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Done and done.

December 22

Now that my demo and dance song have been turned in, I direct my attention to helping Paisley around the farm. There’s more than enough to do, but at least we can do it together. From slinging cocoa to helping haul a cut tree to a customer’s car in the parking lot, I’ll volunteer for any job that will give me an excuse to spend more time with Paisley.

Right now, I’m taking a break from lumberjack duty to help Paisley cut strips of ribbon for a wreath-making event in the big red barn. Neither of us wants to talk about the fact that I’m heading back to Nashville in a few days or that I don’t know when I’ll be back. Instead, we’re making first date–style small talk. Not gonna lie, I kinda love it.

It’s my turn to ask a random question. “Crunchy or creamy peanut butter?”

“Ooh,” she says, pausing to think. “Depends on the application. Crunchy for sandwiches, creamy for candies.”

“Solid answer. Your turn.”

She snips a length of shiny green ribbon. “Okay, is Die Hard a Christmas movie?”

I’m about to answer “Of course” when my phone buzzes.

“It’s Barry,” I say.

Paisley and I share a wide-eyed look. Barry’s either calling with good news or bad news, or maybe it’s a mixed bag of news. Either way, our afternoon is about to be shaken up like a snow globe.

“Heya, kid,” Barry says as soon as I answer the phone. “Got a minute?”

My heart thuds. “Sure.”

“The team over here loved the demos you and Paisley put together. There’s some good stuff in there. We’ll work on getting some session musicians scheduled for early next year so you can record them with one of our producers.”

I flash Paisley a huge grin and a thumbs-up. “That’s great.”

“I can tell you that we’re all very happy with what you’ve delivered so far, and we’re looking forward to more good things to come. You know, since you’re already on a roll, you might want to think about coming up with a few more songs to round out a full-length album.”

“I’ll get right on that.”

“I did want to ask you about the duet you sent over.”

Duet. What duet? “Uh?”

Suddenly, I’m filled with all this nervous energy that I don’t know what to do with. I need to move. I get up from the chair and pace across the floorboards in the barn.

“We kinda had you pegged as a solo artist and hadn’t considered a collaboration like that. But I gotta tell ya, kid, it works.”

My stomach clenches. I have a very, very bad feeling about this. “That’s great, Barry,” I say, trying not to choke on the panic that’s rising inside me. “But, um, I didn’t send you a duet.” I glance over at Paisley, who’s turned her attention back to measuring and cutting ribbon.

“Are you kids calling it something else these days? A collab, maybe? I can’t keep up with all the new lingo. All I know is, you sent in ‘Worth the Wait,’ and it’s got two vocalists. I’m gonna guess it was you and Paisley?”

Oh. Shit.

“Barry,” I say. “That song’s—”

“Incredible. I loved it.”

“Barry.”

“I sent it to the team over here, they loved it,” he continues, completely ignoring me.

“Barry,” I try again.

“So they sent it right over to Live, from Nashville! They loved it, too. In fact,” Barry continues like a steamroller without brakes, “you and your duet partner will be the headliners for the New Year’s Eve Ball. Merry Christmas, kid!”