Hannah hugged Brady tightly, put her hands on both sides of his face so the CD was smooshed up against one of his cheeks, and said, “Thank you for the bestest night in my entire life.”
He chuckled. “I’m going to remind you of that someday.”
She giggled. “Are you going to teach me how to play ‘Dancing Queen’?”
“If that’s what you want, then absolutely.”
She hugged him before letting me tuck her into the car seat. I shut the door and turned to Brady. Trevor was already in the driver’s seat. Marco was getting into the second SUV, ready to take Brady to New York. They had a longer drive ahead of them than we did. He’d done something special for us, but it was going to make his day that much longer.
“I don’t even know how to say thank you enough. Not just for today…” I said as tears hit my eyes.
Brady pulled me into him, kissed the side of my head, and whispered, “I want this to work, Tristan. I want us. I want to give you both all the stars.”
“We don’t need the stars, but I kind of think we might need you.” My voice was clogged with emotions.
He adjusted our bodies so he could look down into my face before kissing me tenderly on the lips like he had that morning and on the drive to Albany. Some kind of reverent promise I hoped we both could fulfill. Me. Him. Family.
“I’ll call you. It may not be ‘til after the meeting with Victoria Chan, but you’ll hear from me. I promise,” he said and meant it. I could tell.
I’d been surprised when he’d told me he was trying to buy Kincaid’s for Cassidy. Not because he wanted to do something for his sister, but because I knew it was aboutLa Musicaas well. If Cassidy put in a restaurant next to the music store, at least I wouldn’t have to worry about William Chan trying to sell off the store to merge it with something bigger. In one move, Brady was trying to change everything for Cassidy and me. A checkmate William wouldn’t be able to come back from.
Brady ran his thumb along my jaw before groaning and stepping back.
“It’s really hard to walk away from you,” he said.
My heart tore a little. I was used to the man I cared about leaving me. I was so used to it that I hadn’t really even given it a thought. Darren had left me for months at a time. The fact that I’d see Brady again in a day or so was much easier than the six months at a time I’d lived without Darren.
Brady winked at me, accompanied by his wicked grin, and then got into the SUV with Marco. I clutched my stomach and went around to the other side of the Escalade to climb into the back seat next to Hannah. Her eyes were drooping again, even though she’d slept on the way there. It was after eleven. She normally was asleep for hours by now.
As we drove back to Albany, my brain whirled. Brady had just finished a world tour, but he was set to record a new album soon, which would mean another tour. Weeks and months on the road. My stomach clenched. Was I so predictable that I kept choosing men in my life who were destined to leave me? Brady might not be out on a mission with guns directed at him, but he’d still be gone.
His words ofI want to be yourswere a return volley to my doubts. The fact that he had this enormous life outside of Grand Orchard scared me, but I couldn’t let it stop me. Not when he hadn’t given me a reason to doubt he wanted it as much as me.
Still, it sobered me. It took the beautiful day we’d spent together and wrapped a gray cloud around it. I didn’t want the gray. I wanted the sun to break through with a rainbow coming to life like the first day I’d met him. When the shimmer of rain and sunshine had waved a colored wand over him standing under theLa Musica de Ensueñossign. I wanted that. I wanted to feel the unicorn moment like my daughter had earlier, but I was clutched with this awful foreboding that the rain was going to hit us and take away the bright colors.
I pushed at the thought. I was just tired. I was letting my internal worries manifest into bigger things. All that mattered right now was Hannah and me caring about Brady and him caring about us. I didn’t need to jump to months or years from now. To things that may never happen for more reasons than him being a famous country-rock star.
Brady
GOT WHAT I GOT
“Ain't no second thoughts, no regrets, no kinda maybe
No wishin' I turned back
Before you came along.”
Performed by Jason Aldean
Written by Palmer / Spragg / Archer
When I arrived back in New YorkCityin the wee hours, my loft felt cold. It was full of things that were mine, and yet it still felt empty. The reason was clear.
I’d left Tristan and Hannah.
Our day together had been this magical mix of joy and pleasure. The look on Hannah’s face as she’d watched ABBA onstage was irreplaceable. The look of adoration on Tristan’s face had struck me dumb.
I missed them when I’d barely said goodbye, but it wasn’t just Tristan and Hannah I missed. It was my sister with her vibrant smile and quiet determination and Chevelle with his soft cheeks and tiny cry. When I’d left Cassidy that afternoon, she’d been in the kitchen with ingredients spread about her as she tried different combinations for the restaurant menu. Chevelle had been watching with wide eyes as he happily rocked in the infant chair she’d strapped him into. I wouldn’t have left at all if she hadn’t said Helen was coming over to work with her. They were planning ways to bring some of the bakery’s items into the restaurant so Cass wouldn’t have to make everything herself, while still having everything made from scratch.
