She sighed. “Your life was a circus before I even met you, wasn’t it?”
“That’s putting it mildly,” he agreed.
A wisp of white streaked slowly above the leaves, seemingly carried by the soft wind. What a contrast this place was to the chaos he’d been living since he was a teen. Ashlovedthe chaos, didn’t he? Why else would he have kept at it for a decade now?
He wasn’t sure how much more to say, how much she still wanted to hear.
“Is knowing everything even more exhausting than hating me?” he asked.
Silence stretched between them for several seconds before she finally responded.
“You’ve been playing a fictional version of yourself forfouryears, Ash. How is that not exhausting foryou?”
He shrugged. “Despite her being a little less than honest about our initial agreement, Annabeth really has become a good friend over the years, and those are hard to find in this line of work. I play the part I need to play so I can make the music I want to make. It’s all part of the game, isn’t it?”
Willow hummed a soft sigh. “I don’t play it,” she told him.
Ash huffed out a laugh. “Then what are you doing holed up with me in a guesthouse writing a song you never intended to write before trying to bludgeon me to death?”
Willow rolled her eyes. “Touché, I suppose, but I wasn’t actuallytryingto kill you. I was just hoping not to get unalived myself.”
They both laughed. Several beats of silence followed before Willow spoke again. “You know I never actually hated you, right?”
Even though he hadn’t heard her move, he could feel that her eyes were on him now rather than the sky. So he tilted his head to meet her gaze, expecting to see the same hurt and frustration he’d seen back in the barn. But her brown eyes were clear and intent, a stamp of approval on an admission of truth.
“How?” he asked.
She reached for his fingertips, brushing her skin against his and nothing more, yet sending a surge of electricity through him like only Willow Morgan could.
“I hated what happened. I hated that for months after everything happened, I was caught up in that circus. I hated that I actually cared what strangers were saying about me. And I hated that the only person who might understand what I was going through was the one who put me in that position in the first place.”
He gritted his teeth and swore. “I’m so sorry, Wills. I know it’s just words and that I can’t take any of it back, but you have to believe how much I hate thatIdid that to you.”
Willow nodded. “I believe you.” Then she pushed herself up, pulling her heels together so she was sitting like a butterfly. “I think we’re getting really close with the song, which is great. But I need a reminder of why we got into this business in the first place.”
Ash crossed one boot over the other and propped himself up on his elbows. “What do you mean?”
She already had her phone out, her thumb scrolling through something on her screen.
“Casey’s parents own that bar, right? What is it called?”
This got him to sit up. “Yeah. Midtown Tavern.She still tends bar there a couple times a week if her parents are short-staffed.”
“Right!” Willow exclaimed. She tapped on her screen and then held it up for him to see. “They have a small space for live musicians, but it doesn’t look like they have anyone booked for tonight.” She beamed at him, suddenly lit from within at the mere thought of getting to do this thing that she loved. Ash missed that feeling.
“What are you getting at, Willow Morgan?” he asked, her smile and excitement too contagious to resist.
“Think Meadow Valley’s one and only night-time establishment would be up for a little pop-up acoustic set?”
Ash pulled his loaner phone out of his pocket. “I’ll call Boone right now and see what we can do.” He stood, then held a hand out for Willow.
She grabbed it, her grip firm and assured. Once standing, her hand still in his, she added, “The space looks big enough for two. What do you say to a pop-up duet?”
His eyes widened. “Are you serious?”
She nodded. “I only have one condition.”
He didn’t care if she had two hundred conditions. He’d jump through a ring of fire doused in gasoline if it meant sharing the stage with Willow tonight. “Anything you want. Name it.”
