27. Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Betty
H e didn’t run.
I snuggle into the crook of Laredo’s arm, or should I say Zekiel’s arm. We are splayed out, fully clothed, on the couch. The same place we’ve been all night. A night we’ve barely slept, choosing instead to do something different—slow down and talk. An entire night of sharing and getting to know each other.
I revealed the emotional roller coaster I’ve been on since I first read the positive pregnancy test. Every fear, every half step, bad decision, and freak-out that’s occurred. His judgment-free eyes allowed me to release every word, some I’ve not uttered out loud to anyone.
He listened. And he stayed.
He opened up about how much his life has changed since he last left Seaside. The pride, discussing his sister’s musical career taking off. The ups and downs of his and Adam’s complex relationship. But most of all, he shared how much he struggled with the one thing that had always been his escape: his music. Losing his contract, failing at every turn ever since. The blow to his ego, playing dive bars for tips, questioning the way he’d chosen to lead his life.
He doesn’t sugarcoat it. He didn’t blame others for his misfortune. He didn’t smirk his way through the difficult parts that didn’t show him in the best of light.
My dad’s words ring in my head: You’ll never know what you’ve built is solid until you’ve had it shaken to its core and find out if it will continue to stand.
Zekiel takes ownership of his past behavior, responsibility for the poor choices and shortcuts that have led him to where he is today.
I think I’m going to like this Zekiel guy.
“Hey, you,” Laredo whispers when he captures me zoning out, my mind racing in thirteen different directions, opportunities ahead of us I never once considered as possibilities. His finger pushes my hair from my eyes.
“We fell out.” I rest my chin on his chest, my fingers picking at an invisible piece of lint, a transparent excuse to touch him. “Did you get any rest?”
A smile pulls on his lips. “I had the greatest dream of a beautiful woman falling asleep in my arms.” His hand strokes my upper back. “But the reality is so much better.” He presses a soft kiss on the top of my head, and I lean into it.
I’m still in disbelief that we are here, like this, after the bombshell that was dropped on him. “Hey.” He pulls me out of my rabbit hole. “I’m close enough to hear the grinding of the gears in your head. Don’t overthink it.” His words are perfect. He has been so kind, so patient. So right.
He’s shown to me that I don’t need to withhold my thoughts from him. It feels good to let my words tumble out. “What next?” I don’t expand. With my history revealed, we can finally step onto the same page.
“A proper date,” he responds as if it’s the only choice. “We’ve always experienced each other in the fun-and-games phase. Let’s go out on a proper date. You and I.”
It’s not until he says it that I realize how true it is. Laredo and I met and moved at a hundred miles an hour. We had the ticking clock of the festival schedule in the back of our minds and tried to compress everything into a week. “I’d like that.” If we expect a different outcome, we’ll need to do things differently.
“I’ll pick you up after I finish at the studio tonight.” He shifts his shoulders and begins to push up.
“Right.” I mask the disappointment flooding my veins. “Ariel and Adam.” This time, the resignation filters out. We may have decided to move at a slower pace, but the ticking clock still exists. He’s only in town for a few more days. Once Ariel has her new sound, he’ll be done with his assignment. He’ll be done with this town. Done with me. Again.
“Hey.” His finger finds its way to my chin. He tips it up and captures my gaze. A soft kiss on my lips, and I swoon. “We’ll figure it out.” I sense he wants to say more, but he doesn’t. How could he? We’re in uncharted waters.
“Promise?” I hate the uncertainty in my voice. But I give myself grace. It’ll be different this time. We will talk. We will share all the things that scare us. Nothing will remain unsaid.
“I’ve never been surer of anything in my life.” He flashes the confidence I should possess. The confidence that I find so damn attractive. “This is Zekiel talking.” His smirk sends my heart on a gallop.
I pray he’s right. Last summer felt right to me. The minute he left; things felt off. And my world has been off kilter ever since. With him back and me in his arms, things are starting to feel right again. Things have to be different this time. They have to.
