Samantha’s run with the girls was amazing. They rounded the town and headed toward the old paper mill at Samantha’s request.

“Heartbreaking to see it empty.” She looked into the vacant building. “So many people left when it closed.” It nearly broke her heart when her mom came home and told her she’d lost her job.

“Wouldn’t it be great if someone could breathe new life into the place?” Katie asked. “What a great project this would be.”

Sage wiped at a dusty window and glanced inside. “This would be a huge undertaking. You stick to the park and your family. Leave this to someone else.”

Lydia stepped back and looked at the brick structure. “Get someone to build a hospital, and I’ll come and run it.”

“We’ve got the clinic. You can join me there. Doc is getting older. I’m sure he’d love more days to fish.” Sage wrapped her arm around her sister. “Don’t worry. Something will go your way soon.”

“Small town life is not my thing. I have big dreams that can’t be found in a place like Aspen Cove.” Lydia looked at them. “No offense, but there’s nothing here for me.”

She was so wrong. Everything worth having was here. Friends, families, and Dalton. Especially Dalton. “That can change. Someone could buy this and turn it into something amazing.” She closed her eyes and pictured the building divided into shops, an art gallery, and maybe a culinary school.

While they ran, Samantha listened to Sage and Lydia talk about the shortage of job offers in Denver, and Lydia’s frustration with her boyfriend’s lack of attention and assistance given he was in charge of the emergency room staffing.

They ran past the park Katie funded. It would be finished before the warm weather hit and provide a safe place for the local children to play. It would offer an opportunity for mothers and fathers to leave their houses and engage with others.

There wasn’t much to do in Aspen Cove, so people hibernated inside their homes. Most likely, they weren’t eleven seasons behind on Supernatural. What could they be watching?

As they neared their homes, they said their goodbyes. They were all excited about karaoke night at the bar. Even Samantha thought it would be fun to sing without expectation. The only one in the group who knew her true identity was Katie, and she hadn’t talked.

Samantha’s phone buzzed with an incoming message from Deanna because her mother would never text.

Trouble

She wasted no time texting her when a call would be quicker.

“What’s up?” Samantha asked as soon as her assistant answered.

Deanna let out a long, breathy exhale. “A few things. Dave is furious that you’re not returning his calls, emails, or smoke signals.”

Samantha ran up the stairs and entered her cabin. “I’m on vacation, he can wait.”

“That’s the problem. He’s not good at waiting.”

She walked back to her room and sat on the edge of the bed. “That’s where you come in as my loyal, hard-working assistant with integrity made from steel and resolve made from titanium.”

While they talked, Samantha looked through her closet. She didn’t miss her stage clothes, but there was a pair of thigh high boots she was certain would knock Dalton flat if he could see them on her. She wished Deanna had packed those.

“That’s another problem.”

“What? Tell him I’m on vacation, and I’ll be at the charity event as planned.”

“I can’t tell him.”

“Why the hell not?” Samantha rarely swore, but anything to do with Dave Belton gave her selective Tourette’s.

“He fired me today.”

“He can’t fire you!” Her voice rose two octaves. “You work for me.”

“Yes, but I’m paid by them. So technically, I work for them.”

There was no way Samantha could live without her assistant. The woman was a wonder of the world. Without her, Samantha’s life would crumble.

“All right, you’re hired. Whatever you were making before, give yourself a twenty-five percent raise.” Money was the least of Samantha’s worries—Dave Belton was her primary problem. If he thought he could bully her into the studio before she had time to relax and regroup, he had another thing coming.

“Thanks, Boss,” Deanna said. “There’s another problem.”

Samantha leaned against the wall and tapped her head gently against the surface. Too hard, and she’d leave a mark and that wouldn’t go well with whatever she planned to wear to seduce Dalton tonight.

“I’m ready. Tell me.”

“So, apparently you were at a restaurant called Chachi’s, which sounded awful until I looked up the menu. I mean, Happy Fries? Those sound amazing.”

“They were.” She loved Chachi’s. It was her second date with Dalton. She pulled a pink, low-cut cashmere sweater from the shelf. She had a friend in high school who reserved a certain sweater for third dates. This little pink number would be hers. With that solved, she returned to the problem at hand.

“Dining at Chachi’s was a problem?”

“Only because you walked off stage and disappeared. The tabloids offered up cash for your location. It would be a problem if a waiter named Todd, who has an unhealthy obsession with a once blue-haired singer who happened to snap a selfie with him, threatened to blackmail you if you don’t agree to a date with him.”

