“I’ve already prepped her about Ivy’s big announcement about leaving her label,” Madeleine said. “Since Ivy’s interview went live already, it won’t be new information. So use it as away to talk about Ivy and how proud you are of her for taking back her power. And I want you to make sure and say how you work through things in life through your music. You could even say something like, ‘If you want to know who I am, it’s all in the songs.’ That way we kind of grease the wheel about the cheating accusation. People will immediately want to listen to the latest song. And they’ll get exactly what it means. Also, and this is important. You’ll need to talk about your mother. How she left when you were ten. And your dad’s tendency to work too much. How you came to be so close with Wes and Margaret. Again, they’ll find it in the song and know it’s about your mother, then Dana. Does that makes sense?”
“I think so.” God, I hated this. But this was for Ivy. I owed her this. She had to get through this as still America’s country sweetheart. If I had to bare my soul, so be it. But that didn’t mean I was going to like it.
The crew tookforty-five minutes to set up. While they did so, Madeleine informed me that I would need makeup.
“I don’t think so,” I said.
“Trust me. You’ll regret it if you go in there looking like that.” Madeleine made a dismissive gesture with her hand.
“Fine,” I said, grumbling. I couldn’t wait for this to be over.
The makeup artist was a young woman named Nadia. She assessed my face with narrowed eyes, then tipped my chin up, tilting her head one way and then the other. “Good bone structure. But you need moisturizer. I have some suggestions. I’ll write them down for you. And you’ve got to start wearing sunscreen. You’re obviously outside a lot.”
“I run on the beach,” he said.
“I can tell.” She opened a professional case with more compartments than I’d thought there were products for. She selected a setting powder in a shade that matched my skin tone exactly. Nice trick. She stoked a fluffy brush across my face. I fought the urge to giggle.
“Tickles,” I said.
She smiled, picking up a smaller brush and a tube of concealer. “Yeah?” She swept it under my eyes.
“What’s that for?” I asked.
“This just takes the purple out.”
“Purple?”
“Under your eyes. From lack of sleep, mostly. Stress too. Or some people are just born with dark circles.”
Apparently I had dark circles under my eyes. Who knew?
She stepped back and looked at me, clearly focused on her task. “Just a little pink for your cheeks, and that should do it.” She used yet another brush to spread blush along the cheekbones.
“Done,” she said. “You look good. I took at least ten years off you.”
Had I needed ten years erased from my face? Regardless, I thanked her.
Madeleine stepped into the kitchen. “They’re ready for you.”
I got up from the chair and followed her into the living room where they had the cameras set up. Claire Ainsley was already seated, but she got up to introduce herself. “I’m a big fan,” Claire said. “It’s an honor to meet you.”
“You too. Love your show,” I said.
Claire Ainsley was smaller than I’d expected and fresh-faced, with big brown eyes that looked directly into mine. I instinctively felt like I was in good hands.
They fastened the mic on me. Nadia appeared with yet another round of powder. Then, the cameras started rolling.Claire started by asking about my early Nashville years with what felt like genuine interest.
I spoke about the lean years and how I just kept plugging away, hoping for a break.
“And you finally got one,” Claire said. “Tell me about that.”
“I wrote a song for Ivy James that went straight to number one,” I said. “After that, things took off for me.”
“Sixty-one songs in the top twenty. That’s an extraordinary catalog.”
“I’ve been lucky.”
“I’d venture to say there was a lot of hard work and talent behind your success.”
