Page 17 of Forever Country (Forever Bluegrass #24)

A nnaleigh was more nervous walking into the Blossom Café for lunch than she’d been during any award show.

Holt assured her he loved every word she had spoken last night and there was nothing to worry about.

But, if she’d been drunk enough that her memories were pretty hazy, there was a really good chance Trixie, her drunk alter ego, made an appearance.

It was never good when Trixie came out. She was happy and horny and loved to tell everyone about it.

“Are you sure I didn’t say anything embarrassing last night?” Annaleigh whispered as they entered the café via the kitchen door.

“I’m sure. You only told them how much you”—Holt paused trying to think of a way to tell her without embarrassing her—“like me. I loved every word because I like you too.”

“Hey you two,” Zinnia said with a big smile on her face. “The lunch special today is pimento cheese-topped burgers with a side of sweet potato fries.”

“Thanks, Z,” Holt told her as they walked through her kitchen. “That’s one of my favorites.”

Annaleigh followed Holt into the dining room where Poppy pointed to an open table all while taking orders.

“Oh, good. Mo and his family are here. They’ll be in the suite at the game with us tonight.

Sienna, whom you met last night, will also be there with her husband, Ryan.

Then Morgan and Miles will be there as well since Morgan handles a lot of stuff for the team. ”

“Anyone else?” Sienna seemed nice enough but Miles terrified her.

Plus, she’d heard about Mo and his family.

Holt said they were down-to-earth and you’d never know that they were royals.

However, they were actual royalty. She would be on edge the whole time around them.

Royalty tended to be uptight sticklers, not that she’d met any royals, but that’s what all the reports were.

Did she bow? Did she curtsy? Was it a breach of etiquette to shake their hands? Did she call them by their royal title?

“Landon will also be there. He’s one of my good friends. He’s married to Kate. You met her last night too. Kate’s one of the coaches. Obviously my mom will be there. Come on, let me introduce you to Mo and his family.”

Two tables had been pushed together for the family. The man and woman, who had to be the heads of the family, sat at the end of one side of the table along with a pregnant woman and her husband. Then two more couples with their children sat on the opposite side of the table.

“Hey!” Holt called out to the tables as he walked up to them.

They all turned and their eyes went straight by Holt and landed right on her.

“I wanted you to meet my girlfriend, Annaleigh Astore. Annaleigh, this is Mo and his wife, Dani. And their children, Zain with his wife, Mila, and their daughter, Zaria. Gabe with his wife, Sloane, and their son, Xavier. And then Ariana and her husband, Jameson.”

“How are you feeling, Annaleigh?” Dani asked with a smirk and Annaleigh was struck by how normal they appeared, but then again, how was she supposed to answer that? Yes, ma’am? Yes, your highness? “Kenna called me last night to tell me you got Rosed.”

“Rosed?” Annaleigh asked in confusion. Before she could figure out how to properly address them, Dani was nodding and speaking again.

“Drunk and interrogated by sweet old ladies without knowing it,” Dani explained.

Annaleigh felt her cheeks blush. “Yes. And I feel very stupid for it, ma’am.”

Dani winced. Apparently, ma’am wasn’t the right title.

“Oh, don’t feel stupid!” Sloane said instantly. “We’ve been there, done that. Everyone in town has at one point. Either interrogated by the sisters themselves or with the aid of their special tea.”

“Not me,” Mila said with pride.

“Not all of us spent high school in Poland drinking home-brewed vodka by the gallon,” Sloane said with a roll of her eyes.

Mila shrugged and suddenly Dani’s head whipped away from Annaleigh to where Mila and Sloane were sitting next to each other. On each side of them were their adorable children, and their husbands sat at the end of that side of the table. Her head cocked and she raised her hand to signal Poppy.

“Poppy, we were just talking about the Rose Sisters’ special tea. Could you bring us all a glass? Well, except Ari that is,” Dani asked before looking back to the table. “We should celebrate welcoming Annaleigh to Keeneston. Morgan told me you’ll be joining us in the suite today.”

“Yes...” Annaleigh paused, trying to figure out the proper title.

“Dani is good,” she whispered with a kind smile.

“And I want to ask a favor,” Holt said, as she returned Dani’s smile.

Everyone else was in casual clothes with Lexington Thoroughbred gear on. Mo was in a suit. “What can we do for you, Holt?”

“Annaleigh has someone stalking her in Nashville. I was hoping you wouldn’t mind letting your security know about it and look out for her if I’m not around sometime during the game.”

“Of course. I will advise them now.” Mo turned to the table next to them. “Nash, did you get that?”

