Has he really moved here like he'd said in the elevator?
Did he come looking for me because of the last letter that I sent?
I feel my cheeks flush as Dallas' strong gaze remains trained onmy every movement. I hope he doesn’t notice, but with the way he’s staring at me so intently, it feels like nothing can escape his controlled perception.
I can’t remember everything that I’d written in the last, drunken letter I’d mailed him over six months ago. I’d been full of alcohol, self-loathing, introspection, and high on the excitement of my last concert of our European tour, but somehow,clearly,it must have made its way to him because I can’t reconcile any other reason for him to be in Lonestar Junction right now.
“What… what are you doing here?”
He’d never mentioned having any ties to the tiny town I grew up in or plans to visit. I tried to remember his explanation for moving here from the elevator conversation.
‘Looking for peace, quiet and a change of pace.’
“I think I'm missing something...” Wylie states as he points the top of his bottle between Dallas and me, eyes shifting back and forth.
“It’s a long story...” I respond while Dallas remains noticeably silent, his eyes never leaving mine. “We met in a broken elevator earlier today."
Partially true.Though now I wasn't sure if it counted as a first-time meeting since at the time I hadn’t known it was him I was trapped with.
"You methow?" Stevie blurts out from beside me, her brow arches in a way that screams suspicion. She shoots Dallas a look so accusatory, it seems like she might know even more than I do about what’s going on.
Wylie shakes his head before pointing at Dallas again, “We’ll let you two catch up, but Dallas, you may have saved my life once before, but if you do something to Dove, I'll take yours. She’s our town’s royalty.”
The corner of Dallas’ lip ticks upwards as he holds in a smilebut nods in acknowledgement while Stevie drags Wylie away from us. Clay, Nash, and Savannah disappear into the crowd and finally, we’re alone. The bar is still loud, my siblings somewhere lost in the crowd waiting for me to return to catch up yet all I want to do is be alone with Dallas, asking him all of the questions I’ve kept wrapped into my heart for so long starting with,Hey, where the hell have you been and how could you leave me hanging like that?
“Can we go outside and... talk?” I ask, unsure of how to address the towering man in front of me with eyes piercing through the depths of my soul, fleshing out all of my insecurities, and calling me for deeper connection in a way that I’ve only ever felt with him before.
He feels both familiar and yet like a complete stranger. After our time together in the elevator, I'd felt a connection to him in our shared survival, but he’d disappeared while I was speaking with chief Hollister. Now I was wondering if it’d been because he’d felt familiar. Like coming home.Home to myself.
I needed to understand why he'd hid his identity from me and what the hell he was doing here in my small town…
He nods and lets me lead the way out of the bar into the dark night.
Chapter 20 – Paloma
It's tradition for the residents of Lonestar Junction to gather at Rex's Rodeo House Bar the night before Thanksgiving.
College students return from their time away, and family members who’ve moved to other cities and states come back to celebrate in a grand display of community, filled with revelry and alcohol. Growing up, it was always the place I’d meet up with my siblings or friends after being away recording in LA or on tour. Between the bar and the town’s famous rodeo, there weren’t many other places to hang out.
I’m here on a short break before heading back to Los Angeles to wrap up recording my latest album, one full of angst, bad ass rifts and lyrics I’m proud to have written, and to kick off the winter leg of my West Coast tour. Although cooler weather has arrived, Lonestar Junction is still pleasantly warm. Being back here for the holidays at my family’s ranch always stirs up a peculiar nostalgia. It’s the only thing I knew for the first nineteen years of my life and though it’s not a town I want to return to permanently, I enjoy the simplicity of the small, rural town and its easy way of living.
Dallas and I step out through the front doors of the bar andwalk slowly toward the cleared cornfield that’s been turned into a parking lot for Rex’s. There’s nowhere for us to sit and talk, but discussing anything inside of the bar is impossible with the loud music and prying eyes of the town watching.
“You warm enough?” he asks, looking over what I’m wearing carefully.
“I’m fine. Thanks.”
He nods, and I take a deep breath, exhaling forcefully before glancing back up at him, arms now crossed over my chest as I stand taller. I’ve always felt like I was on even ground with most men, but damn, Dallas is big and handsome.
“I’m so confused,” I say, just as he murmurs, “I’m sorry,” at the same time.
I nod, smiling slightly as he chuckles. I’m not sure what he’s apologizing for, but there’s a list starting with not revealing who he was in the elevator.
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
“I moved here.”
“So, you really live here? In Lonestar Junction?”
