Page 107 of In This Together
It broke Rosalie’s resolve.
‘I’m sorry about the baby.’
Andrea’s jaw tensed and she turned back to the window for a moment before glancing back to Rosalie. ‘Thank you.’
‘Was it…?’
‘I don’t know,’ Andrea said, her voice catching. ‘It’s possible. I hoped it was Tommy’s.’
Rosalie thought about that. About the fact that the baby could have been her family, too. Then she remembered what Hannah told her, that her father had thrown his credit card at Andrea and told her to get rid of it.
‘He should never have told you to abort the pregnancy,’ Rosalie said. ‘I’m sorry he did that.’
Andrea let out a short, sad laugh. ‘You have nothing to apologise for, Rosalie. This is all on my shoulders. I knew what I was doing. I knew how much it would hurt you… your mom, too. Yet I did it.’
Andrea’s voice broke and her shoulders shook as she started to cry. ‘I miss you. I know I have no right to say that but I do and I hope that, one day, we could be friends again. You’ll never know how truly sorry I am, Ros. For everything.’
Seeing Andrea broken as she was, Rosalie’s own tears spilled from her eyes. She clenched her fists to stop herself from reaching out and comforting Andrea.
‘I don’t know if I can ever forgive you, Andi. And I will nevereverforget.’
She wiped the tears from her face.
‘But I miss you, too. All of you. So… I’m willing to try.’
Her words turned Andrea’s cries to sobs and this time, Rosalie could not stop herself from putting her arms around her friend’s shoulders.
It would be a long, long time before Rosalie could ever trust Andrea again. But she knew she wanted to, one day.
EPILOGUE
ABOUT ONE YEAR LATER…
TOMMY DAWSON
World Tour
Supported by
Seth Young
The arena crowd roared when Seth played the first chord of his latest single that was still sitting at number one on the country Billboard chart.
The track had a killer opening sequence and Seth loved to play it. Rosalie loved to hear it. As she stood in the wings of the stage, her heart rate soared when Billy brought in the bassline then Frankie kicked up the beat on the electric guitar.
As Seth’s newest session player pummelled the drums and Seth began to sing, Rosalie could see that he was in his element. He had never needed or expected the fame he’d received and when they were lying next to each other in bed, or sharing breakfast over the view of Central Park from Rosalie’s – their – apartment, Seth was still just the guy who wore scruffy boots and lumberjack shirts. And though Rosalie had managed to get him in a suit once or twice in their six months together, actually, he had been a bigger influence on Rosalie’s style. She loved that she could tap her feet in the sneakers she wore with her jeans and T-shirt without feeling any pain at all. And now that she was busy with her interior design business, she was on her feet a lot. These days, heels were reserved for awards events and fancy dinners with Seth or her best friends only.
Tonight was the last show of Tommy’s world tour. Since he’d decided to buy Jay’s share of Sanfia Records and bring Andrea back to the label to produce again – the way things used to be, the way she loved – Tommy, Andrea and Sofia had worked hard as a team to make Seth a star. Though Seth may have been the supporting act, the combination of Tommy and Seth had led to sell-out concerts on every night of the tour. And they were all planning to go out on a high, playing with more energy than ever for their home crowd in New York.
Seth sang about the woman he loved, how her hips could wreak havoc on a man, how her mind was as genius as it was a pain in the ass, how only a superhero could handle her. And he sang with a smile. A smile that filled Rosalie’s heart because just nights ago, he had told her, ‘If someone had asked me if I would have ever smiled again when I’d left the services and lost my fiancée, I would have said no. Yet here I am, one year after meeting a girl I’d misunderstood entirely, feeling like I hold the world in my hands. And damn it, you make me smile every day, Ros.’
The guys kicked into the chorus and Seth jogged to Billy, singing through his headset as he went, then they rocked out like they’d never rocked out before, as if no one was watching, like they were young kids with the whole world to live for.
Rosalie swung an arm around Sofia’s shoulders where she stood beside her and they sang out the song together – not at all pitchy – swinging their hips and their hair.
Because that was how Seth had made Rosalie feel, like she was just a girl, loved and in love, with the whole world to live for.
Seth ended the set as he always did, taking a beat to soak up the crowd and the atmosphere. Forever humble. His most admirable trait.
