Chapter 31
Raleigh
PEACE IS WHAT WE all needed and, thankfully, have all gotten since returning to Nashville. Well, almost all of us.
The initial positivity shown by Mae when she was first let out of her contract very quickly rusted away. Without a show to look forward to and her engagement in shambles, it’s caused a lot of bedridden days. Days much like this one.
An old Charlotte Hill film plays on Mae’s massive TV across the room from where she’s curled up on the couch.
Despite the Academy Award winning movie showing, Mae’s scrolling through her phone and stopping on all the wrong posts.
Turning one toward me, I see that she’s lingered on Trenton’s announcement post, detailing Mae’s departure and their break from each other.
I only allow myself to read one comment.
NashvilleWannaB: I only bought tickets for @maeevans! Cannot believe she would do this to you and the fans! #nolongerafan
I do my best to hold back the roll of the eyes. The very next comment is in Mae’s favor, as is the one after. Is there negativity? Yes. But Mae’s fans are battling back just as much, and even questioning Trenton’s behavior for the first time ever.
Trenton and his fans have made it their mission to promote his solo tour more than they ever did when Mae was along for the ride.
All that noise is being amplified by the hateful and unnecessary comments being thrown Mae’s way.
While some of the commentary is absolutely out of anger and annoyance at Mae’s departure, so much more of it is out of self preservation.
The statistics on ticket numbers for resales and cancellations have not been looking good since Mae’s departure, despite the marketing efforts.
“You really need to stop watching that,” I say, throwing on the living room light. It’s midday outside, a stark contrast to the inside of Mae’s dark and dreary flat.
“I didn’t know you were coming over, ” she answers. The soft leather under her head creaks as she tilts her head toward me.
“I know,” I chirp. Grabbing the remote from her coffee table, I turn off the stream mid Charlotte Hill speech to which Mae groans.
“Don’t start with me,” I say with some sass.
“That movie deserves better than how you’re treating it.
” Moving to the curtains of her large windows overlooking Nashville, I jerk them to the side, letting in all the glorious light.
“I hope you didn't stop in just to blind me.” Mae moves to sit and immediately goes to stave off a headache with the palm of her hand.
I quickly move to the kitchen and fill up a glass of water and grab the bottle of ibuprofen from the cupboard. Returning to the living room, I crouch down in front of her and hand her the glass before popping the lid of the pill bottle. “I come with good news, actually.”
“What’s that?” Mae asks, the pills sitting between her teeth. “Bring me a new fiancé?” she says between gulps of water. “I’d love to be able to wear my engagement ring again.”
My gaze slips to the side table where her ring has been sitting out in the open since she arrived back. The ring is a lot like Mae right now; they both have the potential of getting lost.
“You know I’d work at it with him.”
I glance up and find Mae staring at the diamond on the table. She gently reaches out and runs her thumb over the biggest of the stones.
“Part of me really wants to get us both into therapy and see if that would change anything.”
As much as I’d like to tell her that some people are just too broken to fix, I know she already hears that enough about her mother so I find something else to say. “What does the other part of you want?” I ask, praying there’s another option for her.
She blinks before turning her attention to me. “The other part of me wants to give the ring back and never interact with him again.”
I nod slowly, old experiences flooding back. After a long moment of collecting my thoughts, Mae lets out a loud grunt and throws her pillow across the room. “Ugh, why can’t I meet a guy as respectful and as in love with me as Dalton is with you.”
The comment takes me aback, but as my cheeks warm, I understand that maybe our feelings haven’t been as discreet as we thought. I try to throw her off even though I know she won’t buy it. “Oh, honey, it’s not like that with us. At least not right now—”
“But you want it to be, right?”
I stutter for a moment, nearly forgetting why I came here.
“We are not talking about me right now.” I grab for the ring and hold it up between us.
“Frankly, I don’t want you anywhere near Trenton by yourself, but”—I lower the ring and take in the glistening stone—“speaking from past experience, I understand wanting to give back the ring. I understand you wanting closure from that.”
“Raleigh?” I hadn’t noticed the way emotion had been filling my voice, but when Mae calls my name with such pity, I know I have to rein it in. “Raleigh, you gave Grant his ring back, didn’t you?”
I let out an embarrassed laugh remembering the day I nearly dropped it down the drain on purpose. “No, actually,” I start. Fidgeting with the ring once more, I reach behind me and drop it onto the coffee table. “No, I pawned it.”
Mae gasps. “You didn’t?”
“Instantly regretted it.” Even though it is the truth, I feel a cold smile twisting my lips. “He left me here with no way to make money so I did what I had to do.”
