AllFreeNovel
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There had been a lot of changes in the past week. Her mother, who she still lived with and had never gone even one day of her life without seeing, had gotten married and left for a month-long European honeymoon—which was a surprise wedding gift from Ginny. The day after Christmas, she’d fired her manager and walked out on contract negotiations for her next album with the record label that she’d been signed to since she was fourteen because they had her in a box, a box that made them a lot of money but that was suffocating Ginny. Last night she’d packed a bag and driven straight here.
Knowing she couldn’t hide out forever she took a deep, fortifying breath and shook out her arms as she exhaled. This was it. It was go time. As she left the bathroom and made her way back down the hall, the same feeling that she’d had the first time she’d performed at the Grand Ole Opry filled her. It was an equal mixture of excitement and nerves that created exhilarating anticipation.
When she stepped into the living room she was given a few more minutes to gather her courage. Dax was standing with his back to her, on the phone, staring out the large picture window that sat above his couch. Her reprieve was cut short when Capone crossed the room greeting her excitedly and Dax turned and disconnected the call.
She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. She’d never suffered from stage fright, but she assumed this is what it felt like.
“How have you been?” he asked.
She was pretty sure that what he really wanted to ask was what are you doing here, but he was too much of a gentleman to do it.
“I’ve been good. How about you?”
Dax nodded. “Good.”
“How were your holidays?” Ginny cringed inwardly. Normally, she was a pro at small talk, she shined in meet and greets, but right now she was falling flat on her face.
“Good, I went home and saw my mom and sister.”
Ginny remembered Dax telling her that he was close to them both. His dad was a police officer who had been tragically shot in the line of duty when Dax was ten. He said that his family had always been close but losing his dad had brought them even closer.
“What about you?”
“Oh, I um, was on the road for the Down Home Holidays tour. I spent Thanksgiving in Toronto and then Christmas Eve in Seattle and then was back home in Nashville on Christmas for my mom’s wedding.”
“Your mom got married?” Dax asked.
“Yep.” It was odd for Ginny to be around someone who didn’t know every detail of her life because they didn’t read gossip magazines or online headlines. She was no psychologist but she assumed it was one of the reasons she felt so safe around Dax, even though they barely knew each other. “It was beautiful and I surprised her with a honeymoon. She left this morning.” Ginny wasn’t sure why she’d added that part.
“Wow.”
“Yeah, so,” she let out a nervous laugh. “I guess you’re probably wondering what I’m doing here.”
Dax’s only answer was a smile. Her statement had been rhetorical, so she hadn’t expected him to answer but she still felt on the spot. Knowing that her gathering up courage time had officially run out she took a deep breath and dove into the deep end of the confession pool.
Her heart was pounding like the police on the door of a drug raid. “Well, um, remember when we talked about my new album and the possibility of Chase producing it? Well he is and for the next month I’m going to be in town working with him. Um, and you had mentioned that if I was going to be in town I could stay here. With you.”
