Page 8 of Waste Some Time
Rachel’s shoulders slumped. “So much work. I’m glad I’m not Brynn. I don’t know how she does everything.”
Brynn was the band’s manager who’d been with them since they started taking major gigs and planning their first tour. She wore a lot of hats, from what Katie understood. Too many hats now that the band had grown so much.
“Oh, hey, isn’t your girlfriend an accountant?”
“She’s not my girlfriend,” Katie snapped. “And yes, Stephen’s sister is an accountant.”
“Brynn’s thinking about hiring someone to take care of the tour finances. And probably everything beyond that. Do you think she could help with that?”
“Maybe. But she’s just in town for a few days. I doubt it’s something she could do in that time frame.”
“Do you think she can recommend someone? I’m gonna ask around with some other bands if they know anyone who works with musicians or artists in particular. But I’m not expecting much. These are crumpled-receipts-in-a-shoebox people.”
Katie laughed. “More like no receipts and a messy as hell digital trail.”
“That,” Rachel said. “Definitely.”
“If I see her again, I’ll ask if she knows anyone around here. Surely there’s someone in New Orleans that specializes in entertainment finance.”
“Thanks.” Rachel gave her a wink. “Maybe it’ll give you a spark of a conversation and a path to true love.”
Katie rolled her eyes. “No. It won’t. But you will definitely owe me for this.”
“Oh, for sure. Whatever you want. Name your favor.”
“I’m going to hold on to it.”
Rachel tilted her head as she considered the deal. Once she decided, she smiled at Katie and said, “Fair.”
Katie’s phone vibrated on the table beside her. When she flipped it over, she wished she hadn’t.
“There’s that look again,” Rachel said before downing the rest of the liquid in her clear plastic cup.
“It’s Stephen,” Katie said. “He wants me to go to lunch with him and his sister Monday.”
Katie wasn’t scheduled on Mondays, so she couldn’t lie about having to work. Stephen also knew she rarely made plans on her days off, preferring instead to lounge around on her first morning off, binging reality TV on the couch with coffee and Benjamin.
And Katie knew Stephen wouldn’t let her bail on this without a fight. The last thing Katie wanted was to spend all of tomorrow fending off Stephen’s invitation insistence while trying to keep the reason for her hesitation a secret.
Part of her wanted to tell him that reason.
But a larger part of her wanted to respect Sydney’s obvious desire to keep their encounter quiet. No matter how much of a hassle it might be.
If she had to admit it, the little charade was kind of fun. As long as it didn’t go on too long. She didn’t like lying to her best friend.
Rachel aimed her empty cup at Katie’s phone. “Tell him you’ll go. You know you’re going to, anyway. I know how Stephen is. Might as well just go and enjoy being around this woman one more time.”
“I don’t know how much enjoyment I’ll have pretending I don’t know her at all.”
“Still. You should go. She’s Stephen’s sister, after all. It’s not like you’ll never see her again.” Someone called Rachel’s name, and she glanced over her shoulder at the rest of the band going on stage. “Break’s over. I’m not leaving until you send that text, and you don’t want this whole dance hall mad at you for making me late.”
Katie sighed and typed a quick text, then placed her phone face down on the table again. “Happy?”
Rachel grinned. “Absolutely.”
4
SYDNEY
