Her friend’s gaze shot up. “Vacation? Why? I thought things were going better with Slade.”
“Not so that you’d notice,” she said, reluctant to admit just how far things had gone the night before, and even more reluctant to explain how they’d ended.
Laurie studied her intently and seemed to come to her own conclusions. “Well, you can’t leave now,” she said emphatically. “The recording sessions start in less than a month. We have to start kicking things into high gear. I need you.”
“I can do the work in Nashville, then. It’ll be even better. Nick and I can be in closer contact.”
“You’re my assistant, not Nick’s,” Laurie said firmly. “And I need you here.” Her gaze narrowed. “As your friend, though, I’m asking if that’s going to be a problem.”
“No,” Val said with a sigh. Her job was too important to her to give it up because she had made a huge mistake falling in love with Slade. “I’ll make it work.”
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry you’re having a rough time. I could get Harlan Patrick to beat Slade up for you.”
Val grinned despite herself. “No, but thanks.”
“The offer’s good anytime, if you change your mind.”
“I won’t,” Val assured her. “Now what do you need me to do today? Should I start finalizing the media plan?”
“That can wait,” Laurie said. “Nick’s supposed to send down the final schedule today or tomorrow. When we have it, you can start lining up interviews. We’ll do radio shows in every city, so they’ll push the tickets.”
“Pushing tickets is not an issue,” Val said. “You’re already sold out in every city Nick has booked.”
“Oh,” Laurie said, looking genuinely surprised.
She still underestimated her own popularity. It was one of her charms, Val thought. She doubted Laurie would ever think of herself as the superstar she was. It wasn’t in her nature to get a swelled head or to pull any prima donna stunts.
“I’ll do the interviews anyway,” she said, proving exactly what Val had been thinking. “I owe those guys for the airtime my songs get.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Val promised.
“In the meantime, why don’t you go for a walk? Or drive over to Garden City and go shopping?” She gave Val a sly look. “A new pair of sexy heels might make you feel better.”
Val stuck her foot out and stared at it despondently. “See? Boots. You’ve turned me into a cowgirl.”
“I know. That’s why I suggested the heels. They might remind you of who you are.”
Val wasn’t sure if that was good or bad, but for lack of anything better to do, she nodded in agreement. “A shopping trip sounds good. Want to come?”
Laurie shook her head. “I have everything I need.”
“Not baby clothes,” she said. “Or wallpaper for the new nursery.”
“The old nursery is just fine,” Laurie said, but she was clearly tempted. “Harlan Patrick pulled out all the stops when he built it.”
“But that’s Amy Lynn’s room. You know you’re going to want something new for the baby. You’ll be on the road the final months of your pregnancy. You won’t have time to do this then.”
“I could just leave it to my husband. He did okay last time.”
“But you want a say in it,” Val teased. “You know you do.”
Laurie held up her hands in a gesture of surrender. “Okay, okay, let’s do it. I’ll get my charge cards and warn Harlan Patrick that I’m going on a spending spree.”
“He’ll probably suggest we fly to Dallas and invade Neiman-Marcus,” Val said, more than a little intrigued by that idea herself.
“Why not?” Laurie said, getting into the spirit of it. “I’ll tell him he can come along, if he’ll fly us over. Give me an hour to persuade him.”
Val chuckled at her determined expression. “An hour, huh? You must be good.”
“I am,” Laurie said with pride.
In fact, it took her little more than a half hour to find her husband and talk him into playing hooky for the day to go shopping for baby things.
“It’s a good thing Granddaddy doesn’t know where we’re going or he’d insist on coming along,” he said as they boarded his uncle’s company jet. “Nothing he likes better than stocking a new nursery.”
A few minutes later, he glanced back from the cockpit. “You guys all set back there?”
“Ready to go, Captain,” Laurie said. She glanced over at Val. “Are you okay with this? It’s not exactly a girls’ day out with Harlan Patrick along.”