Chapter 16

16

"Are you ready?" King asked Sadie when she walked out of her room with Cosmo on her heels.

"No," she said with a nervous laugh. "I don't think I'm ever going to be ready for this." Sadie took a moment to really look at King. He was wearing jeans that did wonders for his backside and a Henley that clung to his well-defined torso, along with black motorcycle boots. And with the way his curls were styled to give him a controlled messy look, he was every inch a rock star. "You look hot."

He grinned at her. "Right back at you, gorgeous."

Sadie flushed. She'd opted for a formfitting V-neck T-shirt that showed off all her curves with a plaid miniskirt and knee-high black boots. She felt a little silly, but Melissa had assured her that she'd look amazing on stage, so she'd just gone with it and hoped for the best. Considering it was Halloween night, Sadie figured she and King were probably going to be the most normal looking people at the festival. But when one was trying to be a rock star, she figured it was best to look the part.

What was that saying? Dress for the job you want? Well, she was doing her best rock star impersonation. She'd just have to hope for the best. After the night at the beach, Sadie felt as if she'd been living in some sort of dream. She felt seventeen again, giddy with happiness about being with King. After they'd gotten back from the beach that night, they'd spent a lot of time making out on the couch until Briggs stumbled in, interrupting them. Apparently his sleepover hadn't panned out.

He'd been more than a little drunk, but thankfully had taken a rideshare home, and after that, King had spent the entire night taking care of him.

Sadie had left him to it, assuring him that she understood. She'd spent her share of nights taking care of Melissa after having one too many and vice versa.

But it had meant that their evening had been cut short, and Sadie's plans of dragging him to her bedroom never materialized.

It was just as well , Sadie thought. It was probably better to take things a tad slower anyway. Give them both some time to make sure they were one hundred percent ready to advance their relationship before they complicated it further.

"You're going to do great," King said, taking her hand and tugging her toward him to give her a kiss on the cheek.

"How did your PR meeting go?" Sadie asked as she grabbed her handbag.

"As well as can be expected," he said with a sigh. "I've got my mom blocked for now. The last straw was when she threatened to make my life hell if I didn't send her 50K by the end of the week."

"What? Is she insane?" Sadie spat out, unable to believe that his own mother would try to extort that kind of money. Though she guessed she shouldn't be surprised. Her father had tried to sell her mother's house without her knowledge. Some people were just monsters, and the sooner she accepted that the easier it would be for her to identify them and keep them out of her life.

"Apparently. The PR person told me to expect chaos, because people who see their family as cash cows will do whatever it takes to get some of the coin. So when—not if—she sells a story to the tabloids, then they'll set up interviews for me to set the record straight. They said that since it's documented that I was in a foster home, most of the public will believe my side and it shouldn't affect my career. I'm not looking forward to it, but it's better than being shaken down by her for the rest of my life."

Sadie gave him a hug, holding on tightly. "I'm proud of you. You deserve so much better."

He hugged her back, clinging to her as if he was trying to soak up her strength.

"I think it's time to go," she finally said as she pulled away. The nerves were back, and her stomach churned with nausea.

"Has Cosmo been out and fed?" he asked, making her heart soar that he was concerned about her dog.

"He's had dinner, but he should go out one more time."

"Okay, let's go, boy," King said, leading him to the back door.

While they were out, Sadie touched up her lipstick in the mirror near the front door and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "You can do this," she told herself as she did her best to bury her fears. If she just focused on King, she knew she'd get through it with flying colors.

"It's time," King said when he walked back into the room. Cosmo had a treat in his mouth and was already cuddled up in his dog bed at the foot of the couch.

"Let's do it." She put on a brave smile and followed him out the door.

"The place looks packed," King said, making Sadie's nerves dance again. He wasn't kidding. Main Street was overflowing with cars filling all the parking spaces, and there was a crowd of people milling around outside the entrance to the festival. King let out a groan.

"What is it?" Sadie asked.

"The groupies," he said, frowning.

Sadie followed his gaze and let out a small gasp. "There are so many of them."

"Yeah, it's good to have fans, but getting through them to get inside is going to be hell."

"Go around to the back. We'll park there and bypass that mess," Sadie said.

"Can we get in that way?" he asked.

"I'm sure I know someone who can get us in. Just one perk of living your whole life in a small town."

King gave her a grateful smile and circled the block before parking with a bunch of other cars that were likely vendors and people who were working the rides.

Sadie led him over to the gate that was being manned by some young kid she'd never met. "Dang it," she muttered, and then when they got close, she gave him a bright smile. "Hi there!"

"You have to go around to the front entrance." The young man looked them over. "Not much of a costume if you ask me."

Sadie bit back a snarky reply and said, "We're supposed to go on stage in about ten minutes. Do you think you could just let us sneak by? If we have to go all the way around, we're going to be late." That much was true at least.

"Sorry." He stared down at his phone, and Sadie was ready to let him have it when she spotted an ally. Putting that smile back on her face, she called, "Deputy Reilly! You look nice this evening."

The normally surly old deputy sheriff glanced over and smiled at her as he walked toward them. "Sadie Lewis. It's been forever since I've seen you. How are you doing?"

"I'm good. Did you hear that King and I are debuting our song tonight?"

"I did. It's quite the to-do over there by the stage," the deputy said.

"That's what we heard. There's a group of fans at the entrance waiting for King who have been a little aggressive. We were hoping we could slip in the back so that we can get to the stage on time."

"I already told them that this entrance is closed," the kid said.

"It's all right, Cooper," the deputy said. "I know Sadie, and if she says there's trouble, there probably is. Let them through."

The kid looked like he wanted to argue but stepped aside anyway.

