Melodies and Mistletoe (Christmas in the City Book 3)

by Kasey Stockton

  The car stopped, and Ryan got out of the car, holding the door open for Hailey. She followed him onto the sidewalk in front of a tall brick building. “It shouldn’t be too hard to smooth things over. You ready?”

  She nodded, but she looked uncertain. “Yep.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Hailey sat on a chair against the back wall of the loft. Wide, open windows shed natural light over the room. There were people behind a multitude of computers and equipment, all facing the backdrop and lighting equipment. Tables ran along the opposite wall with a coffee machine and water bottles, remnants of lunch sprinkled on platters, and plates of untouched cookies.

  Ryan stood near the backdrop speaking to a tall, blond man, Janica Harper, and Vivi Meier. Hailey still couldn’t get over the fact that she was seeing both members of the hit girl duo, Cali Girls, in the flesh. Cali Girls. They hadn’t been seen together amiably in years. Not that either of them looked amiable now.

  Hailey stood, pacing toward the food table. Her fifteen-year-old self would’ve given her right arm to be allowed in the same room as her idols. Now she was in the same room as them, but they were missing the dark eye makeup, knee socks, and grunge shirts that had iconified their look. A look Hailey had desperately—and ineffectually—done her best to imitate in junior high and high school.

  Trays of cookies lined the edge of the table and appeared as if they hadn’t been touched. Did no one in the music industry eat cookies? These were even shaped like wreaths with big red bows. She took one, watching Ryan try to appease the women—if his hand motions were any indication—and took a bite of the sugar cookie, circling toward the wall of windows until she was close enough to make out some of the conversation.

  “I never agreed to this,” Janica said with a bite. “So either get her out of here or you can’t use any of my images on your cover.”

  Her images? Like, the ones they had already taken today? Did she own them, or did Sound Magazine? Hailey had no idea how all this worked.

  The tall blond shared a look with Ryan, and he drew in what appeared to be a steadying breath.

  “I should sue,” Vivi said, her voice just as high as Hailey remembered it being from interviews. She’d always wondered if that was an affectation, but it sounded real now. “You promised me publicity. I was told I’d have a page inside the mag, and now I show up and have to deal with this.” She swept her arm toward Janica without a glance, and Janica took a step back, disgust on her face.

  Ryan put up an appeasing hand. “We aren’t asking you to resolve your differences—”

  “Good,” Janica spat. “Because that’s impossible.”

  Hailey’s heart tugged. The animosity between the two ex-band members was thick, and it was totally killing her holiday cheer. She took a big bite of the wreath cookie to ebb the negativity.

  “Exactly.” Vivi scoffed. “I would never forgive the woman who stole my boyfriend.”

  Janica gasped, pivoting toward the redhead. “Your boyfriend? You and Brad went on one date, and it didn’t even end well! You called me after it was over to whine about how obnoxious he was.”

  “Hearsay.”

  “It’s not hearsay, you lunatic! It’s my memory! Besides, that doesn’t even make sense.”

  “Let’s call it a wrap,” someone mumbled behind Hailey. “We can’t shoot this.”

  Or…what if they could? She’d heard Ryan say that they only had a few days to finalize the special edition to send to print. What if, instead of shooting a blissfully fake reunion, they shot the real thing? Hailey remembered when the Cali Girls split up because of Brad Donovan, and how it had wrecked her world. She’d hated Brad Donovan, of course, but there were a lot of articles assuming what happened, and nothing from the actual stars themselves. She had always wondered what actually happened. Who really had him first. Because after a month, neither of the Cali Girls was with Brad Donovan, but their hatred for each other was strong.

  Janica turned on her heel and began stomping away, running her hands through her long, black curls.

  But Hailey’s wheels were turning, and her idea just might work. What if Sound gave these women an opportunity to defend themselves?

  “Wait!” Hailey called, and silence fell over the loft, Janica’s heels clicking to a stop.

