Page 38 of Knox
The Opry had booked a local band to open, and as she walked backstage, she heard their final song fading, the audience robust as they finished. She spotted Carter standing in the wings. He was talking with another man, his back to Kelsey. Glo and Dixie looked up from where they were fine-tuning their instruments.
Something about Glo’s glance at Carter put a fist in her gut.
Aw, what sort of wannabe newcomer did Carter get to fill in for her tonight?
Sorry, but this was her band, her spotlight. She walked up to the duo, not a little hot.
“Carter, I’m not sure who—”
And then she simply stopped talking as country superstar Benjamin King, recent Entertainer of the Year, platinum artist, and all-around icon, turned and smiled down at her.
“Hey,” he said. “How are you doing, Kelsey?”
She’d met Benjamin King once, about a year ago at an awards show. Carter had scored them tickets, and somehow she ended up in the bathroom with Ben’s wife, Kacey. Who’d actually heard of her and their one star-studded song, “One True Heart.” Practically grabbed her and forced her to meet Ben.
Handsome, broad-shouldered, with a smile that could make a girl forget her name—which Kelsey nearly did when he shook her hand, when he told her that if she ever needed anything, to give him a shout.
Apparently, Carter had shouted.
She stared up at him, then at Carter, back to Ben. “What…what are you doing here?”
Ben’s mouth tightened, and he glanced at Carter, raised an eyebrow. “Um—”
“He’s in town for a concert tomorrow night at the Chesapeake Arena, and I told him a bit about our situation…”
Theirsituation? She might be ill, right here, backstage—
“Everybody is glad you and the Yankee Belles are okay, Kelsey. And frankly, the fact you have a show tonight is pretty gutsy. So, yeah, when Carter called and said your voice was shot, I thought…maybe I could help.”
She wanted to kiss Carter. Okay, right after she slugged him, but she smiled at Ben. “Our fans are going to go crazy for you.”
He bent and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Kacey will be jealous. She likes you. Come to Montana sometime and see us.”
She might turn into a fan puddle on the spot. Until she watched the stage go dark and Glo and Dixie take the stage.
Carter’s hand curled around her arm. “They’ve got this.”
She watched from the sidelines as they raised their voices, just a little empty without her. And then Ben walked out to join them, his smoky tenor filling in her gap.
“How does he know our music?” she said.
“Said he was a fan,” Carter said into her ear. “And we’re playing a few of his hits, too.”
Of course.
The career she’d worked so hard to build, slipping away in the space of an hour.
Yeah, she was going to get herself together. Because she liked Benjamin King.
But this would never happen again.
Again, Knox dove over the edge of the floor, leaping for her.
Again, he caught her wrist.
Again, he heard himself make promises.I got ya. I told you, I’m going to get you out of this.
And then Knox watched as her hand slipped away from his, the grip turning clammy, his strength ebbing. She stared up at him with those big pale blue eyes, her mouth open.