"Thank you," Sadie said and gave the deputy a quick hug. "My mom always said you were the sweetest."

The kid scoffed, and Sadie swallowed a laugh.

The deputy's face flushed pink as he said, "She was the sweet one. Have a good show, Sadie."

The deputy walked off, and the kid gaped at her. "Is that the same Deputy Sheriff Reilly that works here in Keating Hollow? Because I've never seen him bend the rules like that before."

Sadie felt a profound sense of satisfaction when she said, "He was sweet on my mother." Then she took King's hand and led him over to the tent where the stage was set up.

King chuckled. "That was smooth."

"I did my best."

Once inside, King went to find Austin while Sadie scanned the crowd from behind the makeshift bar that Keating Hollow Brewery had set up near the side door. Most everyone was dressed for Halloween, with the witch costume being the most popular. But there were plenty of vampires, werewolves, and zombies, too.

Near the back there was a press section with a few reporters and what looked like a crowd of social media influencers. Most were dressed normally, except for the influencers who'd opted to wear the looks of famous pop stars. She spotted Britney, Taylor, and Avril among the group and grinned.

And then there were, of course, King's groupies, who had somehow gotten the word he was inside and had already descended. They wore anything that showed off the most skin. Witches, maids, sexy kittens. They weren't hard to spot. Thankfully, King and Austin were in a roped off area that was being manned by security, so there was at least some barrier to keep the crowd at bay.

Sadie knew she should go in and say hello to Melissa and thank her for her wardrobe help earlier, but she just wasn't quite ready to face anyone yet. Instead, she made a beeline for the restroom just outside the tent. After using the facility and washing her hands in the mobile trailer, she stepped back outside and almost ran right into another woman.

Sadie stumbled and caught herself by grabbing the woman's arm. She quickly let go and took a step back. "Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so." The woman pushed her sleeve up and held her arm out, inspecting it. Then she smiled at Sadie. "No worse for the wear. Are you— Wait, are you Sadie Lewis?" There was excitement in the woman's eyes, but the longer Sadie stared at her, the more she felt an emotional coldness radiating from her. It was almost as if she was trying to force herself to be excited about meeting Sadie. Her guard automatically went up. What did this woman want from her?

"Yes, that's me," Sadie said. It wasn't as if she could lie. She'd be on stage in about ten minutes anyway. "And you are?"

"You can call me Cin. Cin with a C." The woman smiled, and her eyes lit up.

All the coldness vanished, making Sadie think she'd only imagined it, probably due to her nerves about performing. She instantly relaxed. The woman had gorgeous dark curly hair and was dressed in a stylish suit that was tailored perfectly for her runner's frame. There was no costume for this one. She was older than Sadie but obviously took care of herself, so Sadie had a hard time guessing an age. She'd say late thirties, maybe early forties. "It's nice to meet you, Cin. Do you live here in Keating Hollow, or are you just here for the show?"

"Just here for the show. Actually, I have a pretty popular TikTok channel and was invited as part of the social media outreach." She patted her chest as if looking for something and then looked down and frowned. "Oh, no. Looks like I left my press pass back at the table."

"It's all right. I believe you," Sadie said. "It's still so weird to think that I'm singing at an event that gave out press passes. I suppose the reality of all of this will eventually set in and I'll stop thinking it's all just a dream."

Cin patted her shoulder, sending a shiver of ice down Sadie's arm. She flinched slightly, causing Cin to yank her hand back. "Sorry. I didn't mean to overstep."

"You didn't. I just got a chill is all." Sadie nodded toward the tent. "I should probably get back in there."

"Wait," Cin said, shifting slightly and blocking her escape. "I was wondering since I have you here, would you mind answering a few questions for me really quick?"

"Uh, sure." Sadie was a little uncomfortable talking to the press without King or Austin there, but it probably wouldn't make a very good impression if she pushed the woman out of the way.

"Great." She pulled a tiny notebook out of her pocket and flipped it open. "You're new to the music business, correct?"

"Yep. Brand new. First song I've recorded, and it's only my second public performance," Sadie said and then wondered if she should have added the last part. If Cin went digging and found out that King had walked out on her that first night they sang together, there was no doubt she'd share that scoop. Talk about clickbait.

"It must be daunting trying to navigate it all," Cin said. "Tell me, how is it you ended up singing with King McGrath?"

"Oh, Austin Steele, our producer, put us together," she said.

"Interesting. And how did you find your producer? Did you cold call with a demo, or were there auditions? How exactly did that happen?"

These questions seemed fairly straightforward, and Sadie was starting to feel at ease answering. "That's an easy one. I work at the Keating Hollow Brewery, and Austin lives here in town. When he learned that I sing, he asked me to sing a few bars for him and… Well, the rest is history."

"So you're connected," Cin said with a nod as she jotted down some notes.

"No, I wouldn't say?—"

"That's all I have for you." The woman grabbed Sadie's hand and shook it.

Sticky magic coated Sadie's hand and traveled up her forearm while the woman's intense satisfaction made Sadie's head spin. Before she could make heads or tails out of what was happening, the woman was gone, leaving Sadie with her fingers tingling as a tiny headache started to form over her right eye.

What the hell had just happened?

"Sadie?" Abby Garrison, her boss's wife, called as she poked her head out of the tent. She looked like a fairy princess with a crown of flowers on her head. "There you are. It's time. King's waiting for you."

"Right." Sadie sucked in a sharp breath, trying to clear the cobwebs in her head. Then she flexed her fingers, making sure whatever had happened with Cin hadn't affected her hand. When everything seemed normal, she pasted a smile on her face and headed into the tent to face the music.