Ren and Kylie stepped out the front door of Acoustics onto the already bustling sidewalks of State Street. Although it was barely nine in the morning, the sidewalks and blocked-off streets were already teeming with music fans in Bristol for the Rhythm and Roots festival, the three-day event held every September that drew bluegrass fans from all over and filled every hotel for miles around. The festival, already large to begin with, had grown even more with the opening of the Birthplace of Country Music Museum, and now filled not only the four blocks of downtown Bristol but extended all the way to Cumberland Square Park and several blocks up Piedmont Avenue. All kinds of activities were planned, from workshops for children to a chili cook-off, a 5K run, and all kinds of jam sessions. Twenty indoor and outdoor stages were scheduled with more than a hundred bands making an appearance. The Barstows were scheduled to perform both on an outdoor stage and in Acoustics; Kylie and Ren would perform on the Acoustics stage; and also at Acoustics the three younger Barstows were making their Rhythm and Roots debut as Barstows II. Kylie could feel the excitement and anticipation already building in the crowd. “Can you feel it, Ren? There’s music in the air today. I feel a lot of good music coming on.”
“I feel a very large crowd coming on.” Ren’s grin was wry. “And a big headache to go with it.”
“That, too, I suppose. But seriously, it’s usually a great festival and it’s where The Barstows got their start. I can’t believe you’ve never come.”
“I can’t, either. But I’m here now,” he said as he took Kylie’s hand. They took a few minutes to walk around a bit, passing several of the stages, beer and moonshine tents, and the inevitable souvenir kiosk before returning to Acoustics, which would be opening in just a few minutes with a young bluegrass group out of South Carolina starting promptly at ten. The band was already setting up and Sam was behind the bar, where he’d set up a coffee urn. Kylie left Ren chatting with Sam at the bar and went into the office, where she found Cooper trying to rosin his psaltery bow, but the rosin block kept slipping out of his prosthetic pincers, earning itself a sharp curse from her irritated brother. “All these God-damned years and I still drop the thing.”
“Here, let me,” Kylie said as she took both the rosin and the bow from Cooper. “You know, it wouldn’t kill you to ask somebody for help.”
Cooper grinned ruefully. “The girls rosin them at home for me when they think I’m not looking.”
“Good for them.” Kylie rubbed the bow down and handed it back. Cooper balanced the psaltery on his prosthesis and, bowing with his good arm, began going over his part of a string trio he was playing with his daughters. Kylie sat down at Cooper’s desk and checked her schedule for the umpteenth time. Most of the bands booked for Acoustics had come by the club last night but she was still waiting to hear from a couple, including the Nitpickers. “Say, Cooper, have you heard anything from Royce or Archer?” she asked.
“No, but Ken called last night to confirm.”
“I have him down already.”
Ren stuck his head in the door. “Sam says the coffee’s ready. And your mom’s here with the kids. I didn’t know she was singing today.”
“Today and tomorrow. She always comes back and does the festival with us.”
Kylie got her coffee and settled in for a long, busy day. The young band that led off was new but already had an enthusiastic following that filled Acoustics, many of their crowd staying for Barstows II, which tickled them no end. She spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon in the club, supervising the lineup and serving when the wait staff found themselves overwhelmed. Rather than trying to drive a back route on thoroughly congested streets to their late afternoon performance, Kylie and the rest of the band carried their instruments down the now jam-packed streets to their assigned stage two blocks away, Bradley cursing the awkward bass case that somebody managed to jostle every minute or so.
But they were enthusiastically received by the crowd, especially when Lexi took to the microphone and treated their fans to the warm, rich, bluesy alto that had put the original Barstows on the map. As Lexi sang, her eyes kept returning to a point in the back of the crowd. Curious, Kylie too gazed in that direction, her attention caught by a head of white-blond hair partially covered by a baseball cap and a face that she recognized instantly even covered with a three-day growth of beard. What was Collins Wentworth doing here? Was he just here for the music? Had he come specially to hear Lexi sing? Or was he here to check on his investment?
