Cady stifled a smile. “Be patient, sweetie. Good things are coming. They’re all coming. They’ll come a lot faster if you relax and enjoy what you have now.”
“Ha,” Emily said. “I remember what you were like when you were my age. You and Mom fought all the time. You couldn’t wait to get out of the house and start performing. You barely finished high school! Why do I even have to go to college?”
Cady felt a stab of sympathy for their mother. “Because everyone needs a backup plan.”
“You don’t have a backup plan. You don’t think I’ll be successful enough to not end up as a lawyer, like Dad.”
“I do not!” Her voice was a little sharper than she intended. “Think about what that will mean if my career nose dives. I bet you can name me a dozen one-hit wonders, or one-album wonders, right off the top of your head. You’re only as good as your latest release. Someone hacking my website won’t help. I need to work over the next few weeks. Write some songs. Work on the ones I’ve written.”
“You’ll be fine,” Emily said. “You’ve got a label. A plan. You’re going to be a superstar when that album drops.”
“It’s not just about being a superstar,” Cady said.
“That’s easy for you to say when you’ve got that option. Try being a nobody.”
“Em. I was a nobody. When I was your age, I was busking in SoMa for maybe ten bucks a night. And that was a good night! Just be patient, and do the work. The rest will come.”
“You don’t know that!”
“I don’t,” Cady said. “But I do know that something will come from doing the work. It may not be what you think it will be, but there’s always a payoff.”
“I don’t want some vague new age crap about the work being the reward. I want the runway shows. I want New York Fashion Week. Milan. Paris. I want a million followers and people wearing my designs all over the world. Girls my age have that. I want it too!”
She’d forgotten what it was like to be sixteen, now remembering her epic fights with her mother and, less frequently, her father. “Do the work, Em. Do the work and don’t get distracted by your emotions. That’s the best advice I can give you.”
Emily’s eyes widened. “Deer,” she whispered, pointing into the woods.
Through the trees Cady caught a glimpse of a doe trailed by leggy twin fawns, their spots only a memory. They watched the spindle-legged animals pick their way through the underbrush, then bound up the hill. Emily suddenly switched seats, snuggling next to Cady to lay her head on her shoulder. Cady smiled at her and flipped the end of the blanket over her legs.
Coffee finished, Cady said, “Okay, show me what you’re working on.”
Moving not all that differently from the deer, Em dashed for the bedroom and slammed the door. Cady strolled into the kitchen, set her cup in the dishwasher, ran water into her steamer for her morning treatment, then poured Emily another cup of coffee.
“No more coffee for you?” Conn said. He stood at the stove, four small pancakes bubbling in the cast iron pan.
“Smells delicious. I treat myself to one cup a day,” she said. She walked around the island, as if taking advantage of the need to speak privately to get close to Conn again. Well, she liked being close to Conn, and she wasn’t sixteen. Not by a long shot. “I’m sorry about her behavior. I talked to her. It won’t happen again.”
Conn looked toward the closed bedroom door, a little surprise showing on his face, then expertly flipped the four pancakes to show four golden brown sides. “That? That’s nothing compared to what I get every day on the job.”
“I know how she feels,” she admitted. “We’re sisters, down to the bone. She wants, you know? She wants out of Lancaster, she wants fame, respect, recognition. Love. She feels trapped, like if she doesn’t take matters into her own hands, right now, nothing good will ever happen to her.”
Conn peeked under the pancakes, then collected them in a stack and slid them onto a plate. “What did you do?”
“I took matters into my own hands. Moved out, started singing wherever I could. Taught myself how to stand out wherever I sang, built a fan base.”
He poured four more circles of batter onto the pan, then glanced toward the shower in Cady’s master bedroom suite. The water was still running. His gaze searched hers. He bent his head and brushed his mouth over hers.
“Are you listening to me?”
“Not anymore,” he said.
She felt his lips quirk into a brief smile against hers. She smiled in response, then gently bit his lower lip, felt a growl rumble behind the planes of muscle in his chest. That was the thing about Conn. She had to be close enough to feel his emotions. Distance meant she got glimmers, flickers, a light in the distance. Up close, his emotions seeped from his skin to hers, big waves of energy transmitted by glancing touches, shared breath.
The shower shut off. “Later?” she murmured.
“Probably not a good idea,” he said.
“Let’s do it anyway.” This time his tongue touched hers, slick, electric heat lighting her up.