***
I’m on the phone two minutes after Laredo’s departure. I share with Olivia my mother’s visit, the shock of her outing me in front of Laredo, and Laredo’s reaction. “I always knew he’d be able to handle it. He’s more than the flash he presents on the stage. He’s always cared for you, B.”
“Is that why you gave him my address?” I had been too frazzled with the appearance of my mom on my doorstep to even ask how Laredo knew where I lived. “And told him about the bookstore signing?” The pieces come together. She’s always told me she had never seen me happier than I was when I was with Laredo. She pushed me to tell him about the false positive test. Told me after his bar return that I had to confront him. She’s always been there, trying to push us together.
“Don’t hate the player,” she jokes. “After I told you that he was in town, you were either going to skip town or avoid him. You would have never forgiven yourself if you never talked to him. I couldn’t stand by and watch you all twisted up—not again. I had to do something to get you two together—even if only to talk.” She explains her shift from the first night she saw Laredo. “But it sounds like you two did more than talk. He spent the night!” Olivia’s yell nearly blows out my eardrum.
“If you keep screaming like that, I’m going to disconnect,” I say through laughs. Laredo had to head to the studio this morning. Apparently, him turning over a new leaf doesn’t just apply to me. He had mentioned he had ignored Ariel’s butt-crack-of-dawn start time—his words, not mine—the last few days but would report early today as a newly responsible member of the team. He didn’t even object when I told him to bring coffee for them.
“So, did the two of you…” Olivia fumbles over the line, and if she was in front of me, I know for certain she’d be performing lewd hip thrusts.
“Yes!” I tease my friend. “Did it all night long. Fell asleep for a bit, woke in the middle of the night, and did it again.”
“O.M.G. Good riddance to Nun Betty. My party friend is back. I want all the deets,” she demands.
I wish she was in front of me to see her reaction as I pull the rug from underneath her. “About our talk?” I giggle. “That’s what we did all night. Talked.”
“Talked?” I hear the indignation in her voice. “I really hate you.”
“Love you too.” I squeeze the phone and wish it were her. “You’re coming to the summer romance sale, right?” I remind her of the annual book sale the bookstore conducts along the boardwalk. Discounted books and sales while the owner force the employees to dress up as famous literary figures. The theme is always romance. As a resident of town, I’ve always admired the costumes as a spectator. Now, as an employee, I’m not quite as excited.
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world. I can’t wait to see who you come dressed as. You’ve never been the type of girl who believed in happily ever afters. Maybe this is a sign.”
I laugh. She’s right. I’ve lived my life enjoying the moment. The future was always something that just happened.
Since working at the bookstore, I’ve read more romance novels than ever before. I’ve fallen in love with all its elements from the meet-cute, the falling in love, the dark moment, the grand gesture, and, of course, the happily ever after, aka the HEA. “I’ll send you a selfie once I get dressed. Let me know if I’ve slipped to far over to the dork side. I’ve already given this town enough to gossip about already.”
“It’s not like that,” Olivia states, and I know it’s exactly like that. I’ve lived in Seaside all my life. Gossip and small towns go hand in hand. “Besides, you never had that freak-out, stumble in the dark, find-me stage like the rest of us in our early twenties.”
I’m thirty now; I’ve never considered myself a late bloomer. “You do realize your words do not make it better, right?”
“Oops.” Her laugh lets me know she’s not sorry. “Besides, who cares as long as it’s led you to getting your man.” She says it as if it’s a foregone conclusion. It’s not.
“We’re a long way from him being my man.”
“Did he spend the night and you woke up in his arms?”
“Yes.”
“Did he immediately make plans to spend more time with you today?”
I think of our date tonight. “Yeah.”
“Did he tell you things are different this time? All roads lead to him being your man.”
Laredo’s words that I shared with Olivia ricochet back to me. I want to follow her lead and squeal, but I don’t. There are still so many obstacles in our path. None bigger than him living in another state with a profession that keeps him on the road. A road filled with temptations and women who are prettier than I am. How would he ever resist that?
I can’t believe I whisper the phrase, forgetting Olivia is on the line. “My man?” She doesn’t hear the hesitancy in my voice.
But I do.