  Ryan glanced at her sharply, his eyes widening. She wanted to reassure him, but he wasn’t close enough, so she swallowed the nerves that rose in her chest and held Janica’s eye. “What if we don’t shoot a fake reconciliation?”

  Janica rolled her eyes, turning to go again.

  “No, hear me out. What if we—”

  “Who are you?” someone asked from behind Hailey. “Do you even work here?”

  Ryan lifted his hands, staving off the sudden murmuring, and set his gaze on Hailey. “Quiet, team. Let’s hear her out.”

  Hailey shot him a smile. “Janica, Vivi, instead of trying to pretend there’s no more anger between you, what if we do a shoot focusing on the split?”

  “Why? That was years ago,” Vivi asked, derision dripping from her tone. What was her beef? She was the one who came here willingly today.

  Hailey squared her shoulders, hoping she appeared more confident than she felt. “So you each have a chance to tell your side of the story.”

  “Janica’s interview has already gone to formatting,” a short woman said from near the computers.

  “That will stay, obviously,” Hailey said. “What I’m suggesting is an additional piece. Grab a photo of Janica and Vivi back to back—not touching, obviously—and give them each a chance to speak openly about the split.” She narrowed her gaze on Janica, then Vivi, pointing at each of them, her heart hammering. “This gives you both the chance to be raw, real, and open and give closure to yourselves and your fans.”

  Of which Hailey was one. She was not being selfish in this quest, though. At least, not entirely. While she badly wanted to hear both sides of what had started the feud the women had kept tight-lipped about for the last decade, she knew Ryan needed this, that his magazine desperately needed this.

  “I don’t know,” Janica said. “I’m not sure what I get out of this.”

  Hailey raised her eyebrows. “A stab at innocence. Are you faultless? Do you believe Brad Donovan was yours for the taking and you didn’t steal him from your bandmate and best friend? Here’s your chance to explain your side of things. You both have moved on with successful careers, but this feud has remained, and no one really knows what happened.”

  The women looked like they were considering her words, so Hailey kept going. “You want to sell a lot of magazines? Do you want your face plastered all over the internet when this epic exclusive drops? Because it will be. Your fans haven’t gone anywhere, and they’re dying for something like this.”

  “This could work,” Ryan said, as though coming to the conclusion himself. “Ms. Harper, Ms. Meier, will you give us a chance to tell your story?”

  The silence in the room was broken by the beeping of cars outside and the nervous tapping of someone’s nails on a phone case in the room somewhere. Vivi looked at Janica, and they held each other’s gazes for a moment, neither of them smiling. They seemed capable of understanding one another, though, because they both turned to Hailey at the same time. Vivi nodded, and Janica shrugged.

  “Okay, let’s do this.”

  Hailey tried to keep her smile to a professional level, but inside she was absolutely beaming.

  Ryan stepped forward. “Wardrobe?”

  “Here!” a guy called at the back of the room.

  Janica and Vivi started toward the bald guy with the rack of clothes, and Ryan moved to follow them, the tall blond beside him. He stopped, looking at her. “You coming?”

  Hailey pointed to her own chest, and Ryan’s face broke into a grin. “Yes, you. This was your idea. Come on.”

  She hurried to his side, unable to dampen her smile now.

  He leaned in close, whispering. “You were brilliant back there. That
was so inspired. And here I thought you were just a nanny.”

  “A nanny who had a major obsession with Cali Girls back in the day.” She leaned in closer. “Their posters are still up on my walls in my childhood bedroom but don’t give me away. I’m trying to keep my cool here.”

  “Oh, you’re definitely doing that.”

  Ryan’s tone of voice gave her pause, and she looked at him sharply, her breath abandoning her lungs. He’d sounded so invested, so meaningful.

  “Hey, boss, any preference on the clothes?”

  Ryan’s focus was stolen by the blond guy, and he looked between the man with the clothing rack and the women they were going to dress.

  No one spoke, so Hailey spoke her thoughts. “What about going back to the band’s schtick but modifying it so you each look a little more like the images you’ve developed now?”

