Read Online The Way Back Home by Alecia Whitaker - Free Book Online Page A

furious as I’ve ever seen her.
    â€œWhat in the world’s going on?” I ask.
    Bonnie shushes me, leaning toward the open window.
    â€œThey signed a contract!” Dan booms.
    Troy responds quietly, but Dan can’t be pacified.
    â€œThroat nodules?” he explodes. His normally pinkish face is as red as a tomato, and he rips off his bow tie, looking like he’s going to use it to strangle my manager. “You tell those momma’s boys spoiled-rotten little brats that they’re finished. They’ve been completely unprofessional this whole tour, and I’ll make sure their label and every other label in Nashville knows it.”
    Troy nods, looking thoroughly whipped, the epitome of the old saying “Don’t shoot the messenger.”
    â€œRight, but in the meantime,” he replies calmly, “we’ve got a show in Toronto tomorrow, and we don’t have an opening act. We have to find somebody fast.”
    â€œThis is such bull,” Dan mutters, pacing the parking lot.
    Everyone exchanges looks, but no one says a word. I feel like I’m in the eye of the storm right now.
    â€œOkay, what about Sugar and Sukey?” Troy finally suggests. “They’re talented, and we know they’re professional. You can keep it in the label.”
    â€œI need them recording,” Dan says. “They’re not ready to launch.”
    â€œOkay, then what about Dust on the Dash?”
    â€œWe can’t afford them,” Anita cuts in as she ends her phone call. “Greedy little punks.”
    As they go back and forth with names of possible replacement acts, I sit back in my seat, stunned that this is all going down the night before my next show… in another country!
    â€œDon’t worry, Bird,” Bonnie says, patting my knee. “This stuff happens all the time. There’s a slew of up-and-comers who’ll gladly step in.”
    â€œBy tomorrow?” I ask dubiously.
    â€œThey may not stick, but somebody’s going to say yes.”
    â€œBonnie, the show’s in less than twenty-four hours.”
    â€œBird, honey, trust me,” she says. “Wouldn’t you have hopped on a plane?”
    I take a sip of my shake and consider her question. Yep. I definitely would’ve dropped everything to open for Jolene Taylor last year. And actually, that’s kind of what I did.
    â€œWho was opening for you, anyway?” Bonnie asks.
    â€œThese completely annoying guys called the Hicks from Thirty-Six,” I reply. “Their music’s not terrible, but their set has run long at least three times and they party nonstop. Dylan hates the lead singer.”
    â€œWell, then maybe it’s a blessing in disguise.”
    â€œBird,” Troy says, opening the door.
    â€œI heard,” I say as he gets in.
    â€œWe’re going to figure something out,” he assures me.
    Dan and Anita don’t say anything as they take their seats. It’s a considerably more somber group than the one that arrived half an hour earlier. When the limo starts rolling again, most of us turn to our phones, checking Twitter and Instagram and basically doing anything but talking about the problem at hand.
    â€œSomebody’s popular tonight,” Bonnie finally says.
    â€œSorry!” I say, turning my phone on silent. It’s been beeping nonstop with notifications and message alerts. “It’s just a bunch of congratulations texts and stuff.”
    Bonnie leans over and reads from my screen. “Your momma, Jacob, Stella, Adam… Hey, why don’t you call him?”
    â€œI don’t know,” I say. “I think it’d be weird to return a text with a phone call.”
    â€œNo, why don’t you call him to
open
for you?”
    I gasp. She’s right. That’s a perfect solution.
    â€œIsn’t that his single on the radio right now?”
    I hush a few people talking near me and turn up the radio