Playing it Kale (The McCain Saga Book 4) (3 page)

“I guess,” I say as my eyes drop to the
ground when he catches me checking him out.

“You guess?” he says with a smile in his
voice.
 
“Your voice is amazing.
 
You look like an angel.
 
Everyone already thinks they know your name.
 
What’s stopping you from taking over the
world?”

I feel my face blush.
 
Hard.
 
My heart breaks out into a sprint.
 
I hesitantly look up at him from under my
lashes, from behind my cascading hair.

Kale just said I look like an angel.

And he’s smiling at me.

“Because I have the world’s worst stage
fright,” I say as I hug my guitar.
 
“And
as you just got an embarrassing demonstration of, I am the most awkward person
in existence.”

Kale looks at me for a long moment, and
I try to figure out what he’s thinking at the moment.
 
If he’s evaluating me, judging me, stripping
me down with his eyes.
 
I have no idea
which.

“You know, everyone was born a certain
way.
 
There’s something that makes us
unique.
 
But the trick is to embrace it,”
he says with conviction in his voice.
 
“To own it.
 
So you’re
awkward and quirky.
 
Embrace it, Whitney
Ford.
 
Make everyone be okay with it,
because
you
own it.”

“Easy for you to say,” I say as I lean
my guitar against the fence and rest my forearms on the top bar.
 
“Your defining characteristic is
confidence.
 
It’s an easy combo when you
stand in front of the camera for a living.”

“And people will love a dorky, adorably klutzy
girl they can relate to,” he says as he looks over at me and raises one
eyebrow.

“Did you just call me dorky?” I ask in
humorous disbelief.

“I did,” he says with a chuckle as his
eyes go to the ground.
 
“Sorry, I didn’t
mean it in a bad way.”

I shake my head as I look back out over
the pasture.
 
“Ugh.
 
Well, you’re not wrong.
 
I am a dork.
 
But I have to disagree with you on the adorable part.”

“Uh um,” he says as he shakes his
head.
 
“With those doe
eyes, that Rapunzel hair, and those mile-long legs?
 
You’re the total package.”

Again, my face flushes hard.
 
A million butterflies swarm in my chest.

“What are you doing here, anyway?” I
ask, changing the subject
cause
I have no idea how to
handle this situation and Kale’s statements.

“I’m the best man,” he says excitedly as
he turns and mirrors my pose.
 
“This is
my brother Lake’s wedding.
 
Him
and Riley are finally tying the knot.
 
This is their ranch.”

“No way,” I say with a chuckle.

“Way,” he says as he looks at me with a
smile.
 
“Are you with the wedding band or
something?
 
Seems like
self-torture if you have as bad as stage fright as you claim.”

I sigh.
 
“I’m filling in.
 
The lead singer
has been throwing up all day—of the flu variety.
 
My best friend is the manager and conned me
into filling in.”

And I will never tell him what she
bribed me with.
 
A pair
of his briefs that
he
signed and
auctioned off for charity at some point in the last year.

“Well, as terrible as I feel that some
poor woman is sick, I’m glad you filled in,” he says.
 
I look over at him,
cause
I’m not sure exactly what he means by that.
 
But there’s sincerity in his eyes.
 
And a healthy dose of mischief.

“Kale?” a voice calls, just two seconds
before another man appears around the side of the barn.
 
He looks to be in his mid-thirties, with a
boyish face, but that McCain jawline and hazel eyes.
 
There’s no doubt in my mind that this is
Kale’s older brother.
 
“We’ve got to go.
 
Line up in one minute.”

“Be there in a sec,” Kale calls and the
older brother disappears.

“Your brother, no doubt,” I state.

Kale nods.
 
“Drake.”
 
He looks back at me, and I’m once again lost
in those eyes of his.
 
“I’d ask you to
save a dance for me, but I’m pretty sure riots will break out if you deny them
your voice for the space of one song.”

“Ha,” I say dryly as I grab my guitar
again.
 

“It was really nice meeting you.
 
I’ll see you later?” he asks.

I hesitate, biting my lower lip
again.
 
“Do you want to see me later?”

And a lopsided, full on grin that could
change a woman’s soul, breaks out on his face.
 
“Yeah.
 
I
really do.”

My face flushes once more.
 
“’K.”

And
the
Kale McCain gives me a wink before turning and heading back around the barn.

CHAPTER
TWO

I make my way back toward where the band
is set up just as they start playing the wedding march.
 
Ming plays on her keyboard, Connor softly
accompanies her.

By now, there are a few dozen people
seated in the chairs that were lined up in front of the pergola.
 
All happy, smiling
faces,
all turned back toward the house, waiting for the wedding party.