Kylie was afraid she had her answer when he turned and walked down the street in the direction of the club.
***
“Well, I guess we know that the festival’s a big weekend for the drug pushers.” Sawyer’s face wore an expression beyond disgust as he looked down at the six gig bags full of drugs on the floor between him and Ren. In addition to the original three bags, which had remained untouched since their first search two weeks ago, three new bags had come in sometime between Wednesday evening, the last time the two of them let themselves in to check, and this evening.
Or rather, this morning. It was going on four and the two of them were exhausted, but the streets had been crowded until late and they’d had to make a show of driving back to Kingsport, where they’d grabbed short naps before coming back to search.
Ren rubbed his tired eyes. “I think we already knew that. Any idea where these new puppies came from?”
“Hell, who knows? This room was Grand Central Station all day yesterday. Besides our usual suspects, every effing band who played dumped their stuff in here.”
“So theoretically it could have been any of them. I’m still betting that one or both of the Hales are in on it. Kylie was sweating them out but they finally showed up reeking of beer a half hour before their set.”
“Wouldn’t be surprised.”
They zipped the drug-filled gig bags and carefully returned them to their place on the shelves. “So what do we do now?” Ren asked as he and Sawyer sneaked back to Sawyer’s car.
“I watch the closet like a hawk and see who leaves with the guilty gig bags. And you, my friend, will have the perfect excuse to have your booty call tomorrow night at Kylie’s. I’m still in your spare room, every hotel, motel, and no-tell is filled up for miles around, and I heard Cooper’s little girl tell him that Grandma’s hosting a sleep-over at her place.”
“And once I get in there?”
Sawyer looked down his nose at Ren. “Wear her out. Search it while she’s sleeping. God, what I wouldn’t give for an assignment like that. Sex all night and an arrest in the morning. What a great day that would be.”
Ren bit his tongue to keep from lashing out at Sawyer. He had no business being angry at Sawyer for just being himself. But sleeping with Kylie as part of the investigation was really starting to bother him.
And if they did have to arrest her for dealing drugs, he was not going to think it a very great day.
***
Kylie collapsed in the break room chair and kicked off her low-heeled sandals. “My feet hurt sooo bad.”
“So do mine.” Cooper lowered himself into the chair next to hers.
“That’s what happens when you’re up on them for twelve hours two days straight.” Ren rummaged through the refrigerator. “Damn, every one of the sodas is gone.”
“You think your feet hurt, you ought to try doing it in a pair of heels.” Timberlynn sat down at the next table and toed off her strappy red stilettos.
“Why do you wear those things, anyway?” Cooper peered down at the offending shoes.
“I can think of about five feet, three inches of reason. I look like a dwarf next to the rest of you. Even Kylie’s pushing six feet in her shoes.”
“At least you never had to dance with a chin on your shoulder,” Kylie pointed out.
“And you need to remember that the most beautiful jewels come in small packages,” Sam added as he came sailing in with an armful of chilled sodas. He piled them on the table and handed Timberlynn an orange fizz.
“Why thank you, kind sir, for coming to this lady’s rescue.” Timberlynn gave a mock curtsey.
Well, at least he can smile when he’s flirting with Timberlynn. For whatever reason, Sam had been grumpy all day, ever since Cooper had assigned their other bartender Burt to work the inside bar and put Sam to work selling bottled water and sodas at the portable bar out on the sidewalk. He and Ren both seemed tired, and if the go-to-hell look Ren just shot him was any indication, Ren did not appreciate him flirting with a married woman.
Kylie opened a lime soda and drank gratefully. “One more set down the block and we’re done for the night. I’m glad we don’t have but the one tomorrow afternoon.” She sipped her soda thoughtfully. “We sounded good this weekend.”