  The tall blond guy grinned, pointing at her. “I like this one. She’s smart.”

  “Thanks,” Hailey said, but it sounded more like a question.

  “Carter,” he explained, holding his hand out for her to shake. She shook it, then he turned back to the wardrobe people. “Do we have the stuff for that? Short skirts, knee-high socks. T-shirts, right?”—he turned toward the ex-Cali Girls—“That sort of thing?”

  She had to give Carter some props. The guy knew his music history. Or maybe he was a closet fan, too.

  The women nodded, and Janica stepped forward, leafing through the wardrobe options until she pulled out a short, houndstooth pleated skirt that screamed the sort of vintage sophistication she was building her brand around. She glanced back at Hailey and lifted the skirt. “Did you guys have this planned from the beginning?”

  Hailey swallowed her initial shock over having Janica Harper directly address her and shook her head. “I actually just tagged along with a friend today. I’m not officially with the magazine.”

  “Well,” Janica said. “I bet they’re glad you showed up.”

  So was she.

  The next two hours sped by as the former Cali Girls got dressed, had their hair and makeup attended to, and posed for photos where they were clearly not reconciled. Hailey’s favorite image was the one they let her direct, where the women stood back-to-back, a solid foot of space between them, their bodies and faces relaxed as though they were bored with the whole thing.

  “Tell America you’re over the drama, so they need to get there, too,” she had said, and she felt like both women understood her. Maybe they weren’t reconciled, but they were tired of it being publicized. It must be insanely annoying to have their private dispute so heavily theorized over and discussed among people who didn’t even know them.

  The team began wrapping things up, breaking down the equipment and cleaning up their makeup stations. Hailey had eaten three more wreath cookies and stood against the back wall with a water bottle, watching the crew take down the lighting system and backdrops.

  If she did well enough at the anniversary party and someone noticed her, this could be her future. Photoshoots, the public knowing everything about her, disputes with her friends that made headlines.

  Okay, well, probably not that last one. She would forever be a solo act. But was all this in her future? More importantly, did she want it to be?

  “You ready?” Ryan asked, sidling up beside her. He waved to Carter and the blond left with Vivi and her bodyguards out the back door.

  Hailey pushed up from the wall. “Sure thing.”

  He reached for her hand, stalling her. “Hey, you okay?”

  “Yeah, definitely. I was just thinking about fame and what it can do to a person.”

  Ryan held her fingers, pressing them lightly and sending a flurry of warmth over her skin. “Thinking about your career?”

  Hailey’s cheeks warmed. “Not really. I mean, I know I’ll never get this famous, but I was just thinking about the possibilities and how I would react, how it would feel to be in their shoes.”

  “That’s not a bad thing to do. It’s important to be realistic about the sort of life you’ll lead once Joe offers you a contract.”

  She grinned. “You say that like it’s a done deal.”

  Ryan’s dark eyebrows lifted. “Maybe I think it is.”

  “You have a lot of confidence in me for someone I’ve just met.”

  He shrugged. “I know talent when I see it. That’s why I was offered a job at Remmy Records in the first place, and how I got to know Joe.”

  Hailey thought of everything she knew about Ryan. He’d gotten his start working for Sound Magazine while his father had been alive, worked his way up in the company, got famous for his critiques on YouTube for the magazine, then left it all to move to LA and work for Remmy Records. And now he was back.

  “Why did you leave it, then? What brought you back to New York?” She held her breath, wishing the answer didn’t matter so much. But Amber had said he left a woman and a toxic relationship. What would Ryan say?

  His eyes grew serious, fixing on her, and his mouth turned up in a crooked smile. He still held her hand, and she said nothing, afraid he’d release it if she did. “Will I sound completely lame if I say it was because I wasn’t happy out there?”

  “Not lame,” Hailey said. It made him sound sad.

  “Just pitiful, I know. What really happened is that Bierman Media’s biggest ad account threatened not to renew with us, and the magazine flagged. My dad had his hand in a lot of business ventures, but Sound was his baby. I couldn’t let it die without doing my best to revive it.”

