Chapter 1
Savannah
I used to think being on tour with a band was this glamorous thing. Shows in the evening, party all night, sleep in, wake-up, and then repeat in a new town.
Boy, was I wrong.
A cramped tour bus with a bunch of smelly guys, early mornings, and late nights. I cried in relief when we pulled into Atlanta for a few days and was able to get my own hotel room.
Even though we are in the same town for several nights, we still have press events, concerts, and appearances. In short, there’s no downtime. It's all become such a blur.
The only thing keeping me sane is the lead singer’s wife. She and I have bonded with the drummer’s wife, being the only women on the tour.
I don't get to hang out with them as much as I'd like, since I'm the opening act. I’m always busy with the sound checks, and all the same events their husbands have to do, but it's still nice not being the only girl on the tour.
I thought things would be quiet in the hotel. I'm on a different floor than the rest of the band and was looking forward to some peace and quiet. So, I'm not sure who is pounding on my door at the ass crack of dawn, but I do know they must have a death wish.
I roll out of bed, still in my clothes from last night, because I was too exhausted to change. A quick glance in the mirror above the dresser shows my hair is mostly in place, but my makeup isn't. I rub at it, trying to fix what I can.
"Savannah, open up. It's Hal!" My manager yells.
What the hell does he want? I check the time, and it's just before eight in the morning, and my first event today isn't until noon.
I open the door and turn back to the mirror, attempting to fix my make up some more.
"I had a morning to sleep in, so what’s so important?" I ask.
"Have you seen this?" He tosses his tablet on my bed.
"Hal, I'm still in the same clothes as last night. Which means, I came to my room and passed out on the bed, and you just woke me up, so what do you think?"
"You better take a look."
He nods towards the tablet. Taking a deep breath, I walk over to the bed and sit down. I look at the site he has pulled up. It's a gossip tabloid known for spreading lies and causing drama. In short, no one with any sense believes them.
"Why are you even looking at this site? When was the last time they reported anything that was true?" I ask.
"I don't know, but they were the first to report that article, and other more reputable sites have now reposted it, so read it."
As I scroll down, the headline makes me want to laugh. Anyone who knows the band wouldn't even give it a second look.
'Lead singer of the band 3 Stevens cheating on his wife?'
"Come on, we both know he's beyond faithful to her. Whoever they paired him with..."
"Look at the photo." Hal interrupts me with a tone I rarely hear.
Scrolling down some more, there’s a picture of Steven, the lead singer, and me. The angle was taken very oddly, and it looks like we were leaving the club together last night. What you can't see is his wife, who walked out of the club behind us.
The pictures look bad because we’re looking at each other and laughing.
"I remember this. We left the club and were laughing at the bouncer, who had just stumbled all over himself when some model started flirting with him. We were joking about how he must have been new. His wife came out of the club just behind us."
"Yet, she isn't in the photo. But you are making love eyes at him."
"What the hell are love eyes?"
"Those eyes you have in this picture where you’re looking at him. The human equivalent of the emoji with heart eyes."
"You mean the eyes I have, when I laugh, and when I’m drunk and relieved to be leaving the club. The three of us shared a car back to this hotel, and they went to their room, and I came to mine."
"But that’s not what they’re reporting. His wife's phone has been blowing up by everyone she knows, and she’s pissed."
"What? I’ll talk to her. We were having a great time last night."
"She doesn't want to talk to you. In this business, appearance is everything. It looks like he’s having an affair with the opening act, which is bad press for her and the band. They have already decided you should take the next several stops off and let all this die down."
"What? What do you mean take them off?"
"Go home for the holidays, stay out of the press, and let me clean this up. They don't want this kind of press around the band, and they don't want you around right now."
"So, I miss all the Nashville stops, The Grand Ole Opry, the press events, and the Christmas concert in New York City?"
"Yes. They said they would reevaluate the tour after New Year’s."
I sit there stunned. Though I may not be a fan of touring, these are some of the biggest shows that I’ll be missing.
"This isn't fair. I did nothing wrong, and they know it!"
"What did or did not happen, doesn't matter. It’s that you let yourself be put in a position to allow a story like this to go viral. Do you understand that it's everywhere?”
"So, fix it. That's your job." I grit out.
"I'm trying, but to do that, I need you to lay low. It's a few weeks, until Christmas. Go home, visit your parents or your sister, and relax. Sleep in or read a book. If you show you’re willing to do what’s best for the band, I know I can have you back by the New York City concert."
