Roaring Fork Rockstar

HOLT

I had it all-world tours with CB Rice, my songs on the radio, everything I ever dreamed of. Except now it's my turn to fulfill the requirements of a family trust I'd foolishly hoped wouldn't involve me. If I don't spend three hundred and sixty-five days straight in my hometown of Crested Butte, Colorado, my siblings and I will lose our inheritance along with our family legacy. What else is the secret trustee forcing me to do? Play gigs in a local bar and donate my earnings to a kid's charity. It's not the money I'm worried about, I'm making plenty of that from royalties. Instead, it's watching my shot at stardom slip away. The only bright spot of playing night after night at the Goat is its owner, Keltie Marquez who serves up mysteries I can't resist. Like why the rattling cough of her tiny daughter, whose wild dark curls frame her face like her mama's do, haunts my dreams.

KELTIE

The last thing I need is Holt Wheaton asking questions about my daughter. He's supposed to be on tour with CB Rice, not playing at my bar, not looking at my little girl like she holds answers to questions he doesn't even know to ask. Every time he picks up that guitar, I see pieces of a puzzle that could shatter everything. His family's past and my daughter's future are tangled in ways that could break both our hearts-or maybe heal them. If only I could tell him the truth.