Porter looked unimpressed, but he slid the aviators on anyway. “What about you?”
“I’ll figure it out.” Already Nash tried to search out a place where he could keep a low profile. There was the production platform erected in the middle of the field where the techs ran spotlights, sound, and special effects. Brightly colored vendor tents surrounded the makeshift platform, giving Nash plenty of alleys where he could hide out.
He broke away from his brother and headed there. His phone buzzed with a text from Eva: “Lynch just released the video through an anonymous source. It’s live. You ready for this?”
Nash’s stomach clenched when he noticed how many people in the crowd started turning to their phones. The news of Emily’s now viral video would spread through the fairgrounds like wildfire. Who knew how quickly the blackmail footage was traveling through the rest of the world?
The message was loud and clear—don’t mess with Lacy Lynch.
He texted Eva back, his fingers feeling like lead. “Let’s do this.”
***
Emily watched River blast through his final song. The melody was upbeat and matched her opening number. Nowthatwas something that they’d practiced earlier.
She smiled. Her brother was a sentimental sap just like she was. She’d always suspected that they’d shared that trait, though the only times she’d really witnessed it was through his songs; otherwise he clammed up and grew silent. He still hadn’t confronted her about Nash, though he seemed a little more protective of her than normal.
River was halfway through when a commotion rippled through the crowd. What was that about? Mia let out a shocked gasp behind her. “What! What!”
Emily swiveled around, seeing Mia stare down at her phone. One of her hands clapped over her mouth in shock.
Could it be? Was it Emily’s video?
“I-I… how do we stop this?” Mia’s glittery red nails waved over her phone screen like the gesture could erase what she was seeing. “No, no, no. How do we get this offline! This is bullying, stalking, defamation. What are TalkieTalk’s guidelines? Who would allow this to be published? Who do we call?”
Emily wrapped her arms around herself. She didn’t have to see what was on Mia’s screen to know that that blackmail video from Lacy Lynch had finally been released.
The heavy weight of her stress from the past few days fell from her aching shoulders. Of course, she didn’t want to ruin her career, but… this had to mean one thing—Nash had thrown off these blackmailers. He’d made his stand against them and he must’ve won because they were now getting their revenge.
They were free to be together.
Her tears still clinging to her lashes from singing with her brother ran down her cheeks. Mia took one look at her, her puffy lips pressing together. “It’s okay! We can fix this. We’ll fix it!”
Emily cried out happily and hugged her. “No, this is perfect.”
“I don’t think you actually saw what I’m seeing,” Mia said, “did you?”
She definitely had—those teasing words she’d flung at Nash were burned into her mind. And still having that horrible conversation haunting her every step from now until doomsday was better than Nash ending up like West.
He’d done it!
“Emily.” Liv snatched at her hand. Emily turned to her sister-in-law. Her brown eyes were concerned. “Nash came by yesterday afternoon while you were practicing “Little Miss Small Town.”
Her heart lurched in surprise. “He was here?” Why hadn’t he come to her? Did he think that she wouldn’t take him back? She would. She would! “Why didn’t he talk to me himself?” Emily asked.
“Nash said not to say anything to you because it might stress you out. And I didn’t tell River because… uh, well, he really hates him right now.”
River would hate him even more in about two more minutes when he came backstage and figured out what the commotion was all about. Emily braced herself for the inevitable, though she was more concerned about Nash. “Do you know where he is now?” Emily asked breathlessly.
Liv shook her head. Her sister-in-law held a remote and pressed it into her hands. “He got my help to work out something with the production crew. Mia and I,”—her eyes swerved to Emily’s fretting music manager—“we thought it was supposed to be some romantic gesture. Mia gave them the go-ahead to put up a screen behind the curtain for a slideshow.”
Emily could barely comprehend what was happening. Confusion mingled with her fear. This sounded more complicated than Lynch’s men putting the video out as revenge. Had Nash truly gotten out from under their thumb or was this his first act of defiance? Nash had better not be putting himself in more danger by doing this.
“This video he gave the production team is supposed to run while you sing ‘Little Miss Small Town,’” Liv explained. “I-I don’t know why, but Nash told me that I’d know when we were supposed to play it… and I think I understand what he’s talking about now.” Her fingers kneaded her forehead. “Honestly, we were positive that the man had romance on his mind, not… damage control. Sheesh. I can’t believe he gave this to the pregnant lady to do.”
Nash had another trick up his sleeve… but could he possibly make this situation better with this new video? Would she even agree with what he’d put together? Seriously, why didn’t he run this idea past her first? “Little Miss Small Town” was a debut song. She’d hardly had time to practice it with the band, and there was no telling what the audience would think of it as her first song of the night, especially after the insult of this TalkieTalk. This was going to be a crash and burn.
“How about you trust him?”