Page 57 of What Would Dolly Do?

I f I’d been excited when Tom revealed we would be attending the Country Music Awards, it was nothing to how I actually felt on the night itself. I was beside myself.

Just as Tom had promised, he’d arranged for Angelo to drive me to a selection of shopping destinations around the city to find an outfit suitable for mixing with the Nashville music elite.

He also offered to tag along and, although I thought the idea of Tom watching me parade around in a succession of fancy clothes might be amusing, I told him I was sticking with my original stylist.

‘You’re taking … Laura?’ Tom looked dumbstruck when I told him that, but when I patted the phone in my jeans back pocket he realised I was planning to FaceTime her once I found some stuff to try on, and looked a bit relieved I wasn’t going to drag him from store to store.

Being able to prop Laura up in the changing rooms worked like an absolute dream and with her help I’d narrowed the choice down to two possible looks by the third shop I went to.

Any Old Iron was a gloriously glitzy boutique just off Broadway.

There were many stylish options, some of them so jewel-encrusted it was sparklier than Grayson’s front window, but a friendly shop assistant appropriately called Star helped me navigate my way through the racks of fabulous pieces.

It was also lovely to see Laura’s face beaming out of the phone screen on FaceTime as I did so.

We had a laugh and a great girly catch-up while I rifled through the clothes and she made suggestions about what I should be aiming for.

She also told me it wouldn’t be too long before we could see each other properly as Tom had invited her and Fergus and the kids over to spend Christmas with us in Nashville.

An American family Christmas with Tom in Nashville sounded like yet another dream come true and when he’d asked me if I liked the idea I’d nodded so enthusiastically I must have looked like Woody Woodpecker.

The truth was I simply couldn’t find the words to explain how it made me feel. It was like I was glowing.

‘It’s going to be brilliant. Stevie and Reggie are already bouncing off the walls with excitement,’ Laura said.

I knew how they felt. I was dying to start decorating the house with all the festive decorations I’d found in one of the spare rooms upstairs.

I was picturing garlands down the stairs and fairy lights in all the trees and bushes outside the house.

It was such a perfect house for family celebrations.

Tom said we could go and find a real tree from a nearby farm and, with the house having such a high vaulted ceiling in the living area, I was hoping we could get a pretty big one.

For now, however, I needed to forget about trimming the house and concentrate on making sure I looked fabulous. With the dress Laura had helped me find I certainly felt the part.

I took one last look at myself in the full-length mirror in the dressing room area just off the bedroom.

I’d come a long way since my Dolly Parton dress-up days.

I didn’t need a bottle-blonde wig and foam dome boobies to cover up my insecurities any more.

Now I stood tall, shoulders back and eyes wide open and I was able to see there really wasn’t too much I needed to feel insecure about.

Sure, there were women in the world who were smarter, better looking or more talented than me, there’s always someone somewhere who can best the best of us, but now I knew I needed to recognise and appreciate that I was more than good enough.

But though I’d cast my Dolly looks aside, I still kept her words close.

Her advice had got me here – and I couldn’t wait to see where it took me next.

Now I dressed to suit my personality I felt I looked better than I had in my twenties.

I’d found a local hairdresser to keep my hair colour coppery red and I’d let it grow down past my shoulders for the first time ever.

Today I’d called in to the salon and let them give me what they called ‘a bouncy blow’ – big hair was still a big thing in Tennessee – and I loved how glamorous it felt to have tumbling auburn locks.

The dress Laura and Star had helped me choose for tonight’s event was simple but stunning; a long, sleek black evening dress with silver trim around the halter neck and one single shimmering silver stripe from the neckline down to the hem.

The soft black fabric pooled into a small train at the back but was slightly raised at the front to give a glimpse of the cute silver ankle boots I was wearing.

I carried a black velvet clutch bag decorated with glittery stars and wore a pair of starry drop earrings and silver cuff bracelets to complete the look.

Tom let out a long low whistle as I descended the stairs to where he was waiting for me in the hallway.

