He gathered me up, squeezed me hard, and then kissed me so deeply I was going to have to tell him I’d had my tonsils removed when I was eleven. But then he grabbed my arm and towed me after him, all but shoving me inside an empty green room.
“Don’t you have to be out there right now?” I asked, even as I wrapped myself around him.
“Abi’s got it for a minute. I need to talk to you.”
My heart started to pound as I took in the seriousness on his face. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he was quick to assure me, and he kissed me again for good measure. When he pulled back, he didn’t go far, resting his forehead on mine. “What I’m about to tell you can’t leave this room.”
I slid my hands into his hair. “Of course.”
Ville took a breath. “He’s done.”
It took me a second. “Wren?”
Ville nodded, then lifted his head so he could look into my eyes. “We’re still working out details, but he’s…he’s just done.”
I couldn’t help the worry that crept into my gut. “Is he okay?”
“Physically, yeah. He’s fine.”
Whatever was plaguing the man I thought of as a brother was all mental then. Which I understood. Being a superstar celebrity had to be wearying. Plus I’d be stupid if I didn’t recognize that Bodhi had something to do with it too. But I wasn’t touching that with a ten foot pole.
“So what does that mean for you?” I asked, trying not to let hope take root. Not yet.
“It means,” he began, and he had to take another breath. “It means that once he’s finished what he needs to, and decided on where he’s going to land because I don’t think it’ll be Nashville anymore, then I’m done too. It means I only need to ask you to hang on for me for a few more months. Can you do that, baby? Can you last just a little bit longer?”
The relief and hope that surged through me made me lightheaded. My knees nearly buckled, but just like always, Ville held me up. He pushed me up against the wall and squished me back into my body and I breathed him in, joy filling me up with every inhale.
“Yes. Yes, of course. Oh my god.” The laughter was a touch unhinged, but it was all from relief. “I was going to talk to you, after the concert, tell you how much I was…how hard it was for me these past few months. See if we could figure out…but now—what?”
I could not interpret his expression, but his voice was kind of smug when he said, “You think I don’t know? You think I don’t see exactly how much you’re struggling?” Then his expression turned serious, an almost-sadness entering his gaze. “You think I’m not hurting too?”
Of course he knew. I’d been a fool to think I was hiding even some of it. And I knew he’d been hurting too, of course he had. I just knew his commitment to Wren was stronger. I kissed him, hard and claiming, and he was grumbling as I broke the kiss.
“Like I don’t know every little thing about you. What the fuck?”
I could not contain the grin. Which he proceeded to kiss off my face with reckless abandon.
“I love you, sugar,” I said fervently, my heart becoming whole.
“And I love you. Ready for the rest of our lives to start?”
I was so ready. With this man at my side, I could handle anything. For sure the rest of our lives.
Epilogue
Emery
Mom got it into her head that before my brothers headed back to college and Isley started his new job in Boulder, before Payton started second grade and Aria started Pre-K, there needed to be a party. A “farewell to summer” thing to celebrate the whole family before we scattered again. She’d made the announcement at dinner, but before she could start planning, Payton redirected her attempts.
“We could do it at the event barn, huh, Mimi?”
Mom blinked at her oldest grandchild, completely nonplussed. “But we have all the tables and grills right outside the door here.”
Payton nodded like he agreed but he clearly didn’t.
“But outside has bugs and weather. Auntie Fern has made the event barn so nice.” Pay turned wide, pleading eyes on my sister who fought a smile. “We can do it there, can’t we, Auntie Fern?”