Hal doesn't give me time to say anything else. Instead, he simply walks out of the door, leaving me speechless.
I've essentially been banished from the tour because one of the paparazzi got a well angled picture of me and him.
This sucks!
Go home for Christmas. Well, my home is here just outside of Nashville, and I'm sure it’s surrounded by paparazzi by now. My parents are on a trip to the Caribbean and won't be home, until a few days, before Christmas.
I guess I can head to Texas and visit with my sister. She lives in a small town with her husband on a ranch out of town. It's been almost a year since I've been to Rock Springs.
My sister, Lilly, and her husband, Mike, visited me on tour when we were in Dallas and again in Austin. But that was almost six months ago, so I guess it's time to pay them a visit.
I should call and give them a heads up, but they would call attention to me at the airport, and I need to draw as little recognition as possible. After I shower and get dressed, I pack up my bags and go straight to the Atlanta airport and buy the first available ticket to Dallas.
Thankfully, my flight leaves in less than an hour, and between the fact that I'm in jeans, a sweatshirt, no makeup, sunglasses, and a baseball cap, no one has recognized me.
I have gotten several looks from security, but I keep my head down, and no one seems to pay me any attention. As I sit in the corner, waiting on my flight, I read through the articles that are circulating.
One pulled older photos from the tour, trying to guess when the affair started, and if I was just friends with his wife to throw off suspicion.
I sleep through the flight, and thankfully, I don't have a layover. Once we land, I quickly grab my bags and go to rent a car.
That's where my luck runs out.
The girl at the rental counter gushes, "Oh, my gosh. You’re Savannah Baron! I saw you open with the 3 Stevens when you were here in Dallas."
"Shh. Please, I don't want people to know I'm in town."
"Are you visiting a secret boyfriend?" She whispers, but then giggles, too.
I guess she hasn't seen the article, and I run with it.
"Yes. We met when I was on tour here." I hold a finger to my mouth, indicating it's a secret that I'm in town.
She nods and tries to hide her smile, as she starts punching away and gets me an SUV to rent.
"I can't believe you’ll be here through New Year’s."
"Well, I’ll be in and out of town, so it's just easier to rent the car, until then."
She nods again and hands me my keys and paperwork. Thankfully, I'm able to get to my car with no one else noticing me. I punch in Lilly's address in the GPS and start the hour drive out of town.
While driving to Rock Springs, I try to figure out what to tell Lilly, because she will want to know, and I don't want to lie to her. I guess maybe telling her the truth about what happened and what Hal said would be the best.
She won't care that I'm visiting her. I know that. In fact, they will probably put me to work in the barn with the horses, which I'm completely fine doing. I find the barn work calming. Maybe, it's the repetition of it, or that the horses will listen to you talk and not ask a million questions. Or maybe, it's the fresh air, but I think a few days working in the barn is just what I need.
As I drive through Rock Springs, I can see the place hasn't changed much, other than all the Christmas decorations are out, and this year there’s no snow on the ground, yet.
Last year, there was a big snowstorm, before Christmas, and everyone was snowed in. For the first time in over a decade, they had a white Christmas, and it was when Lilly fell in love with her now husband, Mike.
I hope to find a guy who treats me like Mike treats Lilly. He looks at her like she's his whole world. Heck, all the guys in Rock Springs do.
Lilly has made some friends here, and the guys treat their girls like they are the most important thing in the world.
When the cowboys in Rock Springs fall, they fall hard and fast.
Maybe one day, when I'm done with my own headline tour and have a nice cushion in my bank account that will last through my great grandkids, I’ll have time to settle down and find me my own cowboy. But I've learned the hard way a relationship just isn't possible when you are on tour for nine months or more.
As I pull into Lilly's ranch, I smile. They bought this place last year and have been working to fix it up, but Lilly has never been happier.
No sooner do I close my car door than Lilly is on the front porch.
"Vanna! What are you doing here? Why didn't you call me? We would have picked you up at the airport!" She runs over and pulls me into one of those big hugs, only your older sister can manage to give you. It's a hug that promises everything is going to be okay.
That's when the wall breaks, and before I know it, I'm crying.
"I messed everything up," I wail.
"Oh, Vanna. I bet it's not as bad as you think. Come on inside and tell us what happened, and we will help you fix it," Lilly says.
"You bet we will," Mike says, as he grabs my bags for me.
I follow them into the house and collapse on the couch. Lilly hands me a cup of spiked eggnog before she and Mike sit down.
"Now, let's hear it. Then, we will figure out how to fix it."
This is exactly what I needed.
