Chapter Twenty-Eight
Itousled my creamy brown curls, giving them a little extra love when the doorbell chime rang.
“Coming,” I yelled.
“Sorry to bother you, Scarlett, but Stetson wanted me to give you this before we left for the concert. I’ll be down in the lobby whenever you’re ready to go,” Michael said.
“Oh, thank you!” I said, taking the large black bag from his hands. “I’ll only need a few minutes and then I’ll be down.”
“Take your time,” he insisted. “As long as we’re out of here by four, we should be good.”
“Sounds good.” I shut the door, eager to open the bag.
I put it on the kitchen counter, the creamy granite complementing the luxe black bag.
“What did you get me, Stetson Walker?”
I plucked the white tissue paper and tossed it to the side. A large box, similar to the bag, sat perfectly inside with a small white envelope attached to it.
Handwritten, the note read:
I had no idea what it could be, and my eyebrows scrunched together even further at the word Lucchese etched on the outside. I opened the box and the smell of leather infiltrated my nose.
I sucked in a breath.
I lifted the final piece of tissue paper and exposed the familiar pair of boots I’d seen too many times. “No fucking way.”
The black leather and detailed stitching had been etched into my brain ever since I first saw them. The exact pair of boots I’d wanted since forever were now mine. Because of him.
I ripped my phone from the counter.
“How did you know?” I asked as soon as I heard the phone click on the other end.
“That doesn’t sound like much of a thank you.”
“Stetson, I’m serious. How in the hell did you figure out I wanted boots, let alone these specific ones?”
I racked my brain trying to pinpoint how he’d known…
“Because every single thing you say sits permanently on the shelves of my brain,” he said before I heard someone in the background calling his name. “I have to go do soundcheck, but you better be wearing those boots when I see you tonight.”
He hung up the phone before I could even respond.
Exhilaration stemmed through me as I slid my feet into the shoes. They fit perfectly. I rushed to the chunky wooden full-length mirror he had plastered on the hallway wall, desperate to see them on me and with this outfit.
My reflection shined from the buzz of adrenaline. The boots, the outfit, the plans… everything was perfect.
Well, almost everything.
“Damn, I’ve never seen a denim dress look that good.
” His voice thundered from behind me in the dimly lit backstage area that Michael had showed me to.
“And I sure as hell never thought I’d prefer the view backstage over the view out there,” he said, planting his body against my back and leaning his head over my shoulder.
“But then again, never did I think I’d find someone like you. ”
“The boots are perfect,” I blurted. “Thank you.” I’d realized I never said thank you while driving over here, and I wanted him to know how much they meant to me. It wasn’t just the boots; it was the fact that he’d listened and then went out of his way to do this for me.
“You don’t remember, do you?” he questioned, taking my hand in his and turning me until we faced each other, tugging me closer until my hands rested on his chest. “The first time we hooked up, I was taking your boots off and I said we needed to get you some new ones. You said ‘Not until I can get the ones I want.’ So, I asked Magnolia, and sure as shit, she said there was a pair you’ve been wanting for years.
I knew I wanted to get them for you, so I did. ”
My arms draped around his neck. “You done good, that’s for sure. The thought of it all means more than anything else. So, thank you. You’ve made this girl very happy.” I beamed.
“I think that’s two times today,” he said, his famous shit-eating grin on full display.
“And here I was hoping it’d be three…”
The little muscles in his jaw tensed before he pressed his mouth to mine, planting a soft kiss before breaking us apart. “The day isn’t over yet,” he taunted. “Now, come here, I wanna show you something.”
I’d been so swept up in our conversation that I hadn’t even realized the loud music coming from the stage.
“That’s eighteen-year-old Ella Swift. She’s one of my openers. Writes all of her own songs and beats to her own drum despite what all the big record labels have told her. She’s gonna be the next big thing, and when she is, I’ll get to say I was a fan since the beginning. How cool is that?”
I peered from behind a thick velvet curtain, spotting the young girl on stage.
She had fringe from her head to her toes and her guitar was basically as big as she was, but despite the size of her instrument, she bounced around that stage like no one I’d ever seen before.
