Chapter 9
Nine
Maggie drove them to Kate’s, all the while wondering what the hell she’d been thinking when she’d invited Brayden to go with her.
Kate probably wouldn’t want a stranger in her house the night she brought her baby home, but the words had been out of Maggie’s mouth before she’d fully thought them through.
Her emotions were a jumbled-up mess after the roller-coaster ride of the last twenty-four hours.
She knew she ought to regret the way she’d unloaded on Brayden earlier, but she didn’t.
Not at all. Rather, she felt relieved. She’d told someone.
Finally. And he’d provided the perfect amount of support and outrage.
She took a tentative glance at him in the passenger seat. “I want to thank you for listening before.”
“I’d say it was a pleasure, but I hate what happened to you.”
“Obviously, I need you to keep it to yourself.”
“Of course. I’d never repeat something like that.”
“Thanks.”
“How do you feel after talking about it?”
“I was just thinking that I expected to feel regret, but relief is the prevailing emotion. I feel bad that I dumped my shit on you when you work with me—”
“Can we just get past that? You’re in charge around the house. No question. But I run my own program, so technically, you’re not really my boss. You’re letting me run my program in conjunction with yours.”
Maggie chuckled at his logic. “That’s very clever thinking.”
“If it makes it possible for us to be friends, then let’s run with it.”
“You want to be friends?”
“I sort of thought that’s what happened out there today. Two people who didn’t know each other a few weeks ago got to know each other, shared some personal shit and offered support to each other.”
“The support was kind of one-sided.”
“Not entirely. I haven’t told too many people about what happened to my mom. I appreciated being able to tell you that. And I suspect you don’t invite just anyone to come with you to your famous sister’s house.”
“I’ve never brought anyone with me.”
“See? We’re already friends. So quit acting like you’re the boss of me.”
Maggie laughed. “Insubordinate already. I see how this is gonna go.”
“You found me out.”
Maggie continued to question the wisdom of inviting Brayden to come with her. Would Kate be pissed that she’d brought a stranger to her home on this of all nights? Ugh, probably… Shit. Well, too late to back out now.
And why had she invited him anyway? He’d been so sweet to come check on her, and the invitation had popped out before she’d taken even a second to ask whether it was appropriate. Hopefully, Kate would forgive her.
The trip from Matthews House in Brentwood to Kate’s place in Hendersonville was about thirty minutes, most of it on I-440. As Maggie took a right onto the dirt road that led to Kate’s estate, she glanced over at Brayden. “I don’t need to worry about you becoming a crazy stalker or anything, do I?”
His low chuckle made her smile. “As I’ve mentioned, I’m a huge fan of your sister’s music.”
“Are you going to be able to hold it together?”
“Doubtful. I’m probably gonna fangirl all over her.”
Maggie groaned dramatically. “You’ll have to stay in the car, then. She just had a baby. She’s not open for fangirling tonight.”
“I’ll see if I can control myself.”
And he was funny. “You do that.”
Maggie wasn’t surprised to see Jill’s Mercedes parked outside, but she hadn’t been expecting Buddy and Taylor’s Range Rover.
Uh-oh.
“This house is incredible. Is it a log cabin?”
“Yep, and an A-frame. When everyone came for Christmas last year, Reid built a mini version of the house that they call the bunkhouse. Wait till you see it all in the daylight. It’s awesome.
” And Maggie realized she’d just inferred that he’d be coming with her again sometime.
Great. “Um, how do you feel about Buddy Longstreet and Taylor Jones?”
“Is that a rhetorical question?”
“Unfortunately, no.”
“I’m going to lose my shit.”
“Brayden! Come on! You have to hold it together. Act like you’ve been there.”
“I’ve never been anywhere with Kate Harrington, Buddy Longstreet or Taylor Jones except for a massive stadium with fifty thousand other people.”
“Do I need to have you wait in the car?”
His low laughter pleased her. She liked making him laugh. “Nah, I’ll behave.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
Maggie sent him a wary look, trying to decide if she could trust him.
He laughed again. “Swear to God on a stack of Bibles. I’ll keep it cool, even if I’m freaking out on the inside.”
“All right, then.” Maggie got out of the car and waited for him to follow her into the mudroom. “Hang here for one second. Let me scope it out.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Don’t call me ma’am.”
“Sorry, ma’am.”
Maggie bit her lip to keep from laughing and tried to glare at him, but apparently, that fell flat, because he laughed.
“Go on. I’ll stay here until you tell me the coast is clear. But hurry up. Buddy, Taylor and Kate are in there.” He shivered dramatically.
