I raised an eyebrow. “My brother have something to do with this visit?”
He sat down on the sidewalk, pulling his legs up to his chest and wrapping his arms around his knees. “He has this knack for sensing when people want to go and be quiet. When they want to run and hide. And when all that running and hiding just won’t work anymore, he knows to tell them they should race across the city and tell the person they love that they let them go once, and they don’t ever want to let them go again.”
I nodded, clearing my throat nervously. “And did you say what youintended to say?”?
He shook his head. “I couldn’t, even if I had a million years ahead of me, tell you what I really need to say.”?
“I get it,” I shrugged. “And while it fills my heart so much, believe me… I just don’t know if it can be part of the plan right now. I’ve spent so many months trying to make things work for me. To become someone that doesn’t need anyone else to save her. I don’t need Prince Charming.”?
He smiled, dipping his head a bit, and his pool-blue eyes glistened with tears and laughter. “Girl, when I tell you this, I mean every word of it. No one, not one person you’ve come across in your life, ever thought that you needed to be saved. I think we always knew that, in the end, the princess would save herself.”?
“I’mnota princess,” I said firmly.?
“God damn it, Magnolia. Can’t you just read between the lines? You’re right. You’re not a princess. You’re a badass bitch that has pushed every shitty thing that’s come down the road right out of her way, and you’ve become the best version of yourself while doing so. And you’ll never stop becoming the person you were always supposed to be. But you still are, and always will be, the kind of girl someone writes songs about. There’s no doubt about that at all. Whether you like it or not.”
Since they’d been on the road, Ryan and Lee had shared the first single from their new album, titled “I Will Wait.” The track told the story of two people who had been in love their whole lives but never could quite get it together. Right person, wrong time. It was a promise from the singer that, no matter how long it took, he would be waiting whenever the girl he loved was ready to love him back.
?What was different about this album, though, was Lee and Ryan performed it themselves instead of selling it off track by track. It was the first record that they’d performed under their new band name, Wilder Days.
It was a beautiful song, and Sutton and I had heard it for the first time when we were prepping for an event a few months ago. When I heard his songs come over the radio, I wanted to fall to my knees and pick up my phone, but at the end of the day, it had to be something that came naturally. I had to be ready. I had to be willing.?
And today, I wasn’t.?
Recognition washed across his face, and he knew I wasn’t ready tosurrender to him.?
“I appreciate you coming here today. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me,” I said sadly.?
“I know you do. I’ll be waiting here, Maggie. I’ll wait for you forever. As long as it takes.”?
“You’ll be the first to know.” I smiled.?
***
“This is like a Lifetime movie that just doesn’t quit,” Sutton said, dancing around as she washed dishes in our new, massive kitchen. She would use this as a base for Savannah’s Sweethearts, while also cooking a delicate, but delicious menu for Maggie O’Malley’s.?
We had just finished our soft launch, and we knocked it out of the park. I had two investors who had flown in from Charlotte almost falling off their barstools, salivating at the business opportunity, the drinks, and, of course, Sutton’s cooking. They’d promised to send over the paperwork in the morning, and I was biting my lip raw, anxious over what was about to unfold for Sutton and me.?
But the subject of Lee’s pop-in at the graveyard of our past was the biggest drama, and excitement, of the night—or so I thought.?
Charlie walked into the old antique kitchen, carrying the remainder of dirty glasses and plates. “Okay, sorry, can you repeat the entire conversation again? What did he say? Also, we had a couple check into room A on the second floor. So, if Lee shows up tonight, maybe keep it quiet?”?
Sutton and I rolled our eyes in unison.?
“The entire building is sound-proof. Not because of me, but do you think I want to hearthem,” I scoffed.?
“True. So, Lee has his gig tonight, and we’re just not going? Sounds rude, but okay,” my brother said.?
Sutton whipped her head around. “Honestly, Charles Abner, you have yourowndrama with Tally. If your sister doesn’t want to talk, you can’t force her arm. If we’re not going to this show, which we’ve received front rowandbackstage passes to, we’re just not going to go. We shall respect that.”?
“I just really like O.A.R.,” my brother mumbled, plunking the dishesin the sink.?
“Right. Because that’s what’s important right now, Charlie,” Sutton said, chucking her washing gloves and sponge at him. She turned toward me. “So, he really said he would wait for you?”?
I nodded, pushing stoppers into bottles of wine. “He sure did. He said as long as it takes. I can only assume he and Janelle are history?”?
Charlie nodded and helped me move the leftover bottles into the industrial fridge. With my insurance money from the bar fire, we’d gutted the place and turned it into exactly what we wanted. A true public house and inn. With all the extra, modern trimmings.?
“You can’t lead him on forever,” he said, and Sutton and I nearly snapped our necks as we turned to glare at him.
