Page 119 of Pink and Country

What we had couldn’t be faked. I’d witnessed fake in the past. Our relationship looked nothing like it. I blew out a scraggy breath, my nerves settling down.

“I’m going for a walk. I’ll be back later,” I informed my team as Ed opened the trunk to retrieve our bags.

With a gray beanie and a pair of shades on, I ambled through downtown Seattle, Ed flanking me, dressed in street clothes. I let the vibes from the city invade all my senses, silencing the voices in my head.

Suffusing myself with the energy of the city I performed in was vital.

The show tomorrow would be electric. I felt it in my bones. It tickled my core. I loved the thrill it always brought me. I scanned my surroundings, the excitement palpable in the air. My hair stood straight on my arms. The humidity in the air sent shivers through me. For a fraction of a second, my eyes locked on the Space Needle in the distance. Everything around me seemed so familiar and yet so foreign.

On our way back to the hotel, I halted before the window of a jewelry store on Pine Street.

The window display embedded in a bed of baby-pink and cream rose petals caught my eyes. With my hands shoved in my jacket pockets, I stood there for a long moment, staring at a piece of jewelry. Simple, yet sophisticated. Rose gold. Perfect.

My feet entered the store on their own accord. Every pink piece of jewelry reminded me of April. Ed stood by the front door, his hands linked in front of him, giving me a puzzled stare. With a shrug, I ignored him.

“Oh, dear God.” The woman behind the counter gasped at my sight. “Are you who I think you are?” I bobbed my head, my lips tight, a warning in my gaze asking her to keep her voice low, wishing her yell-whisper wouldn’t turn into a full blown-out shriek. “I’m Ruth, the owner. Please follow me, Mr. Hills, we’ll provide you with the privacy you need.” I cocked my head in Ed’s direction, and without a word, he followed me to a small room on the far left, behind an impressive watch display.

Ruth dropped the fangirl act and switched into the businesswoman mode.

An hour later, I exited the store with a box I stuffed in the inner chest pocket of my jacket, my thoughts anchored to the woman I loved.

* * *

I paced my hotel room. I wasn’t nervous, just bored. Something about April meeting with the Bensons last night unnerved me. We talked after she got back home, and she told me it went better than expected, reassuring me, but their reunion still got me antsy. I sighed and raked my fingers through my hair.

June knocked on my door. “Carter, we need to go, it’s time.” I followed her out the door to the car parked in the indoor garage, waiting for us.

My mind wandered to one of the first shows I gave in Seattle, ten years ago. Carter Hills Band’s first sold-out stadium concert.

I wore my hair longer back then.

We were still experimenting with our style. I remembered the electricity in the air that night.

Something in me, call it a hunch, told me tonight would be as special, if not even more. As long as I locked my worries away. Breathe in. Breathe out.

27

April

W e were at the gate, waiting to board our flight. I fidgeted with the hem of my cream sweater with my fingers and pushed my hair behind my ears for the tenth time in as many minutes. Taylor read a book on his tablet, but I was unable to sit still. I paced the airport floor. Dizzy and jittery, I called my best friend who answered after the third ring.

Before she’d even spoken a word, I facepalmed. “Oh, sorry, Saund. I forgot how early it is. Did I wake you up? I can hang up.”

“Hello to you too. Don’t. I was up, my bladder’s about to explode. Your timing is perfect. What’s up? Insomnia again?” Saunders did a poor job of hiding her worries, fighting a yawn.

“Not quite. Going to Seattle on a secret mission.” I blew out a breath. “Going to surprise my boyfriend on the road and woo him before his big show.”

“You are?”

I bobbed my head even if Saunders couldn’t see it through the phone. “At the airport right now. With Taylor.”

“Go get that hot piece of ass, girl. Find that man of yours and make sweet love to him.” She cleared her throat. “How did it go with monster-in-law and her husband last night?”

I signed. “The evil in-laws’ episode in my life is over. We’re good. I can move forward. They even claimed HN and I looked great together. Who would have thought?”

“They did? April, this is huge. Keep me updated, okay?” Saunders’s voice was low and croaky.

“Is everything all right?”