“What did he say exactly?” I asked, still in disbelief. “Walk me through it.”
She sighed deeply before blowing her nose again. “She asked what we’d be doing after this, and Danny immediately said he had this big rock-climbing trip planned with his friends. They’re going to film it, or something. I said that I had a few gigs to do in the upcoming months, but that I was hoping to visit him. Then I said that I was hoping that he’d come out to Nashville and see me perform.”
She took a shaky inhale before continuing. “He just got really quiet at first. Then he said that he wasn’t sure how that would work with his trip. That it was going to bemonthslong. I told him that I’d just meet him somewhere along the way. He said that’d be hard.”
“That doesn’t sound like Danny.” I guess maybe the Danny I had come to know in here wasn’t the full picture.
“Then the counselor asked him about his life and all the extreme sports that he’s involved with. She said it all seemed quite dangerous. Danny just shrugged and said he was good at them. He took a lot of precautions. She asked me how I felt about it.” Another choked sob. “I s-said that I hoped he would take a break from some of the riskier activities. It makes me nervous thinking about him risking his life like that all the time.”
My heart sank for her. I would have wanted the same thing.
“That didn’t go over well, I take it?”
She laughed sadly. “Not even a little. His jaw clenched like he was angry or something and he said that he wouldn’t be changing his lifestyle. That it was who he is, and if I wasn’t okay with that, then it was good we were learning that now. I tried to backpedal and say I could work on being okay with it. But he had already completely closed off at that point.
“I feel so stupid,” she cried. “Here I am, picturing a whole future. Him visiting me, me visiting him, us working it out—I thought he really cared about me. I’d never felt that way before. But he doesn’t even want to give me a chance. For every compromise I tried to suggest, he just shut me down. When I said we should split time, he said he doesn’t want to spend any time in Nashville. He-he doesn’t even want to come see me sing.” Her last words were so quiet I barely heard them.
“Trace, I’m so sorry.” I gave her a side hug and squeezed her shoulder before letting go. “None of this makes any sense. He literally looks at you with stars in his eyes.”
“He didn’t look at me like that today,” she whispered. “It was like with every question Diana asked, his eyes grew duller and duller until the light flickered out altogether. By the end he couldn’t even look at me.”
We sat there in silence for a little while.
“I don’t even know what to say,” I finally said. “I’m just so shocked. He gave you all the signs, Trace.”
She stared ahead, blinking a few times. “I know. I think he did feel something for me, but when it came time to thinking about our real lives, he couldn’t picture it. I’m this frilly, city-girl princess who wants to be a country star. I’d never fit into his world.”
“You would have fit into his world perfectly,” I insisted. “Anyone would be lucky to have you. He’s an absolute idiot for blowing it like this.” Anger simmered inside me as I thought about it. How could he turn on her that easily? This experience might have been short, but hadn’t it still been transformative?
“It’s fine,” Trace whispered. “I’m used to being the one who never gets chosen.”
My heart nearly broke in two at her crestfallen face.
“Trace—”
“Calla, we’re ready for your interview.” Brady hovered behind us. I hadn’t even heard him approach.
Squeezing Trace’s hand, I shot her an apologetic look.
“Go.” She waved her hands. “I’ll be fine. I’m always fine.”
In the interview room, Brady took it upon himself to tousle my hair a bit so it sat the way he wanted it to.
My mood had shifted completely since my couples counseling with Eli. I had been on cloud nine this morning, but it was hard to be happy when I couldn’t get Trace’s heartbroken sobs out of my mind. While getting out of here felt like an absolute dream to me, Trace didn’t have that same perspective. All of her best moments with Danny had happened in here, and now that would be the end of their story. She had fallen for him, and soon it would be over.
“Did your day not go well?” Brady asked, standing next to the camera. “You seem a little sad.”
I straightened my shoulders, ready to power through this. “My day went okay. It was just hard talking to Trace out there.”
Brady pursed his lips. “Seeing her and Danny not work out must be hard. It must make you think about the possibility of you and Eli not working out.”
My cheeks reddened at his suggestion. “No, I’m just sad for Trace. Eli and I have plans once we’re out of here.”
“It doesn’t worry you at all? He comes from a completely different world than you. What if he goes back to his old ways?”
“He won’t,” I said.
“You sound confident.”