I sit on the stage, ankles crossed,
my
hands nervously in my lap.

Just
own being awkward and quirky
, Kale had said.
 
Make
other people be okay with it because you own it.

It’s hard to imagine actually doing
that.

But I’ve got to do something,
cause
otherwise I’m going to humiliate myself.

My eyes shift back to the house as
someone emerges from it.

One by one, people file out of the
house.
 
Raelynn, the
bride’s mother.
 
Another couple in
their sixties, the man of which looks strikingly
like
Kale and his brother.
 
Next follows the
very same brother, Drake, with this adorably short blonde woman who smiles like
the noonday sun.
 
After them comes a
woman who has to be Kale’s sister, with the same strong jawline and hazel
eyes.
 
On her arm is a seriously
beautiful man with tattoos peeking out from his collar and over his left hand.

And then, there is Kale.
 
My stomach sinks slightly when I see a woman
on his arm.
 
But then I think about her
age, she looks a lot older than Kale.
 
And I kind of doubt she is his date.

For just a few seconds, Kale meets my
eyes, and he flashes a brilliantly crooked smile and winks at me.

My cheeks blush hard and my eyes drop to
the ground for a second as a smile breaks out on my face.

But finally, I look back up, and then
there is the bride, on the arm of a guy who looks to be the same age as
her.
 
And she is breathtaking.
 
Hair like fire at sunset, twisted up in an
elegant knot, curls cascading all around her.
 
Cheekbones any woman would kill for.
 
Lips with brilliant red lipstick.
 
And the perfect body.

She takes my breath away.

They all make their way to the pergola,
and for the first time, I notice the groom.

Lake does look like his siblings, but
he’s a giant compared to them all.
 
He
has to be at least four inches taller than Kale and at least six than
Drake.
 
He’s also huge.
 
Everything about the man screams rugged.
 
He’s not classically handsome.
 
Several scars dot his face, his features are
not as symmetrical, but that smile he has on, like he’s the luckiest man in the
world and everyone else knows it, too, it’s a brilliant thing.

Finally, Riley stops in front of her
soon-to-be-husband, and I swear the both of them nearly blind us all with their
happiness.

The pastor starts talking.
 
About hardships and trials.
 
About dragging yourself
back from darkness and destruction.
 
About dealing with death.

I don’t understand the significance to
everything he’s saying, but I know there are plenty of stories behind it all.

Then he also talks about love.
 
About being committed to
each other.
 
About being able to
work together and accomplish great things.
 
On and on, until I begin to wonder if I’m missing out on something.
 
Something so wonderful and
romantic that the simple words surrounding the wedding are like layers in my
own story.
 
One I’ve been waiting
to write, to hear.

And then they are saying their
vows.
 
They’re simple.
 
But beautiful.

I can’t help but smile when the pastor
finally pronounces them man and wife and they share a kiss that leaves everyone
blushing and covering their eyes.

I catch Kale’s eyes, and he gives me
this grossed
out look
and shakes his head with a
chuckle.
 
I laugh back.

When the bride and groom finally break
apart, Lake raises their hands into the air triumphantly and gives a victorious
holler.

The entire crowd breaks out into cheers
and clapping.

Ming and Connor break out into an upbeat
song as the bride and groom walk back down the aisle and toward the house.
 
Everyone starts milling about, talking,
mingling
.

And instantly my nerves skyrocket.
 
Because we’re on in five
minutes.

I collect my guitar from its case and
start to climb back onto the stage when someone approaching catches my
eye.
 
I turn to see Kale walking up to
me, hands stuffed in pockets, casual as
all the
world.

“Don’t be nervous,” he says.
 
“Just remember: own who you are and everyone
else will be cool with it, too.”

I bite my lower lip again and nod.
 
“I’m going to try.”
 
I go to climb onto the stage again when he
grabs my wrist gently.

“Who’s the scariest person here?” he asks
as I meet his eyes.
 
“Who are you most
afraid of judging you?”

I hesitate in answering.
 
Cause that same person is the one right in
front of me.
 
But everything about Kale
is honest.
 
And right now, I’m hoping I
can be a little more like Kale.
 
“You.”

The look in his eyes tells me he already
knew this.
 
He gives a little nod.
 
“You already know that I think you’re amazing
and awesome, so you don’t have anything to worry about.
 
You can just go up there and kill it.”

And just like that, something dreadful and
terrified lifts off my quivering heart.

Because suddenly, I realize that’s all I
need.
 
To know that one person in the
crowd thinks I’m great and
believes
in me.

One person is all it takes.

“Okay,” I say as a smile breaks out on
my face.

“Okay,” he repeats with his own
smile.
 
It’s different in person than it
is on the posters and on the TV.
 