Her energy was addictive, so much so that I found myself struggling to look away.
But when I did, I caught Stetson’s proud smile, and I couldn’t help but mirror him.
The fact that he was using his resources to help others succeed brought an attractiveness to him that could never be measured.
“I loved it. She really is incredible.”
“She is. But that’s not really what I wanted to show you,” he admitted. “See that girl in the front row?”
I looked back at him over my shoulder. “You do realize that this crowd is like ninety percent female, right? And the front row might actually be completely female.”
He chuckled. “No, no. The young girl who’s front and center with the brown hair up on top of her head and a smile so big it looks like it might run off her face.”
I scanned the front row until I landed on the description he’d given me. Front and center stood a young girl, barely tall enough to look over the barricade in front of the stage. He wasn’t wrong; she was beaming so big you could almost feel her excitement from here.
“Oh yeah, I see her,” I confirmed, while taking in everything happening around her. “I sure hope she’s with one of those other women because she looks a little too young to be here by herself.”
“Don’t worry, she’s with me,” he said, very nonchalantly.
“Wait, what? What do you mean she’s with you?” I questioned.
“See that big burly man in all black standing on this side of the barricade? He’s also part of my security and his only job tonight is to make sure she’s safe. She insisted on being front row, and this is the first time she’s been to one of my big concerts, so I couldn’t let her down.”
I shifted my gaze to get a better view of him and noted a look of awe twinkling in the reflection of his eyes. It was obvious in the way he spoke about her that she was someone he deeply cared for, but exactly who remained unclear.
“Who is she?” I asked, then quickly added, “Obviously you don’t have to tell me. I was just curious, because it’s clear she’s very important to you.”
His elbows dropped to my shoulders as he folded his arms tightly around my chest. “Why would I point her out if I didn’t want to share that with you?”
“Fair point,” I admitted, lifting my hands until they gripped his forearms, trying to find a sense of stability to calm my racing mind.
“When is it going to get through that pretty little head of yours that I want to share everything with you?” The warmth from his voice tickled the inside of my ear.
“That’s Ruby.” This time his voice wasn’t strong and confident like before.
No, this time, the cracks in his words told a much sadder story.
Ruby.
“Oh my god. I don’t know how I didn’t put two and two together,” I said.
“Probably because you assumed the worst-case scenario—as you tend to do.”
“Very funny,” I pushed back, but he wasn’t wrong.
I looked back out at the crowd. My heart sank as I spotted her again, out there looking so much braver than she had a few moments ago.
The joy on her face was pure, but when I looked harder, I noticed the heartbreak too.
She carried it in the way her shoulders hunched over just a bit too far.
The way her chin hung lower than it should.
But more than anything, the way there seemed to be an invisible weight dangling above her head.
“That poor girl,” I said, squeezing his forearms. “I can’t imagine what her world must feel like.” I swallowed, forcing down the vile taste of the lie I’d just spewed because I could imagine that kind of pain.
Kind of, at least.
“She truly is one of the strongest people I’ve ever met and she’s only thirteen.
I admire the courage and resilience she’s shown over the last year.
Most adults in her situation would’ve crumbled.
Hell, I almost did, and yet through it all she’s consistently been my anchor.
Honestly, she’s the reason…” He paused, moving his mouth closer to my ear.
“Or at least most of the reason why I’m where I’m at today.
” His words lingered in the air, giving my brain a chance to filter through them, a flutter rumbling in my depths when I realized what he was insinuating.
I wanted to turn around and kiss him, but I didn’t want to ruin this moment either, because while I’d heard him be vulnerable before, this time was different. This felt so much more personal, like I was touching his vulnerability with my hands instead of listening to it with my ears.
“Like I told you before, this new album is for her,” he said.
A soft chuckle left my mouth, riding on the back of my breath. “Have I mentioned that I’m very grateful she’s the her you were referring to?” I asked, my eyes blinking before dropping from his gaze.
He took my chin between his thumb and forefinger, lifting it until our eyes met once again.
“I haven’t been with a single woman since the accident.
I promised myself I was done with all the bullshit, the random hookups, and the meaningless sex that was nothing but a quick fix and a way for me to continue to numb myself.