  “And hope to find some sort of meaning in the process?” Hailey asked gently.

  He nodded, his gaze locked on hers, his hand tightening. “I went away, did my own thing, and now I’m back. New York is my home, and I’m just looking…I guess I’m looking for some contentment now.”

  Hailey wanted to pull him into a hug, to help him see how valid and worthy that goal was. But she felt locked in place, frozen.

  He chuckled, breaking the spell. “But we don’t have to go over that now. We need to rush over to the school.”

  “Oh, the concert!” Hailey pulled her hand from Ryan’s, taking her phone from her pocket to check the time. “We need to run.”

  “Then let’s run.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Ryan got to the office early the next morning and pulled out the prints Tommy had left on his desk the night before. The shots of Janica before Vivi had arrived at the shoot were great, and a few of them would make excellent covers. But the shots after Hailey had intercepted, where Janica and Vivi posed together, but completely apart, were amazing. They were perfect, and music fans were absolutely going to eat this up.

  It was a shame they wouldn’t have the sales numbers from this edition of the magazine before their meeting with Bradshaw. The issue’s success would undoubtedly help matters.

  As it stood though, Ryan was still gaining confidence by the minute. His YouTube critique was steadily increasing in views, reviving his old channel in the process and funneling people to articles on Sound’s website. Teasers were set to go live on the website tomorrow about the upcoming special edition and the Cali Girls reunion. It was total clickbait, of course, but it would work.

  Ryan had a feeling people were going to like what the women had to say. Each of them had told the story from their perspective for the first time ever. It was strange Janica’s publicist hadn’t warned her about the concept for the shoot, but the woman had been absent yesterday. She must have thought it was a good idea too but had known Janica would never attend the shoot if she’d been forewarned.

  It was good for everyone to get this out into the world. Then maybe the women could move on.

  Carter poked his head through the doorway. “You’re here early.”

  Ryan leaned back in his chair. “Just wanted to get a pulse on what’s already finished, and what still needs sorting for this edition.”

  Carter nodded, leaning against the door and crossing his arms over his chest. “I was he
re pretty late with Tommy and Sarah last night, and I think we’re nearly ready. Formatting should have everything to you by the end of the day tomorrow if I have my guess.”

  “Perfect, because Christmas Eve is two days away, so we have no time to lose here.”

  “Don’t worry, man. It’ll all go smoothly. You’ll be able to check everything off by tomorrow night, I’m sure.”

  “Let’s hope so.”

  A sly grin slipped over Carter’s face. “So, you gonna tell me what’s going on with that woman now?”

  “Once you tell me how things are going with Sarah.”

  “Nonexistent, as it should be,” Carter said. “Your turn. What’s up with the woman from the YouTube video?”

  “Who?” Ryan asked, but he knew what Carter was asking. He hoped he looked innocent.

  Carter flattened his lips. “You know who. Super pretty. Long, dark hair. Killer smile.”

  Ryan’s throat constricted, a sense of protectiveness falling over him. But Carter was looking at him really closely, so he refrained from telling the guy to back off.

  Carter nodded appreciatively. “She clearly has a head for this stuff and not just musical talent. She kind of seems like the complete package.”

  Ryan thought the same thing. She was exactly who any producer would be thrilled to work with. And he was about to parade her in front of a room full of them.

  “She is really talented, but she still has humility. I heard her singing the other day for my niece, and her voice is just so pure and so unique. Man, I really don’t think she realizes how good she is.”

  Carter nodded thoughtfully. “Hopefully LA doesn’t squeeze that out of her.”

  Ryan startled. “What do you mean?”

  “Didn’t you invite Jo Swenson to come hear her sing?”

  “Yeah.” He’d told Carter about running into his ex at the airport, too, and how he hoped she would be Hailey’s ticket into the music industry. “But I don’t see what that has to do with anything.”

  “If Hailey signs with Remmy Records, she’ll have to move to LA.”