“Did he ever ask for it back?”
“No, he didn’t. I think he knew our whole relationship was a mistake.” My stomach drops, thinking about Grant and another one of his rings on another girl’s finger. “I guess I’ll have to fess up when I see him,” I mumble, knowing it’s time to come clean on why I’m here.
“Well, I’ll have to think about it.” Mae curls back up, and out of risk of her going back under again, I reach out and grab her hand.
“I told you I was here with good news.” This instantly perks her right back up. Her eyes find mine and there’s finally a bit of life to them. “We’ve been approved for another show.”
“I have a hard time believing anyone at the label signed off, knowing the ‘fragile state’ I’m currently in.” I cringe at the titles she’s adopted from the news but know this is the time to push her.
“They signed off on it because it didn’t cost them any money or any of their own time or planning. It’s low risk, nothing flashy.”
Mae narrows her eyes at me. “What’d you do?”
“Listen, the way I see this whole nasty business is that we either let Trenton and the stalker and shitty Nashville practices beat us, or we put on a show built off of our hard work. You and your band don’t need all the fancy fanfare. Anyone would kill to have you as a headliner.”
“But who would, right now, in the midst of all of this drama?”
I fight the urge to roll my eyes. “You’ve got to stop doom scrolling. I promise it’s not as bad as your feed is making it sound. If I’m not worried then there’s no reason for you to be because I worry about everything when it comes to you.”
“Okay, so where are we going? And when?” Mae slowly untucks herself and I grin.
“It only took one phone call to that massive outdoor amphitheater in Eureka Springs, Arkansas—”
“Oh, Raleigh, you can’t go home. You hate it there!”
Hate is a stronger word than I would use, but not visiting there in three years might be enough evidence to suggest that I should start using it.
“I really should see my parents,” I manage to say.
Mae won’t let her scrutinizing gaze dissipate.
Sighing, I continue with my truths. “It was only a matter of time. If they had to come here to visit again, I think my mom would just decide to move here and we cannot have that.”
“You’re truly okay with it all? It’s a small town, and they all know you.”
“After watching you take this big step in ending things with Trenton, I think it’s time that I also have a few mature conversations with some people.
I’ve been putting a lot of things off for a long time.
” Visualizing a dinner with Grant and his fiancé makes me want to throw up, but I take a stabilizing breath instead.
“I’ll go a few days early to get all my shit sorted out before you get there. Nobody needs any more stress.”
“You should take Dalton with you,” she teases.
“Welcome him into the messy side of my life? Yeah, no thanks.”
“He wouldn’t mind,” she sings, playfully pushing at my shoulder.
I know he wouldn’t. In fact, he’d be my biggest supporter. Still, I’m not ready for that step, even if Mae thinks I am. “I’m seeing him tonight, but I doubt–”
Mae practically leaps to her feet on the couch and starts jumping up and down. “Like a date?”
“Not like a date,” I say, leaping to my feet to grab her by the arms. She slowly stops bouncing. “I want to go over details with him about the show. He’s been bored out of his mind just waiting for you to do something away from here.”
“I give you all this time and space to finally get together and now you’re telling me you haven’t hung out once?”
I shrug. “You bring us together.”
Through a snort, she addresses me, “I pray to God that is not fully true.”
“Maybe not fully. Still, without you, we never would have met. Without you, I wouldn’t be seeing him at the bar tonight.”
“Girl!” Mae feigns a fainting spell and lands flat on her back on the couch. “Don’t spend your whole time talking about me!”
“I hadn’t planned on it, but it is the top of the meeting notes I’ve written out. I mean there’s at least five different things that—”
“Raleigh,” she groans, interrupting me.
“Yeah?” I say softly, looking up.
“Just enjoy the time with him,” she says from behind the hand that’s splayed across her face.
I can’t do anything but coyly smile as my cheeks heat.
Soon the sweetness in the room grows to be too much for me, so I throw a pillow at her and reach for the remote.
“Just hush and watch the rest of your movie.” With the TV back on and the stream reloaded, I retrace my steps back toward my bag in the kitchen.
Maneuvering to the island that separates the cooking area from the living room, I pull out my laptop and phone with the intent of getting work done.
“You better be texting him right now—”
“And if I’m not?” I crow, turning a boring notes app in her direction.
“If you don’t start right now, I'm going to text him and tell him that you’re thinking about him.”
“Alright, alright. I’ll text him that you’re out of toilet paper and are having an emergency and you need him.”
“Rude!” she yells before finally turning back to watch the rest of the film.