“I’m going to kill you.” Maggie realized she’d never been this comfortable with any guy so soon after meeting him. She took that startling discovery with her into the kitchen, where Reid, Ashton and Buddy were gathered, beers in hand.
“Hey, Maggie.” Reid came over to kiss her cheek. “Now the gang’s all here.”
“How’re they doing?”
If it was possible for a man to glow with happiness, Reid was incandescent, even if dark circles smudged the skin under his eyes. “Absolutely fantastic. Kate’s a trouper. You’d never know she just had a baby. And little Poppy is delightful.”
“I’m going to go in and say hello.”
“Please do. They’re in the great room.”
“I, ah, I brought Brayden, our new equine therapy guy. I left him in the mudroom until I made sure that Kate doesn’t mind.”
“She won’t mind,” Reid said, laughing. “Release the guy from time-out.”
Maggie returned to the mudroom and gestured for Brayden to follow her into the kitchen. “Brayden Thomas, this is my brother-in-law, Reid Matthews, my future brother-in-law, Ashton Matthews, and our friend Buddy Longstreet.”
To his credit, Brayden kept his shit together as he shook hands with each of the men and congratulated Reid on his new baby. To Buddy, he said, “I’m a huge fan.”
“Thanks so much,” Buddy said. “You from around here?”
“I am,” Brayden said. “Grew up outside of Nashville.”
Maggie released a deep breath when she saw that Brayden was going to keep his promise to behave in front of the celebrities and went into the great room to find Kate on the sofa, surrounded by Jill, Taylor and Taylor’s daughter, Georgia, who was holding Poppy.
“Welcome home, Kate and Poppy.” Maggie looked over Georgia’s shoulder at Poppy, who was sleeping. “God, she’s a cutie.”
“Isn’t she?” Like her husband, Kate glowed with happiness even if she, too, looked exhausted.
“She’s so good.” Georgia, who would soon be eleven, had her mother’s long dark hair and Buddy’s wicked grin and was clearly besotted with the new addition to the family.
Buddy and Taylor had mentored Kate since her earliest days in the business.
Kate had considered them and their four children to be her Nashville family for years.
“Give Aunt Maggie a turn, Georgia,” Taylor said.
“No, that’s fine,” Maggie said. “I don’t want to disturb her.”
“We have to go soon anyway. School night.”
Georgia made a face at her mother. “It’s a special occasion.”
“Will you remember the special occasion at six o’clock tomorrow morning when I’m dragging your carcass out of bed?”
“She’s very abusive in the morning,” Georgia said.
Maggie and her sisters laughed.
“Our mother was, too,” Jill said. “We did not do mornings well in our house.”
“Glad it’s not just my kids,” Taylor said.
“Definitely not,” Maggie assured her.
“I want to be homeschooled,” Georgia said.
Taylor snorted with laughter. “Your daddy says you’d be the dumbest girl in Tennessee if we tried to homeschool you.”
“That’s true,” Georgia said, as the others lost it laughing again.
“I can say that about myself,” Taylor said, “but you…”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m not allowed to say you guys are too dumb to be my teachers. I get it.”
“Four kids, and the last one is going to kill me,” Taylor said, shaking her head as her eyes danced with amusement.
“You love me.”
“Someone has to.”
“Um, you guys,” Maggie said hesitantly. “I brought a friend with me tonight. He’d love to meet you and Poppy, Kate, if you’re up for it.
I know it’s not the time, but somehow I found myself inviting him and, well…
” She stopped talking when she noticed they were staring at her in fascination. “What?”
“You’re stammering over a guy,” Jill said.
“I am not! I’m stammering because I invited him without really thinking of all the reasons why tonight wasn’t the best night to bring him here…”
“Whoa,” Kate said to Jill. “This is huge. Go get him.”
“Never mind,” Maggie said. “You can meet him another time.”
“Are you going to make me get off this sofa?” Kate asked. “Because I will if I have to.”
Maggie rolled her eyes at her sister. “Drama queen. I’ll get him, but don’t make anything of it. He works for us, for crying out loud.”
“Um, we’re not the ones making something of it,” Jill said. “For the record.”
Sometimes Maggie couldn’t stand having older sisters who didn’t let her get away with anything.
Her whole life, she’d felt like she was scrambling to catch up to them—one of them at the top of her Ivy League classes in college and law school, the other a crazy-talented musician, singer and songwriter.
And when it came to busting balls, Maggie still felt like the underachieving little sister next to the two of them.
They always saw right through her. Every time.