Page 119 of Hideaway Heart

In the dressing room, the hair and makeup crew touched me up, and I was happy when Jess walked in. “Hey! Could I see my phone real quick?”

“Sure,” she said, taking it from her bag.

But there was no service. “Shoot. I can’t even send a text.”

“This place is the worst,” the hair stylist said. “It’s like a Dark Ages dungeon in here.”

Sighing, I dropped my phone back into Jess’s bag. “I guess I’ll have to wait until later.”

When I was ready, Marius walked with me to the stage door, where someone dressed in black wearing a lanyard and holding a clipboard told him he could wait for me there in the hall. I’d exit the wings through this same door.

Marius looked at me. “You want me to come back there with you?”

“That’s not allowed,” said the skinny guy with the clipboard.

My bodyguard looked at him like he was a bug. “I didn’t ask you.”

“I’m fine, Marius.” I touched his forearm. “You can wait for me here.”

He wasn’t thrilled with my answer, but he nodded. “Okay.”

Clipboard guy brought me backstage, and my stomach began to jump.

* * *

Duke opened the show with a little patter, delivered with his signature Southern drawl and playboy charm. To be honest, I was shocked when he introduced me as Kelly Jo Sullivan. For some reason, I’d been convinced he wasn’t going to do it.

“We’re here tonight to celebrate our city, our history, our musicians, our songs, and relationships that inspire them,” he said. “And now I’d like to bring out someone very special to me. You might know her by a different name, but she’s still country music’s sweetheart. Please help me welcome Miss Kelly Jo Sullivan.”

My heart hammered in my chest as I joined him on stage, and as the band behind us played the opening bars, I tapped my chest three times, just in case Xander was watching. Then I let the music fill my soul, the energy in the room lift me up, and the lyrics tell the story. I played the role of a woman longing to go back in time, to forgive and forget, to fall in love again. To deliver the most compelling performance I could, I thought about Xander, about our days in the cabin, about the way he made my pulse race and my skin warm and my heart open. I might have been looking at Duke, but every note I sang, every word I uttered, was for another man.

But it was also for myself. I knew that this performance was the start of something big for me. I felt it in my bones. I gave that song my all, and when it was over, the entire auditorium echoed with thunderous applause.

Duke took my hand and squeezed it hard. When I looked up at him, he smiled, and I smiled back. A glimmer of goodwill flared in me. Of affection for this community. Maybe he and I could be friends. Maybe I could find it in me to forgive him for the way he’d treated me, and we could just move forward. I didn’t want Duke Pruitt as an enemy. Perhaps this fence could be mended.

So when he kept my hand in his, leading me to exit stage right instead of stage left as planned, I went along. When we reached the wings, he turned to me. “Got a minute?”

“Don’t we have to get to our seats?”

“I’d really like to talk to you. Please. It’s important. And it will only take a minute.”

I hesitated, then gave in. “Okay.”

He took my hand. “Come upstairs with me. I keep an office here. We can talk there.”

“I should let my security know,” I protested as he opened a door and pulled me into a dark, narrow stairwell.

“No need. You’re with me.” He began going up the steps. “You’re perfectly safe.”

An alarm bell went off in my head. “Where are we going?”

“I told you. My office.”

“Slow down, Duke. I’m in heels. And this dress isn’t easy to move in.”

“Sorry, darling.” He moved a little slower. “You were amazing out there. Never sounded better. Our voices blend perfectly, don’t you think?” He opened a door into a well-lit hallway after only one flight of stairs, and I breathed easier.

“Thank you. Yes, I thought it went well.”