Eli:Get your asses down to the farmers market. Willow’s performing at Jenna’s tent.
Ash looked at his brother and then back down at his phone. It was a few minutes past noon, and the market closed at 1:00 p.m.
“I’m a mess,” Ash admitted, figuring that would be reason enough for him not to go. It wasn’t like Willow wanted him there after what happened the night before.
Boone nodded. “I can smell you from here. Guess you better get your ass in the shower, and I’ll give you a ride to the market.”
Ash’s mouth opened to respond, but no words came out.
“Come on, little brother. Why do you think Eli even texted? We knew you were in love with her four years ago, and based on the way you were looking at her last night and how you’ve been ridingyourself ragged this morning, I’m guessing not much has changed.”
Ash sighed. “That’s just it. What if I haven’t changed? What if I’m still the asshole who broke her heart and she can’t ever forgive or trust me again?”
Boone shoved his phone back in his pocket and tilted his hat up so Ash could see his brother’s assessing gaze. “Are you really the asshole she thinks you are? Because from where I’m sitting, I think I’m looking at a guy who’d do what he could to make things right if given the chance.”
Ash’s throat tightened, and he felt the weight pressing down on his chest that had been there for four long years. “What if I don’t get that chance?”
Boone shrugged. “What if you do?”
***
Boone’s bike rolled to a stop just outside the barricaded Meadow Valley town square. Ash was off and unfastening his helmet before his brother even killed the engine.
“Go get her,” Boone called after him as Ash strode toward the soft sounds of a guitar strumming and his favorite voice singing the same lines she’d caught him singing in the shower just a week ago.
“‘This time I’ll pick myself up when I fall… This time I’ll block your number before you call. This timeI’ll hold the needle and thread. Jagged stitches ’cross my heart…cold sheets on your side of the bed.’”
Ash pulled out his phone and pushed his way through the crowd until he was close enough to get a clear shot. He zoomed in so all he could see was Willow sitting on a stool under the awning of Jenna’s tent, her guitar in her lap. No band. No microphone. Noanythingother than her music and her words.
She wore a white tank, jeans, and the boots he’d pulled off her feet the night before. Her loose brunette waves hung over her shoulders as she parted her lips in a smile and sang.
It felt like the first time he’d seen her at a venue not much different than this. She hadn’t even made it through one song before he called Sloane and told her he’d found the opening act for the summer leg of his tour.
“She’s perfect, Sloane. We need her on this tour.”
Sloane had laughed. “Are you sure you’re talking about hertalent? I’ve seen her, Murphy.”
“Then you know she’s better than I’ll ever be,” he’d replied. “Find out who her manager is and make the call.”
Sloane sighed. “If she’s better than you, Murphy, why does she needyouraudience?”
“She doesn’t,” he admitted. “I just want to be a part of her story.”
Except now Ash was the chapter she wanted torip from the book. So why was he here now? Why was Boone telling him to keep hanging on?
He snapped a couple of photos and recorded a short snippet of her next song. He couldn’t bring himself to share “This Time” with anyone other than the local audience surrounding them both right now.
His phone buzzed with a text message as he was lowering it to slip it back in his pocket. It was from Sloane.
Sloane:More of this, Murphy.
He tapped on the link she shared with the text, and it opened to Willow’s Instagram account and a photo she’d posted the night before.
Family reunionwas all the caption said, but the photo contained none of Willow’s family. No Colt or Jenna oranyonereally…except an obscured glimpse of a man through the flicker of a firepit’s flames.Ash.
Unless youknewit was him—like Sloane—there was no way toknowit was him.
But the comments were full of speculation about who the mystery man was: a blood relative or someone new to Willow’sfamily.
