Today wasn’t about her. Or the band. It was about Hunter. This marriage was the right move for him. Hadley was well spoken and sophisticated and would be the perfect wife for his booming career. Also, she wasn’t staring down a future full of boundaries and limitations like Mackenzie was.
Hunter’s career was on course to go the distance. He deserved a partner up to the challenge. Most of Mackenzie’s life hadbeena challenge, and that said nothing of how squirrelly it was about to become. What she needed was a safe place to recover.
A quiet place to regroup.
“Tonight, at the rehearsal, when Pastor John said, ‘Speak now or forever hold your peace,’ by not speaking up, I nonverbally verbally agreed to the silence-forever clause. And I take nonverbal verbal agreements seriously.” She sent Brody a pretty convincing smile. “You, as my agent, should know these things.”
Brody rested a hand on hers, and she forced herself to remain still, to suppress her surprise at the unexpected contact. “What I know is that you have two choices: either say something or walk. Both will tear you up, but the not knowing ... that’s what will haunt you forever. Trust me.”
Mackenzie did trust Brody. It was why she’d confided in him about her situation. That, and he was morally obligated as her agent to keep her secrets. Even from his biggest client, and relative, Hunter.
“I’ll be all right,” she assured him. “I just need some time.”
All Mackenzie knew about love was sacrifice. As the only child of a single mom, she’d learned it was easier to say she was all right, even if she wasn’t. As an adult, she’d learned to just keep smiling when things got rough. But nothing about this moment was ever going to be all right.
She could tell Hunter she was finally over her mom’s death and ready for a relationship.
But that would be a lie. And Mackenzie had promised never to lie to herself again. Even for love. She’d done that once and lost her mom—the single most important person in her world. She’d only recently gained the strength to find closure, leaving behind the binding web of guilt and heartache. Only to discover that the universe had a sick sense of humor and the heartache was just beginning. At least for her, and she refused to burden Hunter with that.
It might not seem like it now, but this change was for the best—for everyone involved.
“What’s one more haunt to keep me company?” Mackenzie picked up her shot and, with a salute, downed it, then stood.
She’d known what needed to happen when she’d RSVPed to the rehearsal. Without a backward glance, she moved toward the door. In her attempt to go unnoticed, she knocked over a barstool and, unaccustomed to wearing anything higher than cowgirl boots, stumbled into something strong, solid, and body-meltingly warm.
“Where are you sneaking off to, Trouble?” Hunter asked, and that low, gravelly southern drawl that made him a superstar rolled right through her.
“I don’t sneak,” she said, refusing to meet his gaze, since his BS meter was always dialed to interrogation setting.
“I know sneaking when I see it. And you’re sneaking. Out of my rehearsal dinner.”
“I’m not sneaking,” she said, looking at his hands. His big, masculine, almost-married hands that had grabbed her waist to keep her from falling. “And for your information, I was looking for the ladies’ room.”
“The ladies’ room is behind you. And the exit, which you were making a beeline for, would be in front of you. Just past the rose garden, the horde of guests waiting for supper, and your pride.”
“Fine,” she admitted. “I was sneaking.”
“I know.” He soundedsosmug. “You always look like you’re two seconds from crying when you’re contemplating something illegal.”
She snorted. “Leaving a dinner at which you aren’t obligated to pick up the tab is hardly illegal.”
“It is when my fiancée thinks my best friend hates her,” he said quietly.
Well, isn’t that just great?
“I don’t hate Hadley,” she said, looking up and—oh God, how was she ever going to say goodbye when those warm blue eyes of his drew her in.
They were deep and bright, and the color of a gentle rolling sea. So mesmerizing she was actually standing in a poufy dress in the middle of a wedding rehearsal, waxing poetic.
She needed to get a grip.
“Then what’s going on?” he asked. “You bailed on the last few weeks of the tour, you cut out of the bachelor weekend early, and you’ve been avoiding us all night.”
You. I’ve been avoiding you.
“Jesus, Hunter, I help you write songs. That’s it.” Her throat closed, because after tonight she wouldn’t even be able to do that. “So when we wrapped on the last song for the album, I decided it was time to come home.”
Just because Hunter treated her as if she were a full-fledged member of the band, it didn’t make it so.