I wanted the next time I was with someone to mean something, to be significant, something I was proud of.
And then you strolled into my life,” he said, repositioning my face again so our eyes locked.
“That night at Booker’s party, I remember looking up and thanking my lucky stars that it was you. ”
His lips fell to mine, gentler than they had been earlier.
“And just so we’re clear, when I left you on Christmas Eve, I was flying back to Nashville so that I could spend Christmas with Ruby. It was her first one without her parents, and I wouldn’t miss that for anything. I couldn’t. Even though it felt hard to leave you too, I knew you’d understand.”
“Of course I would’ve understood. Your commitment to her is…
” I shook my head because I wasn’t quite sure how to explain what I was feeling.
This man was so much more than I’d ever given him credit for, and he continued to prove me wrong over and over again.
“It’s admirable. She’s lucky to have someone like you,” I said.
The emotion of it all had tears forming behind my eyelids, pooling in the corners of my eyes. I swallowed, forcing them back. “But wait, how did you get back to Nashville that day? My parents said all the flights had been cancelled.”
His chuckle forewarned me that some smart-ass comment was coming.
“Remember that plane you rode on today? Private planes have far less restrictions than commercial flights,” he noted.
“Why didn’t you just tell me you were going to Nashville to be with Ruby instead of jumping up and walking out?”
He raised an eyebrow. “You’d just told me that your parents weren’t going to be able to make it Quincey Falls for Christmas because their flight had been cancelled.
You were clearly upset, so for me to then turn around and rub it in your face that my flight was still able to make it, well, that didn’t really seem very considerate.
The last thing I wanted to do was hurt your feelings even more than I already had by leaving. ”
The tiny wrinkles between my eyebrows appeared. “That’s fair.”
“Not to mention, that was still very early on in our situation, and I had no idea where you stood with anything, so runnin’ my mouth about all my personal shit seemed like a lot.”
“I would’ve listened,” I stressed.
“I know you would’ve. That’s something I love about you. You have the ability to make me want to share every nitty gritty detail, even the shitty ones, because I know, no matter what, you’ll always be listening.”
Had he just said that was something he loved about me?
This time I couldn’t stop myself from pulling his face closer to mine, the scruff on his jawline poking my palms. “You might just end up proving me wrong after all.” A flash of want decorated his expression as I planted a much less gentle kiss on his lips, letting myself into his mouth.
“Stetson, you’ve got five minutes until you’re on stage,” a voice huffed from behind him.
Startled, I ripped my mouth away.
A very official-looking woman with a headset stood with her arms crossed firmly over her body. “Here,” she said, handing him two tiny black earpieces and a matching square box that he shoved in his back pocket. “I’ll be right there, Linda. Give us a second.”
She walked away, her feet carrying annoyance with each step.
“She doesn’t seem very happy with you.”
“She’ll be fine,” he insisted, resting his hands on my hips before guiding me toward him. “In fairness to her, she’s had to deal with a lot of shit from me, so she errs on the side of caution when it comes to shows especially because there’s been more than once that I’ve ended up MIA.”
I pushed my hands against his chest and knew the feeling of his strong upper body under my hands would never not be comforting. “Well, no wonder she’s annoyed. I would be too,” I joked.
“Ha. Yeah, tell me about it,” he agreed.
“You know how you’re a little wary of who I am?
Well, so is everyone else. Just like I have to prove to you I’m not the person you think I am, it’s my responsibility to do that for everyone else too, especially the people who have stuck by my side through all of it. ”
“Was,” I corrected him. “How I was a little wary.”
His famous smirk that I’d come to love trotted across his face just as he put his hands in my hair and tugged me closer. He drew our mouths together, and with a push of his tongue, worked his way inside of mine.
The music in the background, the taste of him in my mouth, and the compression of our bodies together was unlike any adrenaline rush I’d ever felt.
“Go get ’em.”
He planted one more kiss on my lips before fitting his earpieces into each ear and jogging onto the stage. Just before the spotlight hit him, he stopped, turning back to face me, and shot me a wink and a smile that I would’ve bottled up forever if I could’ve.