Page 35 of Honky Tonk Cowboy

They arrived back at the table to a smattering of applause from the family. Orrin said. “I sent the video to your phone. Decided not to live-stream, just in case. I suggest you cut it after you say, ‘I don’t want his blood money.’”

“Killer line,” Drew muttered. “You nailed it.”

“I don’t know. It feels like I should tell ‘em how I came to own the cantina.”

“Since when does everyone in town need to know the details of your business?” Baxter asked.

“Anybody goes digging, it’ll come out,” he countered.

Maria said, “Oh, come on, you’re not all that famous, Cousin. Nobody cares.”

Willow nodded hard. “People will forget all about it in a few weeks. Especially if you put out another hit song.”

Lily had a mouthful of taco, so she couldn’t chime in. It turned out she had room for one more after all, and a fresh platter had been delivered in her absence.

“Chances of that are slim,” Ethan said. “I’ll be too busy with this place for the next few weeks to record. And I haven’t written a word anyway.” Then he took a big bite himself.

Lily swallowed, drank some sweet tea to clear her mouth, and then said, “You don’t need a new song. You have a whole album full of songs. Just release one as a single. That’s a thing, right?”

“Sort of. I mean, I don’t release it, the producer does, but?—”

“’Home,’” she said. “That’s your next hit.”

“What makes you think?—”

“Because it’s my favorite song on the whole album.”

For a moment it felt as if they were alone in the room, eyes locked, hers, she imagined, brimming with excitement. His were alight with hope. “You think?”

“It is a dang good song,” Trevor said, from somewhere outside the spell between the two of them. “You know, I think it might be my favorite, too.”

“You have my album?” Ethan asked, as he shifted his gaze to his cousin.

“Of course he has your album,” Willow said. “We all have your album.”

Maria said, “I have it in vinyl and MP3.”

Drew added, “I give it to friends for birthdays.”

Baxter, the eldest, leaned forward in his seat. “Wait, Ethan did you think we didn’t have your album?”

“I didn’t know, I guess.” He was genuinely touched, and there was red creeping up his neck and into his face.

It crossed Lily’s mind for the dozenth time that he was the best-looking man she’d ever seen, even when he was blushing hot.

“Thanks,” he said. “That means a lot. I guess I’ll call my manager.”

“We can do some pushin’ on social,” Drew said, “Maybe get a little momentum goin’.”

“Yeah,” Orrin added. “I can set up social media accounts for the honky-tonk, too, if you want. All the usual places. It’s the perfect time, you bein’ in the press right now.”

“And once what you just said goes viral,” his sister put in, “you will be even more.”

“We can help with that, too,” Orrin said.

Lily saw the way Ethan’s brows furrowed. In the year since she’d met this family, she’d never heard anyone offer an opinion or advice to Ethan on his musical career until now. And it was good advice, at least to her novice mind.

She finished the last taco she could possibly hold, knew for sure there was sauce on her face, and put her hand on Ethan’s shoulder, whispering, “You need a media budget to pay those two.”