“Ya think?” Bradley and Jake swooped in and snagged the remaining sodas. “Aunt Lexi brought down the house, and you and Ren sold out of your CDs after your performance. Even Barstows II had them stomping. Really, Kylie, they ought to cut a CD of their own.”
“That’s on my list.” She glanced over at Cooper. “Or Cooper could take care of it, seeing as how two of them are his.”
“You schedule the studio and the engineer; I’ll get ’em there.”
Jake looked around the room. “Don’t know about you, but we have another hour and a half before we go on again and I want to hear some of the other talent.” He pulled Timberlynn up out of the chair. “Get those sexy shoes of yours back on and let’s go listen.”
Timberlynn grinned wickedly. “And that would be the other reason I wear them. You coming, Cooper?”
“Why not? For once we have enough staff to cover and I wouldn’t mind a little of that moonshine they’re selling in the beverage tents.”
Sam’s mouth tightened just a fraction. Jake and Timberlynn trooped out together with Bradley and Sam just behind them and Cooper making up the rear. Kylie looked curiously at Ren. “Does Sam make it a habit to flirt with other men’s wives?”
“Not usually, no. But you have to admit, she flirts right back. Isn’t that a bit out of character for a minister’s wife?”
“Not that minister’s wife.” Kylie put her empty soda can on the table. “Before she met Jake, Timberlynn was a bit of a wild child. She only settled down after meeting him, and once in a while the old Timberlynn shows back up for a bit. But in all honesty, she’s been good for Jake. He used to be an absolute prissy stick in the mud.”
“Occupational hazard.” Ren leaned across the table and planted a tender kiss on Kylie’s lips. “I’ve been thinking about you all day. I want my woman tonight, Kylie.”
Kylie could feel herself blushing. “And I want my man. Has Sam found his own place yet?”
“Unfortunately, no.” Ren sat back with a frustrated look on his face. “And I tried four of the nicer hotels and six of the motel chains. Every room in the whole area is booked. I’m too damned old and too damned tall to get it on in the backseat of a crossover and you have a houseful of kids tonight.”
Kylie bit her lip. “That’s just it. Tonight I don’t. Mom’s spending the evening with them here and after we sing for the last time she’s taking them home with her to Elizabethtown.” She turned beet red. “I—I guess if you put your car in the garage and leave before the kids get home it would be all right.”
An odd expression—Chagrin? Relief?—flickered across Ren’s face before he broke into a wide, sexy smile. “I do believe that can be arranged. Now lean over here and kiss me, woman, and we’ll go enjoy some of those other bands before I take you home and make sweet love to you.”
Ren came around the table and put his arms around Kylie. She lifted her face and they were enjoying a hot, no-holds-barred kiss when Sam came around the corner and skidded to a halt. “I gather this isn’t the time to ask about chilling another four cases for outside?”
“I’m sure that will be fine,” Kylie told him.
Sam leaned against the doorsill with his arms folded and a grin on his face. “So I shouldn’t expect you until morning?”
Ren put his arm around Kylie. “Nope. I’ll be at Kylie’s place tonight.”
“See you in the morning, then.” Sam turned to leave and Kylie couldn’t help but wonder why he looked so pleased that Ren would be gone all night, unless he had hopes of a tryst of his own in Ren’s empty condo.
Ren took her hand and together they snaked their way through the crowded club and out into the even more crowded street. The sun was just setting behind the distant mountains, casting a reddish golden glow over the pleasantly mellow crowd and the handsome man holding her hand. They stopped to listen at one of the outdoor stages and listened in at the public jamming tent, where a group of enthusiastic beginners were painstakingly picking out “Old Joe Clark,” and slipped into one of the indoor clubs for a few minutes of an all-girl western swing band. Ren treated them both to a sausage on a stick at the food court, and then it was time to go get their instruments and report to their designated outdoor stage for their last set.
