“He’ll break your heart, you know.” Anger had crept into Derek’s voice. “When he does, you’ll come crawling to me and beg me to take you back.”

Megan gave him a hint of a smile. “That’s a chance I’ll have to take—and I’m taking it because I love him. Now please drive me back to my apartment. You’ll have my letter of resignation in the next couple of days, mailed from Branding Iron. That should give you plenty of time to find a replacement for my job.”

“And what about your great singing career?” Derek started the car and pulled away from the curb. “You weren’t really incandescent up there, you know. You can barely sing on key, and in that Lacy Leatherwood getup, you look like a two-bit streetwalker.”

He was trying to hurt her now, but Megan couldn’t help finding a bit of truth in his words. Maybe, just maybe, he was right.

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” she said. “Just drive.”

Fifteen minutes later, Derek let her out in front of her building and drove away, with a roar and a squeal of tires. Still costumed as Lacy, Megan took the elevator upstairs to her one-bedroom apartment and let herself in.

Before doing anything else, she found her cell phone in her purse and tried calling Conner again. There was no answer, not even voicemail. What was wrong? Surely, if Conner had been in some awful accident, her parents would have heard about it and called her. Maybe there was just something wrong with his phone, but she wouldn’t rest easy until she knew for sure. She had Tracy’s number and called her, but could only leave a message. If she’d thought to get the phone numbers of his partners, or Maggie, she would have called them. But Conner’s and Tracy’s numbers were the only ones she had.

Still worried, she began the process of removing her costume, laying out the clothes, wig, boots, and makeup case and packing them away for the trip home to Branding Iron. She wouldn’t be wearing them again until the night of the Cowboy Christmas Ball. Maybe after that, she would pack Lacy Leatherwood away for good. It was time.

And why not? Tonight she’d burnt her final bridges with Derek and her job. She would miss her friends in the band, but they’d have no trouble finding a new and perhaps more talented singer. And one of the teachers at school was looking for an apartment. It was as if her life only needed a nudge from her, and everything would fall into place.

Her nerves were still raw from the final parting with Derek. It hadn’t been pleasant, but it had to happen. Maybe he would now meet a woman who wouldn’t mind his controlling ways—and could hopefully stand up to them.