Ed was right—you don’t mess with the Keller family.

Patricia Little was going down.

Chapter Ten

Clara ran her finger tips over Warner’s chest as she lay in bed with him. This wasn’t what she thought she’d be doing with her life—shacking up with a man she didn’t really know. But it felt so right.

“Ed said you confronted some guy tonight at the theater.”

She felt his breath hitch before he eased back against the pillow again. “Reviewer. Or someone Patty paid to take some pictures and give you a bad review.”

“I’ve had bad reviews before.”

“Sure, buried in the back of a newspaper. I will guarantee she will have this to discuss on that stupid show next week.”

“Good thing there are only three more shows, huh?”

He chuckled and kissed the top of her head. “You’re something.”

“I hope you’ll always think so.” She rolled so that she lay atop him and looked down into his eyes. “Why do you want to sell your songs? Why don’t you record them and sell you?”

Warner reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear. “I’ve had too many people tell me I wouldn’t sell.”

“I don’t think they’re right.”

“I seem to have you hypnotized.”

Clara leaned down and kissed him softly. “I think I have my wits about me and I’m free all next week.”

“Oh, yeah.” He laughed. “I am too. The joys of unemployment.”

“From Monday morning until Friday night we are going to record and write.”

Warner pushed his head further into the pillow to look up at her. “Clara, I can’t take you away from what you’re already doing so that I can chase some silly dream.”

“If I thought it was silly I would have told you so. But something tells me there will be a day when the tour bus belongs to you and Patricia Little is serving me my Starbucks.”

Warner pulled her to him and rolled her until she was on her back and he was pressed against her.

“I’ve never said this to another person in my life,” he sucked in a breath. “I love you.”

Her eyes misted as she looked up at him. “You do?”

He nodded. “I’ve never felt like this before in my life. This is crazy, right?”

Clara wrapped her arms around his neck. “Not in my world.”

“I’m glad I happened into your world.”

“So am I,” she said as she pulled him closer and kissed him again.

He was never going to sleep anywhere else again. She was keeping Warner Wright for the rest of her life.

***

Warner had been right. The next morning there was a horrid review in the paper about Clara’s performance. She had read it no less than a dozen times before Darcy snatched the paper out of her hands.

Darcy sat down at the table in Arianna’s office and looked at her. “You’re not going down with this.”

“I know. It still stings.”

“It’s made up.”

Clara nodded. “I don’t understand hurting someone just for publicity. Warner has never done anything to that woman.”

“Sure he has. He’s made her very famous.”

Clara snorted a laugh. “How has he done that?”

Darcy threw the paper toward her. “By failing miserably.”

That stung as bad as the review. “He’s not a failure.”

“He is when she keeps setting him up to do so.” Darcy leaned in on her arms. “Look, she’s not famous because she’s nice. She’s riding this fame and fortune all the way on being nasty. People eat that up.” She sat back in her chair. “Admit it. She was why you watched that stupid show. You wanted to see a cat fight.”

Clara had to smile at that. She was right. She’d watched it faithfully just to see who got in the woman’s way. She just never would have guessed that she’d fall in love with the step-son Patricia Little detested or that she’d be one of those people that Patricia stepped on.

Darcy pulled her phone out of her purse and began to scroll through items on the screen. “So, I have six reviewers coming from different papers. I have two news stations coming to do a piece on the theater and you. One at the matinee and one at the evening’s performance.”

“You did that?”

“You betcha, sister.” She scrolled through a few more items. “And Summer should be here in an hour to go through a quick run through with Duke for Sunday’s final performance.”

Clara felt her mouth fall open. “Excuse me? The paper says I was that bad, but I wasn’t.”

Darcy grinned as she slid her phone back into her purse. “You have a performance that night with your lover man.”

“I told him I couldn’t do it. Randy was going to back him up.”

“Yeah, well Randy knows who is coming to listen to you two perform. You’d better find a few minutes between playing Maria and lying in bed to practice.”

“Darcy!”

Her almost-sister-in-law cackled a laugh. “Prove that Little woman wrong. Make the world hear Warner Wright. Together you can do this.”

“You really think so?”

“You love him don’t you?”

Clara’s shoulders dropped. “I do. I really do.”

“Then it’ll all work out.” She reached her hand across the table and covered Clara’s. “Trust me. I know what I’m talking about.”

Darcy did know what she was talking about. Love could win out over everything if they just worked as a team.

A warmth moved through her. She would get to be there when Warner performed. She thought he should perform his new song, the one he wrote on the back of his eviction notice. The thought made her laugh. He was such a musician. They often got so into what they were doing they never noticed the obvious—such as the notice.

Well, whatever Patricia Little’s purpose was in kicking him out of his home it had worked in Clara’s favor. Warner was more of a Keller than he knew. He belonged with them.

She looked down at her wrist at the infinity tattoo and the word family which was written into the design. Darcy had a matching one as well. The thought made her smile, maybe Warner needed some ink.

Just as the curtain rose on the first act of the musical, Carrie, the ticket counter girl, tapped Clara on the shoulder.