They may have all been tired, but the eager anticipation of the crowd was infectious, and Kylie could feel the entire band come to life as they tuned their instruments and took their place on the stage. In honor of Lexi again joining them, they dedicated the set to Johnny Barstow and played many of the songs that her father—the man she still felt was her father—had written. Lexi’s voice was sultry and seductive, injecting a sensuality into Johnny’s songs that was more typical of nightclub torch singing than bluegrass, and Kylie lent her soaring soprano to her mother’s earthy tones. She and Ren sang their version of “Long Black Veil,” and in honor of his father Cooper sang a version of “Go Rest High on that Mountain” that had tears running down half the faces in the audience. Jake and Timberlynn treated the audience to a banjo-fiddle duet that had the audience clapping and stomping, and Danny and Brittany, still wearing their red-checkered shirts and clogging shoes, joined them for a rousing finale of “The Yellow Rose of Texas.” The crowd begged and whistled until they did an encore, and they took their final bows and left the stage. Their CD supply, already low, was gone within fifteen minutes and they were thankfully done for the day. Jake and Timberlynn wandered off to hear some of the later bands, Bradley said he was meeting some old friends at his place, and after speaking briefly to their part-time evening manager, Cooper made a phone call and disappeared. Lexi rounded up the kids and herded them toward the nearest exit, leaving Kylie and Ren alone in the instrument room. “Are we done here?” he asked as he ran his hand down her back.
“We are most certainly done here.” Kylie gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “So shall we go?”
They burned up the highway going back to Kingsport. Delicious anticipation enveloped Kylie in a gossamer cloak as she flew down the highway with Ren on her bumper, her sunroof open and her hair flying around her face. She pulled up in the driveway and used the automatic door opener to lift the door so Ren could conceal his car overnight, then hopped out just as Ren’s crossover disappeared into her garage. Ren got out of his car and caught her as she passed, pressing her to him and claiming her lips in the dim shadows of the inky garage. Kylie wound her arms around his neck and held on for dear life, trapped between Ren’s hard, aching body and the crossover’s left fender. Without breaking their kiss, Ren’s powerful arms lifted her onto the hood, bringing her face level with his. “Kylie, I need this. I need you.”
“I need you, too.” She ran her fingers through his thick blond hair as he bore her down on the warm hood, his lips leaving hers and nibbling across her neck to the V in her neckline. His dexterous lips nudged the fabric aside and edged toward the lacy cup containing her already pebbling nipple. Kylie could feel her breath catch as he gently edged the lace aside with his teeth and tickled her nipple with his tongue. She arched upward to give him greater access but flinched when a car came around the corner and the headlights flashed across her front yard. “Ren, the door’s not closed. Anybody can see inside.”
Ren lifted his head and reluctantly pulled her dress back over her. “And I did say I was too old to do this in a car. Or on one.”
“Oh, I doubt you’re too old,” Kylie teased as she gently touched the bulge in his pants. “But definitely too tall. We both are.”
“How’d you get to be so tall, anyway? Your mom’s no taller than Timberlynn, and Cooper’s no taller than you. Was your father a big man?”
Kylie started. Which father would you be talking about? “I—I must be a throwback. Dad was no taller than Cooper and me.” Collins Wentworth was very tall, but Ren didn’t need to know that little tidbit.
Ren grabbed a duffel out of the back of his car. “Presumptuous, are we?” Kylie teased as his ears turned red.
Ren kissed her lightly on the lips. “Let’s call it hopeful. And it’s full of condoms.”
“All right, then.”
Kylie lowered the garage door and led Ren into the bottom floor of the house, through the music room, up the stairs and straight into her bedroom. Ren tossed the duffel on the chair beside the bed and took Kylie in his arms, kissing her deeply and almost with desperation, as though he couldn’t get enough of her. Kylie responded in kind, her passion a match to his as they clung to one another for long moments. Finally, Ren raised his head and looked into her eyes. “We have on way too much clothing, don’t you think?”
