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“We did it,” I reply, my voice hoarse from all the singing and lack of sleep.

Paisley places her palms on my cheeks and tilts my face up so she can look me in the eye. There’s a bittersweet look in her eyes, like she’s proud of our accomplishment but also sad that all this is coming to an end. “You’re going to take Nashville by storm.”

“Can I take you with me?” I don’t realize how serious I am about it until the words come out of my mouth. Paisley and I make a good team. I don’t want to lose what we have, personally or professionally.

Paisley blinks in shock. “That’s just lack of sleep talking,” she says, pushing my shoulder playfully.

“What if it’s not?”

She sighs and slides out of my lap. “I’m not cut out for Nashville.”

“It’s not just for performers. Plenty of songwriters are there.”

“Look, Kash,” she says, picking up wrappers and shoving them into the trashcan that was under the desk. I hadn’t noticed it before. “You’re about to hit the big time. You’re gonna go on Live, from Nashville! and blow them all away. The last thing you need is me hanging around.”

…not the direction we’re going in…

It’s nothing personal…

Am I getting dumped? Again.

“Hold up,” I say, bolting from the chair. “You’re talking like you want to end whatever this is.” I motion between us.

“No. What I’m saying is I don’t belong in Nashville.” She bites her bottom lip. “But that doesn’t mean we don’t belong together. I’m not ready to leave Hidden Acres, but I don’t want to lose you.”

I pull her in for a hug. “I don’t want to lose you, either. I like what we have going on.”

“Me too.”

“Hidden Acres is only a short drive from Nashville. Well, unless a big rig spills a bunch of lithium-ion batteries,” I say wryly.

Paisley’s shoulders give a little shake of laughter. “True.”

“I’m going to need someone to co-write more songs with me for a full-length album.”

“True.”

“And I’m probably going to need to book time in a recording studio.”

“Makes sense.”

I step back and take her hands. “I want to see where this goes with us, Paisley.”

“Me too.”

I sway on my feet, the exhaustion catching up with me.

“You need sleep,” she says, her lips skimming over my cheek.

I nod. “First, I have to send the song to Barry. Then sleep.”

Paisley looks at the clock and screws up her face. “I have to get over to the cocoa stand. I’ll see you later?”

“You can count on it.”

We kiss goodbye, and then she’s out the door.

I turn to the computer, quickly select the file from the Ka$hTrain folder, and drop “Worth the Wait_Kash” into SoundCloud. I also upload the folder with the other five demo songs Paisley and I wrote. I set the playlist to private and shoot the link over to Barry with a note: “Worth the Wait” should get toes tapping on New Year’s Eve.