Epilogue

Six weeks later

Cassidy took a deep breath. All of a sudden it came down to this: her whole twenty-four years of life, distilled to this one moment.

The last several weeks, all she'd done was hole up in Lane's guesthouse and write. Well, that wasn't all she'd done in Lane's guesthouse, as a matter of fact, but when they weren't there - making her sweat and curse and gasp and come - she'd spent a hell of a lot of time curled up on their couch, her notebook on her knees and her pen tapping against the page as she thought. And felt.

Then, way off in the back paddock, far from everyone, she'd taken her beautiful new guitar and played and sang, stopped - refined it - then played and sang again. And now, here she was, about to walk onto a stage, in Nashville, for the first time.

It was just an open mic night, but it was a famous one. She'd had to audition just to get her name on the list, and now as she waited nervously at the edge of the stage, knowing her name was about to get called, she felt a little panicked. This was the kind of night that a crowd turned out for. It was the kind of venue that talent scouts would casually wander into, just in case someone good - someone like Cassidy - happened to appear.

When she'd told the family at dinner three nights ago that she'd secured a spot, every single one of them had looked at her with a dropped jaw.

"Cassidy," Brynn said, her smile warm. "We're stoked for you. Just…you've been too shy to play in front of any of us and now you're playing for the first time in front of what, two hundred people?"

Cassidy shrugged, trying not to show how goddamned terrified she was.

"You're a badass," Lane told her, their hand on her thigh, admiration sparkling in their eyes.

Savannah looked at her, her expression somehow nervous.

"Can…we come and watch?" she asked tentatively. Cassidy looked at her, hesitating.

"It's not that I don't want you there," she said awkwardly, "it's just that I don't want anyone to know I'm your sister. It'll, like… read wrong."

Savannah sat back. She didn't look hurt. She looked, Cassidy realized, incredibly proud.

"How about," she sat forward again, her expression becoming gleeful, "if I promise you literally no one will know we're there?"

Which was how Cassidy had walked downstairs earlier that evening to find her sister had been replaced by a pretty brunette with brown eyes and Brynn - who was not world famous except as Savannah's wife, but who was also definitely Nashville famous - was a vibrant redhead, the two of them wearing the kind of statement glasses that would have made Greta proud, like two hot librarians on a rare night out. Cassidy couldn't stop laughing.

"Next up, welcome to the stage, Cassidy Carver!"

She took the deepest breath she'd ever taken, and, followed on stage by the drummer/back up singer she'd found two weeks ago, she took her place on the stage. The room was bigger than she'd remembered, with low lighting, but not so low she couldn't see the back was filled with tables of people sipping drinks and eating fries, and the front was standing room only, a whole crowd with their eyes on her.

There were only a few seconds for her to adjust as she slid her guitar strap over her body and her drummer got into place, but her eyes skittered nervously over the crowd. She saw Coral, next to Noah, flashing her a thumbs up. To her absolute shock, she spotted a familiar shaved head and glasses and there was Greta, standing tall in the crowd, the other patrons giving the renowned producer a noticeably respectful amount of space to stand. Cassidy found herself deeply touched, and also wildly terrified.

The sound of the crowd settled to silence and the spotlight pinned her in place like a butterfly. For a second, Cassidy wanted to drop her guitar and flee. What had she been thinking? This was way too much.

Then her eyes found Lane's, warm and bright, standing next to Aria and Mia, right near the front of the crowd. They looked so fucking proud to see their girlfriend up on stage and she hadn't even sung them a note. They gave her a stupidly attractive eyebrow quirk and a smile and Cassidy felt it all the way through her body. She remembered how to breathe.

Just as she began to strum the first notes, Cassidy met Savannah's gaze. Her sister's eyes were sparkling and steady; she looked confident and calm, her expression full of faith. Cassidy's nerves disappeared. She lifted her head, the drum beat kicked in, and she opened her mouth to sing.

The End

If you want more in this series, book three in the Grace Notes trilogy is available here!