Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 93301 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93301 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
“Oh, I don’t know. He’ll probably be glad to be rid of me.”
She glanced at the guys ahead of us. “My gut tells me that is not the case. Austin told me earlier he has never seen his brother like this over a girl.”
My face warmed. “Really?”
“Really. Escorting you back to Nashville just to make sure you’re safe there when his bar is opening at the end of next week?”
I winced. “I do feel bad about that.”
“Don’t. Xander is doing exactly what he wants to do.” She leaned into me, nudging me with her shoulder. “Because he cares about you.”
“I care about him too.”
“So why not make an effort to see each other again?”
I studied Xander’s back for a moment, and my stomach muscles tightened. He glanced over his shoulder at me, as if he wanted to make sure I was still there, and I waved before dropping my eyes to the sidewalk again. “Lots of reasons,” I said.
“Name one.”
“Distance. Nashville and Cherry Tree Harbor are not close.”
“You can afford flights, right?”
“I’ll be back on tour by early next year.”
“He could come to you.”
“He’s just starting a business. He can’t be leaving it all the time to follow me around the country.”
“Lots of people have to date long-distance these days. It’s possible.”
I shook my head. “I don’t think either one of us wants that. We’d never see each other. It would get frustrating. He’d probably be worried all the time. And I have some trust issues,” I admitted. “It would be hard for me not to wonder what he was doing when we weren’t together.”
“I get that. But maybe you could have an open relationship. You know, like you agree to be together when you’re together and not be exclusive when you’re apart?”
“No way could I do that,” I said. “It sounds modern and progressive, but I know myself. I’m old-fashioned when it comes to relationships. And probably a bit unrealistic and starry-eyed.”
“How so?”
“I’m a romantic. I want someone to fall for me and only me. I want to be the love of someone’s life.” I laughed a little. “I’ve probably read too many fairy tales and watched too many romantic comedies.”
“I get that,” she said with a sympathetic smile.
“You’d think I’d be jaded after seeing my parents’ dysfunctional marriage—my dad sort of comes and goes as he pleases and my mother just puts up with it. Maybe that’s why I know I could never be okay with an open relationship. I know what it felt like as his daughter every time he left. I know that feeling of hope rising every time he came back.” My throat grew tight. “And I know the crushing disappointment of being abandoned again, wondering if it was my fault.”
Veronica put her arm around my shoulder and squeezed. “I get that too.”
“And then of course, I spent three years with someone who treated me the exact same way.”
“Some people think we seek out our childhood trauma and try to relive it,” she said, “hoping for a better ending.”
“That did not happen for me.” We walked for another minute in silence. “Xander and I actually talked about love,” I told her quietly. “We have very different ideas about it.”
She looked surprised. “Tell me.”
“Well, he’s looking for a comfortable, easygoing kind of thing. He wants someone laidback, someone who makes him laugh. He doesn’t believe in lightning-bolt love, the kind that just—BOOM!—strikes you in the heart and changes your life forever. He says that kind of love doesn’t last and it’s too unpredictable.”
“Oh, Xander,” she sighed.
“In his defense, he’s not one of those guys who never wants to settle down. He does have this vision of himself as a husband and father—he just sort of wants to approach finding a wife the way he’d shop for a T-shirt or something. Comfort over style.”
Veronica snickered. “Durability over looks.”
“Definitely she needs to be durable.” I lowered my voice even more. “Xander is built like a battleship and likes the fight.”
She burst out laughing, making the guys turn back and look at us. Attempting to be quiet, she cleared her throat. “I know exactly what you mean.”
We reached the ice cream shop, and Veronica tugged my arm. “If you’re not getting ice cream, come sit with me on the bench.”
I looked at Xander, who looked up and down the nearly empty street and shrugged. “It’s okay. We’ll be out in a minute.”
The guys went inside with the kids, and Veronica and I parked our behinds on a bench near the corner that faced the water. The sun was setting, and the light was golden warm on our faces. I took a breath, savoring the scent of this place—the bay, the fudge, the evergreen trees.
“I wanted to say one more thing.” Veronica pulled her heels up to the bench and wrapped her arms around her legs. “Because I went through this with Austin too. Losing their mom so young affected them in ways they don’t like to talk about.”