Chapter 26 Taylor
G
Good morning, Stella.
Missed sleeping next to you last night.
I am freaking out. Did I miss him last night? Yes. Did I sleep in his bed instead of mine? Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t.
But waking up this morning to that text and his scent surrounding me has me in my head. I need to talk this out, and it’s time I confide in my best friend.
If anyone will understand how I’m feeling, it’s Gabby.
She was as closed off to love as I am. Was, because she has Chase now, and she may not talk about it, but I know she’s in love with him.
Maybe we can compare woes and figure this out together.
Unfortunately, I highly doubt she’s home right now, and if she is, surely she’s not presentable after the way her and Chase were eye-fucking each other yesterday.
I’ll have to wait until it’s time for him to report to the stadium for the game later today and then go to her house.
My phone rings on the counter when I’m making my coffee, Allie’s name flashing on the screen for a FaceTime call. I swipe to answer and her face fills the screen, her pixie haircut is sticking out in all different directions, the style as eclectic as she is.
“Hey, Allie, how are you?”
“I’m good. I’m good. I couldn’t wait. How did it go yesterday?”
Propping my phone up against the paper towel holder on the counter, I lean back in the barstool with my coffee in hand to chat. “It went well. The turnout was fantastic. Chase did great and the entire team came out to support him.”
“And the puppies?” She’s brimming with excitement, and I feel bad for not flying her out to enjoy the event.
“I’ll need to check in with the centers, but I think it was a very good adoption event for them.”
“Yay! I hate the idea of those little guys in kennels.” I love my soft-heart assistant.
“They are well taken care of, I’m sure of it.”
“Still, there’s nothing like a loving home. Did you adopt anyone yesterday?”
I laugh at her thinking I’m going to randomly adopt a pet. Not that I’m against it, but I’m the furthest thing from settled right now.
“No, but one of my friends left with a golden retriever puppy.”
“Who? Ivory?”
“Miller.” I missed the introduction to Cooper, the puppy, but I have no doubt Miller will be blowing up the group chat about his new addition very soon. This is either going to be the cutest thing known to man or a disaster.
She scrunches her nose. “How is he going to train a puppy when he’s on the road all the time?”
“Who knows.”
Miller does what Miller does, and who are we to question him?
“So what’s up? When are you coming back? Do I need to arrange a flight? Hotel? Tell me what you need.” Picking up a pen, she taps it on her notepad expectantly.
“I’m going to stay here for a bit. The girls and I are going to go to the games this week, and there’s nothing waiting for me in LA or New York, so may as well stick around here.”
“And are you staying with Grant?”
“I’m still in his penthouse, but he went to New York.”
She sighs. “Bummer.”
“Allie!” I shake my head at her disappointed look.
“What? A girl can hope. I mean I don’t know how you live with that man and not beg him to spend all of his time between your legs.” She pauses and wistfully adds, “Or on top of you. Under you. Behind you. On his knees for you.”
Great, now I’m thinking about all the ways I want Grant to do every single one of those things—multiple times.
“Allie, stop.”
“What’s that, boss? You’re thinking about it aren’t you.” She smirks.
“I hate you.”
“No, you don’t.” She flits around her apartment, making a cup of coffee like she needs more energy. “Oh, guess who sent you an email.”
“Who?” I play along, knowing this is her favorite game.
“Landon Crue,” she exclaims and fans herself. I can’t help my chuckle at her silliness.
“What did he say?”
“He wants a meeting,” she says, walking back into her office.
“Fantastic. Set it up.”
She purses her lips and sets the phone down on her desk. “What do I look like, an amateur? I already did.”
I chuckle. She’s been with me for years, and by now we’re a well-oiled machine—always anticipating the other’s move. “Did you ask what he wanted to meet about?”
“Why yes, I sure did.” She nods her head.
Rolling my eyes, I wave my hand for her to spit it out. “And?”
“He mentioned that he saw you at the coffee shop recently and said you’d be his first call.”
I fist bump the air. I was hoping that he was reaching out to talk about me taking over as his agent.
“Yes, amazing. Okay so we need a pitch deck. I want you to reach out to all the brands we’ve had on pause for a holiday engagement.
We’re going to need them all. Don’t tell them who the talent is—just get a temperature on their interest.”
Allie diligently takes notes on all my instructions. “What do you want me to tell them to hook them?”
“Tell them you have it on good authority that an up-and-coming talent in a big production is looking for the right partnerships to help promote for the holiday season.”
I make a mental note to also chat with Ivory about how Serentia can sweeten the pot for any potential deals.
“I can do that today. He wants to meet with you the day after tomorrow.”
“Virtual or in-person?”
“He says he’s in Nashville.”
“Huh, interesting. Figured he’d be back in LA.”
She shrugs. “Maybe he’s also enjoying the quiet life.”
“I need to find a space to meet,” I say, already pondering where I’m going to host a potential client.
I could set it up in a meeting room at the hotel, or the restaurant.
Maybe Mary has an empty conference room at the office I could borrow.
