“I think so.” I follow them out of the house. Travis takes her suitcase to the truck while we say goodbye. I don’t know what to say. I guess Harmony doesn’t really either. She raises on hertoes, presses a soft kiss to my lips, and walks down the steps. She doesn’t look back as she crawls into the back seat of the vehicle.
I offer one last wave as they pull out from the front of the house. In a few minutes, they’re down the road. Just like that, our time is over. I don’t want to go back in the house. It’ll feel too empty without her in it. Reacher must feel the same as he presses against me. His mournful gaze meets mine.
“I know, boy,” I say, patting his head. “I already miss her too.”
sixteen
HARMONY
The worst thingyou can do when your heart is breaking is to turn around and look over your shoulder. That’s exactly what I do. Well, not quite, it was more like a face pressed against the window experience. Same thing, though.
The last thing I see is Beau standing on the porch, his jeans tucked into his boots and a stocking cap pulled over his messy hair. Reacher sits pressed against his leg.
Neither Travis nor Trace even try to say any words of comfort. I wouldn’t have listened anyway. My heart is waging a war inside.
Everything inside me wants to turn right back around, but I know I have obligations that take me away. How can somewhere you’ve only known a few short days already feel like home? I’m already homesick, and we’ve barely cleared the gate.
“Are we passing the Dairy Queen on the way?” I ask.
“Yeah, why?” Travis answers.
“Because I could use the biggest ass dipped cone they can make.” That’s one of the best things about being back in Texas. The ice cream places never close. You can still get an ice creamcone with a foot of snow on the ground. Except it’s Christmas and even Dairy Queen isn’t open on Christmas.
I slump in my seat and try to run through everything I need to do when I get to Austin. My assistant will need to be on the top of that list. She’ll book me a flight to catch up with the tour.
Then, I guess I should call my family and let them know I’m alive. I’m not sure they’ll have noticed that I’ve been out of touch. They might be further down the list.
We finally pass into cell phone range, and mine goes nuts. Notifications light it up like there’s no tomorrow.
I should be grateful that Travis let me charge it in the truck as we lumber along. I’m not really. It was nice to be so far off the grid for a little while. I scroll through the messages hoping, in the back of my mind, that there’s one from Beau. There’s not.
Robin, however, has left enough for a novel. There are also enough voicemails to fill up the phone and emails stacked on top of emails. Gross.
Beau and I never discussed if we would stay in touch. I’ve heard the best thing would be just to move on. I should go cold turkey, no contact whatsoever. I don’t know if I’m that strong.
“So,” Travis finally says. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, great. No problems here. Just peachy. Can’t wait to get back on the road. Yep, just call me living the dream,” I answer.
They share a look I understand immediately. It says, she might be losing it. They might be right. “Shit,” I groan. “Why didn’t you warn me it was so easy to fall for your brother?”
“Then, you did fall for him?”
“Yes.” I’m so miserable. They give me a reprieve by staying silent for much of the drive. Eventually, we pull up to the hotel I stayed at last time. “Thanks, Travis. Please come see me guys. I’d love that.”
“Harmony,” Travis says, turning around in his seat. Trace gets out to help me with my bag. It’s probably an attempt to give us a little privacy. “Whatever happens from here, you know you can always go home, right?”
I don’t really understand what he’s talking about. Nashville is my home now. “Home will be right where you left him,” he adds. Oh. I squeeze his arm and open my door.
Giving Trace one last hug, I take my bag from him and wheel it through the hotel door.
Travis makes everything seem so easy, but he’s wrong. Life is never that simple. There is always something keeping you away from the thing that will make you happiest. It’s best just to smile and press forward. I’m sure Beau will soon be just a sweet distant memory.
I check in and call Robin on my way to my room. My mind is soon whirling with schedules, appearances, studio time, and a myriad of other things. I hang up with her and take a long, hot shower.
Room service delivers dinner that I eat in one of the fuzzy robes before falling into a bed that feels like a cloud. None of it makes me smile. I fall to sleep dreaming about Beau snuggled up against me on that lumpy, old pull-out couch.
The next morning, I’m woken bright and early by banging on my door. Hair and makeup are standing outside when I open it. Heaven forbid me catching a flight to Arizona not looking perfectly coifed.