She threw the pink sweater on the bed and rummaged through her jeans to find the perfect pair. Muffins and ice cream and candy along with bacon and pancakes and Happy Fries weren’t weight-maintenance foods.

“Are you there?” Deanna asked.

Samantha shook the thoughts of Dalton and Happy Fries from her head. “Yes, and he’s ridiculous if he thinks I’m going on a date with him.”

“He wrote, and I quote, ‘I’m prepared to keep her location secret if she’ll meet me for dinner.’ Which means he’ll sell the picture and your location if you don’t.”

Samantha knew her time to remain anonymous was coming to an end, but she refused to toss in the towel right now. She also refused to let a pimply-faced teenager blackmail her.

“Tell him no. Chachi’s is in a town almost an hour away. He only knows I was there for lunch. I could have been passing through.”

“Okay, Boss. What do you want me to tell Dave?”

“Nothing. I’ll take care of Dave. You no longer answer to him. Pass on your promotion to the team and let them know to contact you directly if they have questions.”

“Will do.” There was a breath of silence between them. “Any more of those hot kisses?”

Samantha smiled knowing Deanna couldn’t see her bigger-than-life grin, but she knew she’d hear it in her voice. “Those lips have skills, girlfriend. He’s so freaking hot.”

“I need pictures and details,” Deanna squealed.

“I’ll see what I can do. Are we good?”

“For now.” They hung up.

Samantha sat on the bed and thought about the high-handed tactics Dave used to get her to behave. There was so much abuse in the world.

Abuse of power.

Verbal abuse.

Physical abuse.

Emotional abuse.

She’d seen it all. Experienced much of it. It was time to stop it. Here she thought Marina needed to deal with her problem, and yet Samantha hadn’t dealt with her own. Things would be different from now on. Dave Belton could no longer hurt her.

She pulled her old phone from the drawer and powered it up. It sang with the ring of incoming messages for minutes. She ignored them all.

She thought about what she would say, but there was no way to say everything that needed to be said in a text, so she wrote what was in her heart.

Dave,

You have worked me to death for ten years. Add to that the verbal abuse and the total disregard for my general health and welfare, and you can’t fault me for wanting to take a break.

If you think firing my assistant will earn my submission, you’re wrong. You’ve fired the first shot in a battle you won’t win. Try to sell a concert without a singer.

My commitment to you ends after the charity event and the final album.

Let me rest and find clarity, and maybe we can negotiate a path forward.

Samantha

She powered down her phone with shaking hands. Not once had she had the courage to stand up to him. Even now, she took the coward’s way out by texting. If they were face-to-face, she would have seen the vein bulge in his forehead and she would have caved. That’s why she needed time and space. Dave Belton kept her close to keep her under control. Baby steps.

Walking off that stage and into the crowd was the bravest decision she ever made. But it was also a cowardly move because instead of facing the enemy, she hid from him in a crush of twenty thousand fans. Baby steps.

It took five minutes for her racing heart to settle. She calmed her nerves with a glass of wine and went to work getting ready for her date. They hadn’t categorized it as an actual date, but he texted her and reminded her that he’d be there at six. That sounded like a date.

She squeezed into a pair of skinny jeans, pulled on the softest sweater she’d ever bought, and slipped on the same ankle boots she’d worn at her last concert. Though the boots looked fine, she still wished she had the calfskin, leather thigh-highs.

Hair down, watermelon gloss applied, she waited by the door for Dalton. Something told her tonight would be one to remember.

Who would have believed that Indigo was nervous? Then again, Indigo wasn’t here. Samantha was, and she had a taste of perfection when she slept in Dalton’s strong arms. Arms that did nothing but hold her tight and cradle her while she slept. He asked nothing of her. He didn’t take advantage of her. He laid beside her and made her feel like she mattered.

At exactly six o’clock, he knocked. She counted to ten, not wanting to seem too eager. When she opened the door, he stood in front of her wearing jeans that made her body tingle. The denim hugged all the places she wanted to touch.

In his hand was a bouquet filled with yellow roses, irises, and baby’s breath—a beautiful combination of flowers. He pressed them forward.

“They’re beautiful. Thank you.” He followed her to the kitchen, where she filled the biggest glass she had with water and arranged the flowers before she set them on the table.

“They reminded me of you.”