He was at the coffee shop, so we could do it there if there aren’t any other options, but it’s confidential so I don’t want to meet in public if at all possible.
I could invite him here. How would Grant feel about another man in his space while he’s not here?
Nope. I veto that idea. Zero percent chance that goes over well.
Allie interrupts my inner monologue. “I think Landon is a baseball fan so maybe you can talk to your hot roommate about hosting him at the game on Thursday.”
Now, that could work.
“Brilliant. I’ll text Grant and ask. The owner’s box would be the perfect meeting location. We can do the pitch in the box, then he can watch warm-ups and any of the local production crew can watch the game too.”
“I can reach out to see who all is in town if that’s helpful.”
“You’re the best, Allie.”
“Don’t you forget it.” She winks at me. “I better go. My boss just gave me a week’s worth of work to do in like two days.”
“Bye.” I hang up and dance around the kitchen. I’ve been hoping to snag Landon Crue as a client since Ivory tapped him to play the male lead in her movie.
Pulling out my phone, I text Grant.
ME
Morning. Missed you too.
Would you be okay if I used the Owner’s Box for a client meeting on Thursday?
I finish my coffee, make breakfast, check my email, and take a shower before Grant responds.
G
Of course.
Needing out of the house, I head to Gabby’s house in the hopes her and Chase are finished doing god knows what, but when I make it to her place, her car isn’t in the driveway.
Maybe she went to get breakfast and ended up chatting with Jeni.
With that in mind, I drive to the coffee shop instead, parking on the small side street and walking through the bright blue door.
Stepping in, there are a few people scattered around the small cafe, but none of them are Gabby.
“Welcome in, I’ll be with you in a moment.” Jeni calls from the back when the bell above the door jingles.
“Hey, Jeni.” I greet her as she makes her way to the register, dusting off her hands on her apron.
“Oh hey, Taylor. If you’re not careful, I’m going to get used to you showing your face here.” I smile at that, loving the idea of being a regular on a more permanent basis.
“I thought maybe Gabby might be here.”
“Haven’t seen her today.” Jeni shakes her head.
“I’ll take a latte then.”
“For here or to go?”
“Here. I can hang for a bit.”
“I was hoping you’d say that. I’m a bit short staffed today, but I can talk for a bit while you get caffeinated.”
“Perfect.” I shoot a quick text to Gabby to see where she is while Jeni makes my coffee.
ME
What are you doing?
“What’s new, Jeni?” I take the offered mug and settle onto the stool in front of her. She leans her elbows on the counter and sighs as she stretches her back.
“I’m so tired.” She laughs. “With school starting back up, I need more help.”
“What happened to the girls who are normally here during the rush?”
“One of them goes to college out of state and the other has classes in the morning. She helps me close now, but I need someone in the morning.”
“I’ll keep an ear out for you. Do you want me to post online that you’re looking for help?”
“That would be amazing, Taylor, thank you.”
“Do you have an online application, or should they just message you on socials?”
“DM is fine. If they’re local, they can just stop by.”
Picking up my phone again, I take a video of the shop and post it to my stories with a caption “My favorite coffee shop in Nashville is hiring. Message @farfallinacafe or stop by to inquire.”
“Done.”
She beams at me. “What are you up to? You’ve been in town a lot lately.”
“I was helping the Troubadours with their Bark in the Park event yesterday.”
“Oh, how fun! I was going to stop by but couldn’t make it out in time.”
“Next time.” I assure her as another customer walks in.
We catch up between customers, and by lunch, Gabby still hasn’t responded so I order us some sandwiches to go and head back to her house.
She’s not home. Weird.
Chase should’ve been at the clubhouse by now, and I don’t remember her saying she planned to work at the office today. Letting myself in, I eat lunch and make myself comfortable at her dining table.
A few hours later, Gabby pulls into the driveway and slowly comes inside. Her eyes are void of emotion and her shoulders are slumped. She looks absolutely defeated.
“What are you doing here?” Her monotone voice has me on alert.
“I brought lunch over. I texted you.”
She rifles through her bag until she finds her phone. “Oh, sorry. Didn’t see it.”
“Where were you?”
“I was at the coffee shop getting some work done.”
Liar, liar, pants on fire.
“Hm.”
“Is the sandwich in the fridge?”
“Yeah,” I eye her warily, trying to piece together what could’ve changed between yesterday and today.
“Did you and Chase have a fight?”
“What? No.”
“Then what’s going on?”
“Nothing. Just tired.” She gives me a pathetic grin and sits down at the table with her food.
“Are you sure that’s all it is?”
Shoving a big bite in her mouth, she speaks around the food, “Yep.”
“Okay.”
I don’t want to pry but everything about her screams not okay.
Gabby’s still quiet when we leave for the game later.
Ivory even notices and asks her what’s wrong, but Gabby offers a lame excuse about it being a busy time.
At least keep your lies straight, my girl.
Nothing gets her out of the funk. Not even Ivory and me teasing her about how hot Chase winking at her while biting his jersey is.
Instead, she closes in on herself more as the night goes on.
So much for talking about my predicament with Grant.