I hadn’t shown him any of my purchases when I’d come back from my shopping trip, I’d wanted him to get the full effect once I’d put it all together with hair and make-up.

It seemed my instinct was the right one.

‘Damn, Reba, what are you doing to me?’ Tom never took his eyes off me as I crossed the marble floor to stand right in front of him. He reached for my hands and clasped them between his own and held them to his chest. ‘You look so beautiful, honey,’ he said.

I told him he was the most handsome man I had ever seen.

It was true and I didn’t think it was fair that I should receive all the compliments when he was standing there looking so fine.

He wore a black suit with white western piping on the shoulders and a crisp white shirt and matching silk tie.

His black boots had silver toe caps to match the ornate silver belt buckle at his waist. Without any consultation over our outfits we matched perfectly.

‘Your chariot awaits,’ Tom said, picking up his black Stetson hat and opening the front door to reveal Angelo standing by the limousine waiting for us.

I’d never walked a red carpet before that night.

Unless you include the slightly soggy one someone once put outside Leith social club when Robbie and I performed for a local bigwig’s 50 th.

birthday, and I didn’t count that as it was nothing like arriving at the CMAs.

It was disorientating to step out of the car to camera flashes and names being yelled by photographers and music fans alike.

Tom held my hand as I got out of the car and then didn’t let it go as we made our way up the walkway to the entrance of the arena.

I hadn’t expected a red carpet to be so crowded but it was organised chaos as runners and personal assistants wearing trainers and headsets and carrying sheaves of paper scurried about trying to corral music stars into photo opportunities.

Compared to some of the stars I spotted, Tom and I were underdressed.

There were some incredible outfits with feathers and ruffles, others revealed so much flesh they were borderline indecent.

It was all great fun, though, the country music folk were a colourful bunch and I loved watching the most outrageous parade like peacocks for the benefit of the paparazzi.

Tom held onto me tightly as we posed for a couple of pictures together and an assistant producer carefully wrote down my name. I think Tom thought I might bolt from his side because of all the attention but I was too dazzled by the spectacle around me to be thinking about doing that.

I spotted Kelsea Ballerini, Luke Combs, Post Malone and Miranda Lambert as we made our way inside.

I heard a photographer shout Keith Urban’s name and turned around to see his wife Nicole Kidman walking the red carpet behind us; she was a vision in a strapless purple gown.

I tried to play it cool, but wasn’t sure I succeeded. My cheeks were aching from grinning.

I also saw Waz Monsoon, but only from a distance.

He gave an enthusiastic friendly wave but then turned his attention back to the bubbly blonde identical twin sisters he was escorting, one on each arm.

Tom told me they were tipped to be the next big country chart sensation with their new single ‘Mirror Mirror’.

I nodded and tried not to be too concerned about whatever Waz was up to.

Since my surprise spot at The Bluebird he’d asked me to send him some of my material.

I’d been working really hard to make sure I had good demos of my strongest songs before sending them in but I made a mental note not to take too long to submit them.

Waz appeared to have a short attention span, I needed to make sure I took the opportunity he’d offered to help me while he still remembered who I was.

After we took our seats in the auditorium Tom leaned in and told me he found it a lot less stressful to attend an event like this when he wasn’t nominated for one of the awards.

I turned to look at him to see if he really meant that.

Wasn’t he upset not to have had any nominations for his music this year?

He grinned in response and shook his head. ‘It’s good to take a step back now and then and anyway …’ he raised an eyebrow at me, ‘this time next year it might be our turn when “Moonlight Home” is nominated for song of the year.’

I started to laugh, but I realised he was serious. Crikey!

The show started then with a performance from Jelly Roll duetting with Wynonna Judd and we were off. I lost myself in the succession of award announcements interspersed with amazing musical entertainment.

I’d lost track of time but was having the absolute best night when Tom suddenly took my hand. ‘Now don’t freak out but I think something special is about to happen.’