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Someone grabs my elbow and I jump. I turn and almost bump heads with Bryce who leans into my ear.

“Where’s Nina?” he asks. “She said she was going to the concert with you.”

Uh-oh. Poor Bryce. But there’s no need to drag this out any longer. There’s not going to be any more Nina after tonight. She’s leaving as soon as the show is over.

I point to the stage. He looks over the heads of the people in front of us like he’s trying to see the front of the crowd, which isn’t all that easy given our heights.

“None of you know,” Georgina says, “but I spent a few days visiting Dogwood Grove in disguise.” The crowd breaks out into murmurs of people asking each other if they saw Georgina. “You’ve got a really great town here with fun, kind, and generous people. Dogwood Grove, you’re amazing!”

I watch Bryce’s eyes go from bored to disbelieving as he stares at Georgina up on the stage.

“And this song is for you,” Georgina continues, unaware of Bryce staring at her like she’s grown two heads—or two personalities.

The music of “Heartbeat Jam,” the song the Mad Grovers used in the parade, starts playing, and the crowd screams.

Sophia is climbing up on the railing in front of the stage with both arms up in the air.

I elbow Avery, who just shrugs like she doesn’t know where she gets it from.

The crowd starts to spread out as all the Mad Grovers among them break into their choreography from the parade.

Bryce gets bumped into me.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

“You let me flirt with Georgina and didn’t say anything?” Bryce accuses.

“You were flirting?” I play all innocent. “I thought you were just chatting. You’re always very friendly.”

That answer only makes his eyebrows furrow even more.

Guilt gnaws at my stomach. “I couldn’t tell you. It was part of our agreement with Georgina. Her agent was concerned that our hotel wasn’t safe enough for her, so we agreed that if she stayed here, no one would find out who she was.”

His face softens a little when I say that it was a question of safety.

“So Nina was just an act?” he asks.

“No. Nina is the real person. Georgina is the fake personality.”

He relaxes even more, watching her up on the stage with those puppy-dog eyes of his. “She’s really good.”

I have to laugh at that. She is really good. But if he didn’t know that it was Nina up there, he would just complain that this isn’t his type of music, like most men do. The crowd is predominantly women.

“Yeah, she is.”

“And she’s leaving tomorrow? Was that true?”

“No. She’s leaving tonight. Right after the show.”

The puppy-dog eyes turn sad.

“Do you want to go with me to talk to her after the show?” I ask.

His eyes turn hopeful, but he hesitates. “Should I?”

I shrug. “I’m sure she’d be happy to say goodbye.”

He nods. “Yeah. Alright.”