“These reminded you of me?”

“Yes, the irises are so dark blue, they’re almost black, like your eyes. The yellow roses are like the sun, warm and happy—like your personality. The baby’s breath flowers are tiny, with a touch of innocence, but so beautiful. And …” He rubbed his hands over them, and they sprung back into place. “They’re resilient too.” He thumbed her chin so she looked up at him. He brushed a tender kiss over her lips. “Shall we go?”

She picked up her purse from the table. “Yes. I’m ready to hear you sing.”

“Not happening, sweetheart.”

She exaggerated a pout. “And I thought you would serenade me.”

“Later I’ll make your body sing, but me sing? Not on your life. Let’s go before I change my mind and lock us inside.” He stepped back and took her in. “You look so damn hot, I don’t think I want to share you with anyone.”

“We could stay here …”

“It’s karaoke night. No one misses it unless the owner is ice fishing, which he’s not, so it’s a go. If we don’t show up, someone will send out a search party, or the sheriff will come since he’s such a fan. This town takes its showmanship seriously.”

“We should go before Sheriff Cooper comes again with lights flashing.”

Dalton helped her into her jacket and walked her to his truck. Once inside, he leaned in and kissed her dizzy. “Just a taste of what’s coming.”

“Are you sure we have to go?”

“We do, but we’ll leave as soon as we can. You can claim to have a stomachache. Sage is bringing dinner.”

She reached across the space and gave him a soft punch to the arm. “That’s an awful thing to say.”

He pulled out of the driveway and headed downtown. “Tell me that after you’ve eaten her lasagna.”

“It can’t be that bad.”

He chuckled. “You’ll see.”

In minutes, they were there. Samantha was shocked to see how many people lived in town. The bar was full. Cannon, Bowie, and Sage stood behind the bar, pulling pitchers of beer and filling shot glasses.

The man she knew as “Doc” was on the stage singing “Hound Dog” rather poorly. They made their way to the bar, where a glass of wine and a beer sat waiting.

Sage took Samantha’s purse and served her a plate of lasagna. “I brought dinner.”

Samantha looked at the tinfoil baking tray on the back counter, then glanced at Dalton. He gave her an I-told-you-so look. She forked a bite from her plate and put it into her mouth. Not only was it horrid, but it was still frozen in the center. “So good.” She faked a smile and washed it down with a sip of wine, then passed the plate to Dalton. “I ate already, but Dalton said he was famished.”

He pulled her barstool next to him. “You’re going to pay for that.” He took a bite and smiled. When Sage turned around, he fed the food to Otis, who sat begging at his feet. The dog wasn’t picky.

When Doc finished his song, he called the next victim. It was a quirky Aspen Cove tradition to choose the song and the next singer. After much help from the girls, Doc chose Bowie as the next one up in the round robin. Then Katie took the stage to sing an old Freda Payne song called “Band of Gold.”

Samantha knew she was in trouble when Katie pointed to her and smiled. She knew she wouldn’t get away without singing. The question was, would she get away unrecognized?

Dalton reached for her. “Don’t go. It’s a trap. She’ll give you some impossible song to sing just to break you in.”

“I’ve got this.” She gave him a passing kiss and went to the small stage to take the mic. When the Whitney Houston song “Queen of the Night” played, she groaned. Katie would pay for this somehow.

There were two ways to attack this song. Belt it out like the pro she was, or croak it out like everyone expected. She’d given nothing less than her best performance, so why stop now?

The words flowed from her so raw—so true. As she sang, everyone in the bar faded until only Dalton remained. His eyes connected with hers. The lyrics poured out of her like they were written for him. He had the stuff that she wanted—the stuff that she needed. She knew it was too early to feel such strong emotions, but he was the first man to see her as a person.

She couldn’t keep him—that was a certainty. Her life was so far removed from his. All she had was now. She would leave nothing behind and carry no regrets forward.

When she hit the chorus, the crowd cheered. Dollar bills floated through the air. She’d never been paid so little for a performance she enjoyed so much. The music had become a burden, but tonight it freed her.

When the song finished, she tossed the mic to Sheriff Cooper and walked over to Dalton. “I’m ready to leave.”

Dalton nearly fell off his chair. He pulled a twenty from his pocket and set it on the counter. Sage passed him Samantha’s purse, and all eyes watched them as they worked their way through the crowd. This time, she wasn’t running away but running to—the best night of her life.