Fletcher just blinked at her for a few seconds. Finally, he said, “I don’t give a fuck what Jason Young is doing tonight, on live TV or not.”
Ellie gave him an eye roll. “Well, it just so happens that Jordan’s mother was at the grocery store the same time I was in buying more sugar for the kettle corn. And she thinks he’s going to propose tonight. On stage.”
Charlie snapped her head around to look at Fletcher. She could feel the sudden tension emanating off of him.
His jaw was tight, and he pulled in a long breath through his nose. Then he let it out and said, “I suppose it’s about time for him to do that.”
Ellie nodded. “That’s what I was thinking. She’s been there beside him through all of his trying to be a star. Quit her job to go travel with him. It’s about time that boy put a ring on her finger.”
Fletcher simply nodded.
“So, we’re watching it at the bar. I think it’ll be nice to see these two hometown kids doing something so great,” Ellie said. “Starts in twenty minutes. You should be there.”
“I have no desire to be there, Ellie,” Fletcher told her.
“Fletcher Landry, Jordan is your best friend. You need to witness her big moment. What will happen when she calls and asked if you saw it?”
“She knows I don’t like Jason’s music and don’t watch him.”
“And she knows I’m a huge fan and would definitely have it on in the bar. You have no excuse to miss this. You need to be supportive.”
Fletcher sighed. “I’ll think about it.”
“Yeah, you think about it,” Ellie told him. “If you’re not there, no gumbo for two weeks.”
Since her grandkids had become adults, or really since they become too big to sit in timeout behind the bar and read William Shakespeare out loud to Ellie while she worked, her favorite punishment was to withhold their favorite foods. Of course, for seven out of eleven of them, it was her gumbo. But she knew every one of their favorites and would not hesitate to cut them off if it meant making a point.
“Missing Jason Young singing might be worth two weeks of no gumbo,” Fletcher muttered.
Ellie nodded. “Fine. Be that way. But if Jordan ever asks me if you watched her engagement live with the rest of the country, I’m not lying for you.” Ellie spun on her heel and stomped back toward her bar.
Charlie looked at Fletcher. “You’re not really willing to give up two weeks of gumbo, are you? He’s actually pretty good.”
Fletcher met her eyes. “You know very well that I don’t hate him because of his music.”
“But you hate him?” Charlie asked.
“He’s not my favorite person.”
“I understand,” Charlie said. “But Ellie has a point. Jordan’s going to want her best friend to have seen her engagement and to be excited about it.”
Fletcher rubbed a hand over his face. “Bad enough that I have to think about them being engaged, isn’t it? I have to watch it happen in person?”
“Jason’s the hot rising star right now,” Charlie said with a shrug. “But he still needs as much attention as he can get. This is a huge way to get all over the entertainment news and Internet.”
“So he’s using her,” Fletcher said. “I’m supposed to support that?”
“If they’d just met, I’d be on your side,” Charlie said. “They’ve been together ten years, Fletcher. They were going to get engaged eventually. Why not do it this way? Lots of women have fantasies about a big public declaration of love. And what better way to tell the world that he is off the market? Jordan might be eating this up.”
Fletcher shook his head. “I promise you, she’s not.”
“We still need to be there for her.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I suppose.”
“We’ll go with you,” Charlie said, grabbing Griffin’s hand as she volunteered him. “If that’ll help.”
“A couple shots of Leo’s moonshine, and maybe you won’t mind as much,” Griffin said.
Fletcher nodded again. “That’s about the only way to do this.”
“Let’s head over and get started. I actually wouldn’t mind a shot of moonshine before listening to country music myself,” Griffin said.
Charlie gasped. “Wait just a second there, Dr. Foster. Are you telling me you don’t like country music? Because this could be a problem.”
He put an arm around her waist, tucking her up against him as they started toward Ellie’s. “I’ll get you a kangaroo and be right back on your good side.”
“And to think you are the guy who even protested the idea of hedgehogs.”
“Actually, I thought the hedgehogs were great,” Griffin corrected. “And no one ever said that hedgehogs would lead to me getting laid. You should have led with that.”
She hugged him as she laughed. “You got laid long before the hedgehogs.”
He nodded. “Actually, it was the goats, wasn’t it?”
Actually, yeah, it had been—sort of.
They settled in for dinner with the family. The food had already been served in big bowls and platters when they arrived, and they slid into empty chairs just in time for the dishes to be passed to them.
They all dug in and chatted and ate for about ten minutes before Ellie yelled, “Shut up! It’s starting.”
She pointed the remote at each of the three televisions in the bar, turning the volume up on each.
No one in the place could avoid watching Jason Young take the stage and launch into his new number one hit.
Charlie looked at Fletcher. He had his eyes down, focused on his food, and was eating without a word.
Jason did three numbers before taking a break and speaking into the microphone to the huge live crowd in the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
“Vegas, wow, that’s fun,” Tori said. “Bet Jordan’s having a good time.”
“Shhh!” Ellie told her.
Everyone’s eyes widened. Tori never got snapped at, and since she’d been pregnant, she’d been treated like a queen, especially by Ellie, who was beside herself over the idea of her first great-grandchild.
“Hey, everybody, thanks for coming out tonight,” Jason said into the microphone. The crowd in Vegas roared.
Jason grinned and waited for the noise to die down a little. “This last year and a half or so has been pretty crazy for me. All my dreams seem to be coming true, and there are some really important people who’ve been a part of that.”
He went on to thank his manager, his parents, and a couple of other people. Then he said, “But there is one very special person who’s been here with me from the beginning, and who I have a very special question for tonight.”
The crowd went crazy. The noise was incredible, and Leo reached for one of the remotes to turn the volume down a bit. Ellie slapped his hand, but he did succeed in lowering it a few notches.
“Yeah, I hope she feels the same way about it,” Jason said, grinning into the camera. “Now I just need her to come out here with me.”
Suddenly the camera panned to a blond woman who stepped out from backstage. Again, the crowd went wild.
It was Jordan. Though it didn’t look much like the Jordan Charlie remembered. She was in a sparkly black dress and high heels with a denim jacket with lots of rhinestones. Her hair was in a twist, and she had full makeup on. Charlie honestly couldn’t remember ever seeing Jordan in anything more than lip gloss.