Chapter 1
Harmony Kidd
I’m on my way to see all my cousins.
This is our monthly get-together where we hang out without our families.
Well, without our parents, anyway.
We may not all be linked by blood, but that’s never mattered. Our parents are close. Have been since before we were even born.
We grew up together. Traveled together. Half my childhood was spent backstage or on the road.
So yeah, it’s always been us.
My dad’s the lead singer of the band. My uncle Hunter plays guitar. Trey and Colt aren’t technically my uncles, but they might as well be.
They’ve been around my whole life, long before I even knew what the band really was.
It’s just always been us.
And don’t get me wrong, having a family like this?
It’s amazing.
But sometimes…
I don’t know.
Sometimes I wonder who I actually am outside of it.
I’m twenty-one years old, almost twenty-two, and I still don’t have an answer for that.
Anywhere I go, people recognize me.
Not here. Our hometown’s different. It’s the one place that still feels normal.
But everywhere else?
I’m not just Harmony.
I’m their Harmony.
I’m Austin Kidd’s daughter. Hunter Drake’s niece. The granddaughter of rock legend Shaun Kidd.
And don’t forget my Nana and Poppa Drake. They were country stars until they had my uncle Hunter and my mom.
My family’s name carries a lot of history.
And I don’t think I’ve ever figured out what that means for me.
Which is exactly why I shouldn’t have come out today.
The moment I step out of my car, I hear them.
Laughter.
Loud. Familiar.
It pulls me out of my head for a while.
Something I need right now.
God, I love them.
Rose is the first one I see, sitting on the tailgate of a truck, legs swinging, already mid-laugh about something I clearly missed.
Emerson’s nearby, leaning against his truck, arms crossed, just watching everything like he always does.
He’s the first one to notice me.
“Took you long enough, Harm.”
I roll my eyes, shutting my door.
“I’m right on time.”
“You’re ten minutes late.”
“Whatever.”
Rose grins.
“My brother’s got a point.”
“Hate you both,” I mutter, but I’m smiling as I walk over.
It’s always like this.
Easy.
Like no matter how long it’s been, we just fall right back into it.
“So Noah didn’t ride with you?” Emerson asks.
I roll my eyes.
“He’s too busy with James and Colton to worry about riding with his sister.”
Emerson snickers.
“Wish I could be busy with guy cousins, but no, I’m stuck with you and Rose.”
I flip him off.
“Hey, you could always branch out and make other friends. But you don’t.”
Rose smirks, crossing her arms as she leans against Emerson’s truck.
“Also, you don’t have any older guy cousins.”
Emerson rolls his eyes.
“Someone has to keep you two idiots in line, though.”
I gasp.
“I thought you loved me.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He waves a hand dismissively.
Right on cue, Noah jogs over from the other side of the lot like he heard his name from a mile away.
“You’re late,” he says.
“I’m ten minutes late,” I shoot back.
“Exactly.”
“That’s not late. That’s fashionably delayed.”
James snorts behind him.
“No one says that.”
James is Uncle Trey and Aunt Hailey’s son.
He’s practically his dad’s twin, except for his nose and jaw. Those he definitely got from Aunt Hails.
He’s also one of the quieter ones in our family.
Which, considering the rest of us, is probably a good thing.
“You sound like Dad,” Noah mutters.
I snort out a laugh, and Rose shakes her head.
Colton points at me like I just proved something.
“She’s right. That’s a thing.”
Colton Jr. is Uncle Colt and Aunt Allie’s youngest.
And holy shit, that boy is his father’s twin.
Same face. Same attitude. Same ability to drive everyone around him insane.
I’m convinced Aunt Allie’s genes didn’t even try.
“No, it’s not,” Noah mutters.
“You just don’t have style,” I tell him sweetly.
“Yeah, okay,” he says, crossing his arms. “You drive a dying car.”
I pause.
“…My car is fine.”
He raises a brow.
“Didn’t sound like it.”
“It’s fine,” I repeat, a little sharper this time.
Rose hums like she doesn’t believe me, but thankfully doesn’t push it.
Instead, she bumps her shoulder into mine.
“You staying, or are you just here to argue with people younger than you?”
“Somebody has to keep you little assholes in line,” I shoot back. “And yes, I’m staying.”
“For now,” Emerson mutters under his breath.
I shoot him a look, but he just smirks like he knows something I don’t.
I hate that.
We fall into it after that.
Talking. Laughing. Arguing over nothing.
Noah and James get into it over something stupid. Again.
Colton tries to mediate like he has any authority whatsoever.
With Noah and James being only a month apart, those two practically grew up attached at the hip.
Colton came along nine months after them.
Which meant the three of them had been causing trouble together for as long as I could remember.
