LEE
Ryan and I were sitting in the greenroom of Ybor City Brewing in Tampa, sipping on some local brews and getting ready to open up for Ira Wolf, who was opening for Marc Roberge of O.A.R. Not exactly the country gig we were used to, but we took what we could get to get me the hell out of Savannah.?
I was staring at my phone when Ryan threw a rogue drumstick at me.?
“Don’t call her, man. It’s her wedding day. Or it was. Just leave it alone.”?
I shook my head. “I wasn’t going to call her. I’m not that stupid.”?
“Don’t text her, either. Just leave her be. She’s probably surrounded by her brother and everyone. Sutton’s probably there…”?
“You miss her, huh? I get it, man. She’s a great girl,” I said, burying down a laugh.?
“I miss her, I miss Savannah, I miss the whole group. I miss the food. This is so fucked up. Did your asshole brother have to—”?
I held up my hand to stop him in his tracks. “Believe me, brother, I understand. Truly, I do.”?
In a little over a month, we’d gone to four cities, and nothing felt the same. Janelle and I had parted ways as soon as our plane landed in Tennessee, amicably, of course, considering none of it was real in the first place. Letting everything, and everyone, walk away was like ripping off a Band-Aid and exposing the wound to the open air.?
It felt good at the time, but now every moment brought a sharp sting.
“Hopefully, she doesn’t meet someone in Ireland, man. You know the kilts and those accents. I would be so screwed…”?
“Kilts? That’s Scotland, you idiot. Who’s going to Ireland?”
He went white as a sheet, like he had a secret that he’d been keeping andlet it slip. “Um, no one is.”?
I crossed the room and towered over him, glaring down with my guitar in my hand ready to swing if he didn’t open his mouth.?
He leaned back on the green room couch, holding his hands up defensively. “Sutton and Magnolia. They’re going on Magnolia’s honeymoon together.”?
I paced the room, running my hands through my hair, thinking about the two of them, in a foreign country, with my crazy ass brother and his even crazier girlfriend on the loose who knew where.?
Ryan stood and walked over to the mirror, fluffing out his hair. “It’s not someGirls Gone Wildthing, man. They’re going to research the O’Malley family’s hometown and visit all the pubs so Magnolia can really connect with where her family came from. And when she gets back, she’s planning to rebuild. Sutton called it Magnolia’s phoenix moment. She’s a genius.”
After the gig, Ryan went to explore Ybor City, and I went back to the hotel to sulk. I sat on the outdoor patio overlooking the Hillsborough River, alive with soft, pulling waves and the lights of the famous Riverwalk.?
Something about the long, winding pathway made me homesick for my own river and the familiar path that ran along its edge.
I sank down in a poolside chair and called Charlie.?
“Yeah, man. I’m dropping them off at the airport tomorrow,” Charlie said after listening to me whine about being worried over the girls traveling overseas to potentially have the greatest time of their life and why was I being so selfish? “They’ll be fine. Let them go have fun. My sister needs this. The only time she leaves Savannah is to watch Sutton run her races. She’ll call me every day, and I’ll text you,” he promised.?
“Alright,” I sighed.
“I know you love my sister, Lee. We all know you do. She knows you do, too. But you have to give her space now. Don’t pull your John Cusack inSay Anythingshit. The last thing she needs is you holding a boombox over your head outside of her window, if you know what I mean.”?
“So don’t buy her another bar,” I laughed.?
“No, don’t. I have a feeling when she comes back, she won’t want the same things as she did before.”?
“Yeah, brother. I’m kind of worried about that, too,” I confessed.?
Chapter forty-four
MAGNOLIA
After two long, amazing weeks in Ireland, Sutton and I arrived back on Georgia soil exhausted and full of amazing ideas.?