Annaleigh turned to see a handsome man, a beautiful woman, and an adorable little girl at the nearby table.

“On it,” Nash replied.

“I can help too,” a woman said from the next table. “Hi. I’m Sophie.” She pulled up her large tote and began to dig around in it. “Where is that thing? Ah! Found it.”

Sophie held up a large tube of lipstick for her. “Um, thank you?” Annaleigh said, taking the offered lipstick.

“Open it up, but be careful,” Sophie told her. Annaleigh opened the tube and instead of lipstick found four red prongs. “It’s a special taser,” Sophie said proudly.

“I don’t carry anything for protection. I feel much better having this. How does it work?” Sophie was nice enough to show her how to use it and how to charge it. “Wow, this is great. Where did you get it?”

“I made it,” Sophie told her. “I make weapons, so if a taser doesn’t cut it, just stop by and we’ll find something else that will stop this asshole for good.”

“Thanks,” Annaleigh said as Holt and Nash got into a discussion about the football game, which quickly brought in more people.

However, Annaleigh wasn’t left standing there. She got to know some of the women from town. She was especially excited to meet Cady, who owned her own bourbon distillery and was married to Holt’s really good friend, Colton, who was the fire chief.

“Girls’ night will be Wednesday at my distillery.

It’s grown quite a bit and now there are around twenty-five of us, so we moved it to the distillery.

Everyone brings something to eat or drink.

But you’re our guest, so don’t worry about bringing a thing except all the tea on your and Holt’s relationship,” Cady told her as several other women nodded.

“Sorry to interrupt, but we have to get going,” Holt said, interrupting the impromptu group lunch.

“See you Wednesday!” was called out. While Annaleigh doubted she’d still be in town, she found herself wishing she were.

“I’m sorry,” Holt said as he began to drive out of Keeneston. “I didn’t mean for lunch to turn into a group affair. I felt as if I abandoned you.”

Annaleigh chuckled as she shook her head.

“No, it was great. I really like your friends. I got a taser from Sophie, learned about plants from Stella, had a great talk with Evie about animal rescue, and Cady was so nice to make sure I knew I was invited to girls’ night and offered to take me on a tour of her distillery.

Plus, I didn’t know princesses were so down to earth.

I mean, we talked about the best fast food for when you’re hungover.

I don’t think you can get any more down-to-earth than that. Where are we going now?”

“Several times a year I meet with budding singers from all the middle and high schools in the area. I talk about singing, my career, dangers, and must-dos. This talk is about songwriting, but since you’re here, I thought I might ask you to give a little talk about the business side of the music business. ”

Annaleigh was falling even harder the more she got to see all of Holt’s sides. Mentorship was a huge cornerstone of her professional life. She only wished more artists did this so young artists wouldn’t get taken advantage of when they were trying to catch their first break.

“I’d love to. I’m a huge believer in mentorship.” Annaleigh stopped as the real world came knocking. “But won’t that put me on social media? I’m supposed to be lying low, right?”

Holt reached over and squeezed her thigh. “No worries. There’s a no-cell-phone policy. It leads to more honest discussion since no one has to worry about going viral for a stupid question or a bad performance.”

“I can’t wait,” Annaleigh told him, already going through her talking points.

They pulled up to a high school in Lexington that was packed with cars and parents hanging out in the parking lot. There wasn’t a single camera in sight. They waved as Holt took Annaleigh’s hand and walked her inside.

Inside the entrance, a group of moms and dads were taking all electronic devices and storing them before handing the child a number that corresponded to the bag they had placed their electronics in. It was basically a coat check for electronics.

Holt led her to the gym with all the bleachers pulled out and a microphone at center court that was clearly where Holt would be. She heard the kids whispering about who she was and why she was holding Holt’s hand.

Holt stepped up to the microphone and everyone got quiet. That certainly didn’t happen when she was in high school, which showed Annaleigh how much these kids appreciated what Holt was doing for them.

“Today was going to be about songwriting then I was going to discuss business at our next meeting. However,” Holt said, giving her hand a squeeze and a quick smile, “we have a very special guest today. Annaleigh Astore is a Nashville entertainment agent. She represents artists like you and me. Does everyone have their notecards?” The kids held up stacks of notecards.

“Great. Like always, if Miss Astore says something you have a question about, write it down. I’ll pass around the question basket like normal and we’ll go through them.

Now, I’m going to let Miss Astore take it from here. ”

Holt smiled encouragingly at her as he stepped back from the microphone. Annaleigh stepped forward. This she wasn’t nervous about. This she could handle.

“Thank you so much for having me. I’m an agent. Now, let me tell you about what agents should do and, just as importantly, what they should not do.”