Rose is half instigating, half egging them on.
Emerson just watches like he’s above it, even though he’s not.
And me?
I’m right there in the middle of it.
Like always.
Luna drops down beside me on the tailgate at some point, nudging my shoulder lightly.
Luna is Colton’s older sister. She’s nineteen, and she’s practically been attached to my hip since we were little.
People mistake Luna and me for sisters all the time.
I get it.
We both have dark curly hair, although hers is a little tighter than mine.
And honestly?
We do favor each other.
Considering how close our families are, we’ve never bothered correcting people half the time.
“Hey,” she says.
“Hey, Lu.”
She watches the others for a second, quiet in a way the rest of us never really are.
“You ever feel like they’ve all got it figured out?” she asks suddenly.
I glance at her.
“Since when do you ask deep questions?”
She shrugs.
“Since I started noticing stuff.”
I huff out a quiet laugh, looking back out at everyone.
Emerson and Rose are talking off to the side now, both of them way too relaxed.
Like the world isn’t a question mark for them.
Emerson doesn’t let many people in.
But music?
That’s his thing.
He gets that honestly.
He’s insanely talented, too. Just doesn’t like to admit it.
Always feels like he’s got something to prove.
Like he’ll never quite measure up to his dad or his uncle.
I’ve heard my dad talk about that before.
About what it’s like growing up in something bigger than you.
This life didn’t start with us.
My grandfather, the one I never met, was a rockstar, too.
Not a good one.
That kind of life can swallow you whole.
My dad and Aunt Chloe lived through the worst of it.
Foster care.
Being pulled out of everything they knew before my great-grandmother took them in.
It’s something we don’t really talk about much.
But it’s there.
Always has been.
My family has a past.
Messy doesn’t even begin to cover it.
“Yeah,” I admit quietly. “Sometimes.”
Luna nods like that confirms something for her.
“I think you will,” she says after a second.
“Will what?”
“Figure it out.”
I glance back at her, but she’s already looking away like she didn’t just drop that on me.
Everyone fits somewhere.
Even if they don’t realize it.
I’m still trying to figure out where I do.
The night winds down eventually.
People start peeling off, one by one.
Noah and the boys are the first to go, loud even as they leave.
Rose hugs me quickly before heading out, with Emerson lingering behind her.
And then it’s just me, grabbing my keys and heading back toward my car.
Emerson falls into step beside me.
I glance over.
“What?”
“Nothing,” he says, but he’s looking at my car like it personally offended him.
I narrow my eyes.
“Okay, that’s not nothing.”
He shrugs.
“It just sounded a little rough when you pulled in.”
“It’s fine.”
“Harmony…”
“It’s fine,” I repeat, unlocking it.
He exhales, dragging a hand through his hair.
“If it gets worse, take it to Hale’s Auto.”
I pause, glancing back at him.
“You suddenly a mechanic?”
“No,” he mutters. “I just know enough to know when something’s off.”
I roll my eyes, but something in my chest tightens anyway.
“I’ll keep it in mind,” I say, climbing in.
He nods once, stepping back.
“Just… don’t ignore it.”
Too late.
I start the engine.
It turns over.
A little slower than it should.
I freeze for half a second.
Then it smooths out.
“…It’s fine,” I mutter.
Even if I don’t quite believe it.
My car makes it home.
Barely.
But as I drive through the smaller town about twenty minutes from my house, I spot it.
Hale’s Auto.
I’ve never really noticed it before.
It’s tucked into an older, more worn-down part of town.
The shop’s closed.
But there’s an older-model red truck parked off to the side.
Restored, not junk.
Clean in a way that tells you someone actually cares.
A single light glows from inside the garage.
“Hale’s Auto,” I murmur to myself, committing it to memory.
Just in case.
Monday comes faster than I’d like it to.
I have to work this afternoon, and the second I start my car, I know.
It’s worse.
Every sound feels louder.
Every hesitation sharper.
So I don’t think about it.
I head straight there.
Living on a prayer that it makes it.
The moment I pull into the lot, it dies.
Completely.
I groan, dropping my head back against the seat before hitting the steering wheel with both hands.
“Are you kidding me?”
Silence answers back.
Perfect.
I let out a breath, pushing the door open and stepping out of my car.
And that’s when I see him.
Across the lot.
Half under the hood of a car, grease-stained hands bracing against the frame like he’s been there a while.
He doesn’t notice me at first.
Too focused.
Too locked in.
But then…
He shifts.
Glances up.
And for a second, his eyes meet mine.
Sharp.
Assessing.
Like he’s already figuring something out.
My stomach does something weird I don’t have time to unpack.
Yeah.
This should go well.
