it great having a career like this that has expanded a decade? Acquiring this much wealth must be a dream come true? Who are you dating? Who are you bringing to the music awards? Do you miss the days you were able to walk around incognito? — It’s as though it’s some grocery list to check off. But no one ever asks if you’re happy.
Her question throws me and I look down to the plate of food before me. “I thought I was. But it’s been a long time since I’ve really thought about it.”
“Maybe you were until that crazy chick…” She sighs and doesn’t quite finish the sentence.
“It sours things for sure,” I reply. “Nothing quite prepares you for not having much downtime, and for the lack of privacy you face once you start to get really well known. I love my fans. Without them, I’d never be where I am, so I don’t regret anything, nor do I like complainin’ about any of it. I just wish there was a way to have the best of both worlds. I thought living on my property in Nashville would give me that because I bought it as my own sanctity, but I’ve barely seen the place in the past two years. My family included.”
“I’m so sorry,” she murmurs, walking around to my side of the counter with her plate. I pull out a stool for her and she slides that cute ass onto it.
“Trust me, I’m not doing so bad. There’s people a lot worse off than I am.”
“It doesn’t mean your problems don’t matter.”