It’s
more genuine.
 
More
personal.
 
“I’ll come find you
when everything’s over.”

And just like that, he winks at me and
heads back into the crowd.

Unable to wipe the grin from my face, I
climb back onto the stage, and suddenly find myself face to face with Ming.

Her eyes are wide and intense.
 
They keep darting between me and Kale.

“Holy shit,” she says in a deadpan
tone.
 
“Kale.
 
Here.
 
You.
 
Him.
 
Hooked up?”

“What?” I say as I slide my guitar strap
over my head and onto my shoulder.
 
“No,
we didn’t hook up.”

“You disappeared for a solid twenty
minutes,” she says as she springs back into motion, heading for her keyboard
and adjusting the controls.
 
“That’s more
than enough time to do hanky
panky
.”

“Hanky
panky
?”
I repeat, giving her a
quizzical look as I adjust the microphone.
 
Which, to my horror, I discover is on, and at least two thirds of the
crowd looks over at me.

I feel myself blanch, my stomach rolls,
and I feel frozen.

Own
it,
Kale’s words echo in the back of my head.

Automatically, my eyes search for
him.
 
And there he is, toward the back of
the crowd, his eyes locked on me.
 
He’s
suppressing a laugh and has an eyebrow
raised
in
question.

And I instantly go from white to red.

“Sorry guys,” I say into the
microphone.
 
“Just a
little band inside joke?”
 

It’s a poor recovery.
 
And not true.
 
But hey, I’m trying?

I get a few chuckles from the
crowd.
 
And they all look away and go
back to their conversations.

I turn toward Ming, horror all over my
face.
 
And find her laughing her skinny
little rear end off.

“I’m going to kill you,” I say as I give
her the stink eye.
 
“You are so dead.”

“Nice save though,” she says as she
wipes a tear from one corner of her eye.
 
“Normally you would have just gone and hidden in a corner.
 
And fine, I believe
you,
you weren’t hooking up with
the
Kale
McCain.”

“Thank you,” I say through clenched
teeth just as the boys come back from their bathroom break.
 
They all climb back on stage.

This is it.
 
It’s time to make some music.

I look back out over the crowd.
 
They’re still all just mingling and
talking.
 
The bride and groom haven’t
come back out yet, but the energy in the air says it won’t be long now.
 
The general attention is in that
direction.
 
So this is our cue.

I won’t screw this up.
 
I can do this.

Kale said I’m amazing.

You’re
amazing, Whitney Ford.
 
You’ve got this.
 
I tell it to myself,
forcing my confidence to believe it.

And one second later, Eduardo starts a
beat, Connor picks up, and then Henry does, too, immediately followed by Ming.

A few eyes here and there turn toward
the stage.
 
I take a deep breath, and
sing.

For two hours, the band plays, and I
sing.
 
The usual tracks
of the country variety, a few pop and rock songs thrown in.
 
I do my best with them.
 
And it must be good enough, because everyone
seems to be having a good time.
 
A few
times I even get whoops and hollers and clapping.

During one song, I forget the lyrics of
the second verse, and I stumble for a bit too long.
 
So I cover it up with some joke, the crowd
laughs, and life moves on.

I don’t shrivel up and die.
 
I don’t puke.
 
I’m pretty sure I never turn green.

And to be honest, I have the time of my
life.

I’ve always been scared of the
stage.
 
I’ve always screwed it up or done
something to embarrass myself.
 
But
tonight, I own the awkward.
 
I own the
quirky.

And it
works
.

Finally, we announce the last song.
 
Couples break off from groups.
 
They stare lovingly into each other’s
eyes.
 
I pick out the McCain family
couples.
 
Drake and his
wife.
 
Kale’s sister,
who’s
name I don’t know.
 
She and her husband are actually really good dancers.
 
Lake and his brand new
wife.

And to my surprise, there’s Kale,
hanging out in the background with the dark-skinned guy who walked Riley down
the aisle.
 
From everything I know about
Kale McCain, he’s always the life of the party, right in the middle of things,
and always with a female.
 

Is he really waiting for me?
 
Not finding another girl in the meantime?

Well, shock my innocent little heart.

I belt out the last note and as the
background music dies away, everyone starts cheering and hollering.

“Well, that’s it for the night,” I say,
trying to play it Kale.
 
“You’ve all been
a great crowd.
 
Thanks for having
us!
 
And congrats to
Lake and Riley McCain!”

And with that, the band breaks out into
the “going off to the honeymoon” song and hand-in-hand, the two of them take
off through the crowd and back into the house.
 
Immediately, half the crowd heads for their cars, calling it a
night.
 
The other half stays to either
clean up, or hang out.