I hesitate, then nod.
She breathes out a laugh and continues to peel her potatoes.
My brows dive down my nose. “What? I do other stuff.”
“Like what?” she asks, not looking up.
“Well, for one, I give money to the local animal shelter and other rescue centers.” I scramble to compile my list of decencies, debating whether or not I should tell her about my dream of opening my own shelter. “And I tried to foster a pup once.”
“Tried?”
A smile breaks across my face as I push a pile of discarded peels into the bin nearby. “I failed.” Tugging off my gloves as carefully as possible, I whip out my phone and show her my lockscreen. Princess gazes up at Lena with that mottled gray stare. “I never stood a chance.”
Lena brightens, her eyes finding mine for a moment, and I realize just how blue they are. She’s hardly looked at me today, and for a moment, we’re smiling at each other, like she doesn’t have some weird thing against me for the way we met or that she ruined my retirement plan, like peeling potatoes next to each other is as natural as her being on stage or me playing on a field.
Her enthusiasm gives me the bravery I’d been lacking. “I’d never had a dog before. Saw a post online begging for someone to foster her because she was set to be euthanized. She was older, needed some expensive meds to keep her comfortable while she waited to die after her previous owners neglected her. Left her outside. Hardly fed her.” I chuck my peeled potato into a bowl and grab a new one. “She’s the reason I was hoping to invest in Gable’s. Thought maybe it’d bring in some steady cash after my football retirement.”
“To pay for her medication?”
“No. She doesn’t need it anymore. She beat the odds.” I smile and swallow a deep, steadying breath. “I want to open a shelter that specializes in end-of-life care for senior and sick dogs. Was also hoping to offer financial help to people who are willing to take in a dog with medical challenges. My pup had so much life left in her, and she wouldn’t be here today if those people had given up on her.”
Lena is quiet for a long moment, and when I finally look up, she’s smiling at me.
When the silence crawls on, I clear my throat. “I know it probably sounds weird?—”
“No. Not weird. I think it sounds amazing. Like you have a purpose. Not everyone finds that.” She smiles again. “What’s her name?”
“Princess.”
She stifles a little giggle.
“And before you ask, yes, I did name her.”
Lena bites down on her bottom lip like she’s holding in another laugh.
“What? What’s wrong with Princess?”
She shakes her head, and I nudge her with my elbow until she breaks. She laughs again. “Nothing! It’s just… a feminine name. I figured you’d be the type to name her Tequila or Vista or Field Goal or something.”
“Field Goal?” I can’t help but laugh, too. “That’s a terrible name.”
“You seem like you’d go for something football related. NotPrincess.I’m just surprised, that’s all.”
I smile to myself as we pile the peeled potatoes into a big silver bowl. “Glad to know I can still surprise people, I guess.”
“Are you a creature of habit or something? All out of surprises? I find that hard to believe.”
I eye her as I rotate my potato under the peeler. “Regardless of what you believe, I guess these days… yeah. I kind of am. Traveling takes it out of you—as I’m sure you know—so I guess I kinda just like stability at home as much as I can manage.”
She nods emphatically. “You have to find stability where you can, it seems. I try to keep up with a routine, but recording this week has blown all that out of the water.” She flicks her peeler, sending a strip of potato skin flying to the floor. “We added extra sessions because I wasn’t happy with the way the new song was coming along.”
“I thought you said you were rerecording?”
She eyes me. “A man who listens, who doesn’t love that? Yeah, well, if I’m being honest, I don’t think it needs an update. Maybethat’swhat’s giving me the most trouble with it.”
“Don’t fix what ain’t broken,” I recite.
“Exactly.” Her lips part into a wide smile before each corner falls again. “But I have to listen to my label, and they want to freshen it up, so it’s my job to come to a consensus with them.” She groans and leans back into her seat. “I’m gonna be stuck in the studio forever.”
