I set aside my coffee and then gently took her mug and placed it on the island next to mine so I could pull her close. “Thank you for being a grown up about this.” I gave her a quick peck on the mouth.
She wrapped her arms around my neck. “You better not break my heart, Hunter Sloan. If you do, I’ll have to develop a love of heavy metal or rap.”
“Are you saying I could ruin country music for you?” I asked, in a lighter tone than I currently felt.
“Just keep your boots by the door and not on the bed,” Seraphina said. “Then I’ll know it’s all going to be okay.”
“I think I just had an idea for a song.”
“Call Ivy and see if she’ll come by,” Seraphina said. “The sooner we have a plan for how to deal with all of this, the sooner we can both get back to writing.”
“I’m on it.”
Fifteen minutes later,Ivy arrived at Seraphina’s. She bounced into the house, wearing a denim dress and red cowgirl boots.
“How are you two holding up?” Ivy asked, after saying yes to a latte.
“I’m okay,” Seraphina said. “But this has been very distracting. I’ve got everyone and their mother texting me about it. I haven’t written a single word today.”
“I’m sorry this is all happening,” Ivy said. “But I have a solution. I’ve called a publicist to help. Madeleine Price. She’s a pistol. Once she started working with Jack Wilder, his career took off. I called her this morning. She’s already on her way here.”
“I’ve heard of her,” I told Seraphina. “She’s well known in Nashville for being a hit maker.”
“She’s the best there is,” Ivy said. “But I should warn you. She’s intense. Very serious about her work. So just know that going in. She’ll be brutally blunt, most likely.”
“It’s fine as long as she helps,” Seraphina said.
Madeleine Price arrived an hour later in a rental car that she’d driven from San Francisco. She knocked on Seraphina’s front door wearing a cream ribbed dress with a wide leather belt, tall brown cowboy boots, a coffee cup in one hand and a leather bag in the other. Her long brown hair looked like it had been professionally styled.
Ivy introduced us.
Madeleine held out her hand to shake mine. “Good to see you. We’ve met before. Few years back at the CMAs. Not sure you remember me?”
“I think so. Those things are always a blur. Regardless, it’s nice to see you, and thanks for coming on such short notice.”
“I happened to be flying out to L.A. in a few days anyway so it was no problem to move my travel. I’ll drive down to L.A. from here. Once we get everything on the right track.”
“I called her yesterday to talk through what I should do about Dana and her pesky book,” Ivy said. “So she’s familiar with the situation.”
“That’s right,” Madeleine set her bag on the island. “At the moment, I don’t have anything troubling with Jack or any of his band members, so it was fortuitous timing. Last month, not so much. Knox Harley got into a bar fight. Tossed a chair. PR nightmare.”
“I think I read something about that,” Seraphina said.
“The man’s a mess and a menace but he can play a mean guitar and write a darn good song, so we have to deal with him. Plus, he and Jack have known each other a long time. Jack’s a real sweetheart, but Knox makes me want to pull my hair extensions out. ” She set her bag on the island. “Should we get started?”
“Yes, come sit at the table,” Seraphina said. “Can I make you a coffee?”
“No, thank you kindly. I’ve had enough.” Madeleine gestured toward the coffee she’d set next to her laptop. “I’ve been up since four a.m. Nashville time. Living on coffee and dark chocolate since 2009.”
We gathered at the kitchen table. Madeleine opened her laptop. “All right, let’s talk this through. First of all, this is not a code ten type of scandal. More like a two. You’ve done nothingwrong. Neither of you are married. You both live here in Willet Cove, where you met and started dating.”
“We met through mutual friends,” Hunter said. “Nothing untoward.”
“I did a little research on our friend Dana,” Madeleine said. “The book comes out tomorrow, so she’s been doing the interview circuit—television, podcasts, People magazine.”
“We’re aware,” I said drily.
“And I’m sure she’s thrilled with the timing of your photos,” Madeleine said. “They could make Hunter look like a player. Which, unfortunately, works well with the story she’s come up with about why your marriage ended. It’s funny how no one’s talking about the affair she had. I doubt that’ll be in her book.”
