“Good. You deserve it. You all do. I’d never thought much about what Kellie does back at the ranch, but lately . . . Wow, I think you ladies might be just as impressive as she is.”
Touched, Brynn swallowed with some difficulty. “Thank you. I promise, we don’t feel very impressive, but . . .” She laughed and reached over to squeeze his hand in gratitude. “It’s very sweet of you to say so.”
“I’m not that sweet,” Eric assured her with a chuckle, patting her hand. “Just honest. Which I know you appreciate.” He nudged his head toward the dancing. “I’m gonna go snag a dance with Shay before someone else does. She’s like a kid sister, and I need to catch up.”
Brynn nodded her approval and sat back in her chair, the moments of rest welcome.
“Ladies and gents, please welcome to the stage our friend and member of SHCC’s Original Six, Ford Hopkins!”
Whistles and cheers sounded from all around, the bar fuller now than it was when the band had first started, and seeing Ford shyly get up on the stage, with only a slight wave for those cheers, was extraordinary.
A hot thrill of pride shot through Brynn from top to bottom as she watched him play. He was even better than she had seen in the video clip, keeping up with all of the seasoned players without any trouble and occasionally having moments where he just shone through the others. He was as unpretentious on stage as he was off it, wearing the same small smile that she adored. He loved being up there, she could tell, and he didn’t care about any of the attention.
Maybe that was why there were no recent videos of him playing, even though he clearly had been doing so.
He didn’t do it for attention.
He did it for love.
And that was Ford, she decided.
Everything he did was all in, all heart, all for the love of it, and he didn’t care if anybody noticed or saw, or if it gained him any attention. He just wanted to do whatever it was he cared about.
So what did that mean as far as Brynn was concerned?
“Woo!” The lead singer for the Lost Creek Wranglers stepped up to the mic after their final song, wiping his brow and grinning at them all. “We’d like to thank y’all for hanging in there with us while we plunked out a few of our favorites. We’re done for the night, but we got a real nice treat for you. Our buddy and adopted bandmate Ford is gonna spin you a song without us playing backup. Then I think when he’s done, the mic really is open to whoever else. Have a great night, y’all. I’m gonna get me a beer.” He flashed a double thumbs-up before exiting the stage with his bandmates, leaving only Ford up there.
Ford stood up and went to the mic, his guitar almost cradled in front of him. “Evening, y’all,” he rumbled with a crooked smile.
The rest of the Original Six whooped embarrassingly loud, and several of the Broken Hearts ladies joined in, not that the crowd needed their additions.
The applause made Ford chuckle softly, which made Brynn smile. “I know Rick said I was going to spin you a song, and I promise to do that, but I’d rather not do it alone. So, if it’s all right by you, I’m gonna ask my baby sister, Shay, to join me up here. She sings way more pretty than I do.”
Cheers sounded while Shay made her up to the stage, and Brynn clapped for them both, feeling a burst of nerves on their behalf that she hadn’t expected.
The siblings conversed quietly while Ford covered the mic, and then he nodded, patted his sister’s back, and stepped back just enough to make sure she had center stage.
Because he was Ford.
“This song goes out to my new friends at the Broken Hearts Ranch,” Shay said with a smile, staring right at the group of them, her eyes drifting to Brynn as well. “You have no idea how much I look up to you already. Love you ladies.” Her smile spread, and Brynn thought she detected a hint of tears in her eyes, but Shay looked at her brother then, and it was impossible to tell for sure.
Ford began to play a slower song than they’d heard yet that night, and the absence of other instruments focused everyone’s attention there. Every now and then, his fingers would tap