We disconnect the call, and I stride back through the house toward the front door. I grab my keys from the console, throwing open the door, ready to race to my truck like the hounds of hell are on my heels.
I freeze, my eyes going wide as shock trickles through my body. Avery’s standing in front of me, her smile shaky and uncertain. She’s wearing a pair of worn jeans, a flannel shirt, with a suitcase just behind her on the porch.
When she opens her mouth to speak, I pull her into my arms, cutting her off. I cup the back of her head with one hand and hook my other arm around her waist. Burying my face in her hair, I breathe her in as though it’s the only thing I need to survive.
She hesitates for a second before melting into me and letting out a soft sob. Her body trembles while mine goes on high alert. She’s safe. I lean back enough to run my eyes over her from head to toe. Thank God, she doesn’t look hurt.
I don’t want to let her go, but I know I have to, if only to get her in the house and find out what the hell happened. She’d left. Autumn rushed over after opening the coffee shop, showed me the letter, and gave me the key to the apartment.
Avery holds on to my hips, her eyes darting around my face. “I couldn’t leave yet.” A tear falls from her chin to the porch, but she doesn’t say anything else.
35
AVERY
I swipe at the moisture on my cheeks, waiting for Gray to say something, to break the quiet that’s surrounding us, even though it’s not really up to him to do that. I’m the one standing on his front porch at nine o’clock at night when I should be in Nashville. I’ve been a hot mess the entire journey back, grieving the choice that was ripped from me all those years ago.
Relief at seeing his face and nervousness about what I want to say swirl inside of me like a tornado. “Can I come in?” I ask, shuffling from one foot to the other.
Without a word, Grayson steps back, holding the door open for me. I turn to face him as he pulls in my suitcase and closes the door. The soft glow of the lamp on the side table illuminates the space.
“Were you going somewhere?” I ask, breaking the silence, when I remember he was heading out when he opened the door.
“To look for you. Gracie called. She was worried and thought something had happened. They’re saying you’ve gone AWOL, and there was something about a crazy fan at the airport.”
“Not quite a fan, but I fired my manager.”
His brow furrows. “You did? Why?”
“Do you mind if we get a drink? There’s a lot to unpack.”
As if realizing where we are, Grayson blinks, nodding his head. He takes my hand as he leads the way to the kitchen. “Sorry, you’ve taken me by surprise is all. I didn’t expect to see you on the front porch when I opened the door.”
Dropping my hand, he crosses the kitchen, pulling open one of the cabinets and taking out a bottle of whiskey and two glasses. I follow him to the table, taking a seat and the glass he offers me. The amber liquid burns my throat as I tip it back and take a large swig.
Nervously, I wipe my palms over my jeans. I thought this would be easier, that telling him I choose him, choose us, would be the easiest thing I have to do, but for some reason, the fear that it’s too much too soon after everything we’ve been through is holding me back.
I pull in a shaky breath, staring down at my glass, and decide to start with how I got here. “My manager—well, now ex-manager—lied to me and told me I’d have to pay over a million dollars if I didn’t go back to Nashville today.” I look up at him, greeted by his quiet reassurance to continue. “I don’t have that kinda money just hanging around, so I didn’t feel like I had a choice but to cut our time short and go with her.”
He shakes his head, taking a sip of his drink before replying, “If you’d have asked me, Ave, I would have given it to you without a second thought.”
My eyes go wide, shock rendering me speechless before I clear my throat and say, “I wouldn’t ever ask that much of you.”
Grayson reaches out and takes hold of my hand, squeezing it gently. “But I would have done it. Whatever you need, it’s my responsibility to support you and make sure you get it. No matter what.”
I lace my fingers with his, my body instantly relaxing from the contact. “It doesn’t matter now. Before I say anything more, I need you to know that I don’t want to cancel my tour. My fans don’t deserve that, so I still need to go back next week to prepare.” Gray nods, but doesn’t say anything. “But I couldn’t stay there without telling you how I feel and really talking to you about what I want for us. Last night, when we got back from dinner, everything seemed to happen so quickly, and I wasn’t really processing anything properly.”
“That’s totally understandable. I should have waited to tell you about my plans. I’m sorry.”
I shake my head, a groove forming between my brows. “Oh God, no, please, don’t be sorry for that. I’m glad you told me, because it’s giving me the confidence to do what I need to do now.”
Clearing my throat, I stare up at the kitchen ceiling, trying to sort through the mess of thoughts in my mind. “Sometimes, in the early days of my career, when I’d lie in bed at night, I’d wonder what you were doing and how your family was. I thought about texting you a million times a day, but I never did because of how we’d left things. We were both angry with each other for the decisions we made, and we were justified in that.”
Grayson takes a swig of his drink, and I watch his throat work on the swallow. When he sets his glass down, he says, “I thought about you every day too, Ave. I can’t tell you how many times I thought about getting on a plane, but when you asked me to leave, my dad was sick. Nobody in my family knew except me and my mom. He was quietly handing things over to me, and so I couldn’t leave, no matter how much I loved you and wanted to.”
The back of my eyes prickle as I think of the young man I’d left behind and the responsibility he was forced to carry. I want nothing more than to climb into his lap and hold him, so I do. Standing, I wait for Gray to move his chair back before taking a seat on his lap and pulling him into my chest.
“I’m so sorry you had to deal with that, Gray. I’m sorry you couldn’t tell me, and I’m sorry that I wasn’t there for you when he passed. If I’d known that you had reached out, I would have caught the first flight home.”
