As poised as she could manage, she crawled into the limo and started breathing again when they pulled away from the curb. LA was tough and the women were intense. The ride to the hotel took twenty minutes. Sitting alone in the limo made her realize how tense and tired she was. Annie had never been so excited to get back to a hotel room in her entire life.

* * *

Her phone’s vibration was loud on the glass nightstand. She reached for it and swiped it on. “Sarah? Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine. You told me to call you on my lunch break.”

Annie looked around the dark room. “What time is it?”

“One. So eleven your time.”

Annie rubbed her face with her free hand and stretched. “Sorry. I’m exhausted. As much as I’m loving this life, I can’t wait to get home. I don’t know how people do this every night.”

“Do what?” Sarah asked.

“Stay out all night, every night.” She pushed the covers off and turned on the small lamp on the nightstand. She winced at the bright light and wiggled her way into a sitting position. “How’s Peyton?”

“So far, everything is good. She’s responded well to the treatments. She wanted me to tell you that she’s taking excellent care of Raven, and she’s organized your mail by color,” Sarah said.

Annie chuckled. “I’m sure Raven’s kicked it around by now. She hates piles. Thank you again for taking care of her. I know she’s difficult.”

“It’s a good thing she loves Peyton so much because she despises me.”

“She does not,” Annie said, but they both knew she was lying. “Tell me about life.”

“I’m pretty sure you need to tell me about what’s going on in yours. How’s the tour? How’s Bristol?”

“Touring is so much fun, but only because I’m touring with somebody big. I’m sure if I was the headliner, we’d be staying at two-star hotels, not four-star.”

“How was Vegas? Charley said it was amazing, but she was too busy to give me details.”

Annie couldn’t believe she’d left Vegas yesterday. It felt like a lifetime ago. “We had so much fun. VIP is awesome. I felt like royalty everywhere. Bristol even assigned a security guard to me one night when I stayed out later than she did.”

Sarah laughed. “I’m so jealous. We’re going next time I catch a break.”

Annie’s heart fell just a little bit. Her sister had so much on her plate, with no real break in sight. “When I get back, we’ll go somewhere fun. And it can just be us girls.” It wasn’t that she didn’t love Chase, because she did, but she and Sarah were so close that sometimes it was just awkward with him there. “Peyton included.”