Kylie nodded. Although they had seen one another naked a number of times now, Kylie still took pleasure in the sight of Ren’s nude body, as he did hers. They stepped away from one another and, without looking away, made swift work of baring themselves to one another’s gaze. When they were both completely bare, they reached out and came together again, reveling in the feel of Kylie’s soft smooth warmth next to Ren’s harder body with his light sprinkling of chest and leg hair. They held each other for a moment before Ren gently pushed Kylie back on the handmade quilt that she used as a bedspread. His iron-hard need poked her in the thigh and she opened her legs to make him welcome, but rather than accepting her invitation to enter he scooted down on the bed. “Not so fast, my lady. We have all night. Let’s use it.”
“But I’m-oh-my-God-I’m—” Kylie sucked in a breath. “Never mind, you just keep on keepin’ on.”
Ren grinned and complied, and before she could really catch her breath she was already on the top of the waterfall and plunging into the river below. She panted and gasped, her heart pounding in her throat as the powerful orgasm rocked her. Not content with just the one, Ren nibbled his way up her tummy to her breasts, where he feasted on their delights as his skillful fingers explored lower, plunging into her warm wetness until she was crying out yet again with delight. Then and only then would he take what she offered him, slapping on a condom and plunging into her with a single firm thrust and, once he was sure she was comfortable, making love to her with the same desperation he’d shown earlier when he’d kissed her in the garage. She clung to him mindlessly, rocking together with him as the pressure mounted again, and this time they climbed to the top of the waterfall together. She could feel herself tightening around Ren’s stiff cock as she came yet again, at which point Ren let go with a sharp cry, pouring himself into the condom as he came and came and came.
They collapsed together. Mindful of his weight, Ren rolled to one side without separating their bodies and pulled Kylie close, her face nestled in the crook of his sweaty neck. “It’s incredible what you do to me.”
“Likewise.”
Kylie could feel Ren hesitate. “Just remember that. No matter what, please remember this. What you do to me when we make love.”
Kylie looked up into Ren’s somber eyes. What was this all about? “Of course I’ll remember it, Ren. Because you do the same thing to me.” She planted a kiss on Ren’s lips. “And if we take a few minutes to recover, I bet we can do it again.”
The solemn mood disappeared and Ren’s eyes lit up. “Give me a minute and I bet we can. After all, we have an empty house to ourselves and the entire night together.” He grinned wickedly as he stirred inside her. “And it looks like I’m already recovering.” He rolled her on her back and proceeded to demonstrate just how recovered he was as Kylie squealed in delight.
They made love a second time, slower and more gently but with every bit of the passion of their first coming together. Temporarily spent and hungry for food, they pulled on enough clothes to answer the door and had a pepperoni pizza delivered, which they devoured naked sitting cross-legged in the middle of her bed. Their sticky fingers inspired the need for a shower, where the warm water and sexy caresses with Kylie’s perfumed body wash in turn inspired a lusty session of shower sex, after which Kylie and Ren collapsed together in her big bed. “Damn, what a way to spend an evening,” Kylie breathed as Ren held her close.
Ren nodded. “Damn fine way to spend an evening.” He buried his nose in her hair and shut his eyes.
Kylie could hear Ren’s breathing slow as he dropped off to sleep. She stared into the darkness, his words coming back to haunt her as the wind ruffled the leaves outside and their shadows played on the bedroom walls. No matter what, please remember this. What you do to me when we make love. What had prompted Ren to say a thing like that? Why would he feel the need to remind her to remember?
Unless he was falling in love with her. Kylie’s eyes grew wide. Was he falling in love with her, as she was with him? Was he starting to feel the same things she was? Oh, on some level she’d known it for a while, but she’d pushed it to the edge of her consciousness, not willing to admit, even to herself, that her lighthearted, no-strings-attached relationship with Ren was turning into so much more. But now she was willing to admit it, at least to herself. She was willing to admit that she wanted to be with him. That she was starting to care for him. That she was falling in love with him.
That she was lowering her guard and starting to trust him. She was learning to trust again.
And hopefully this time her trust was not misplaced.