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She crossed her arms and curled her shoulders, her defeated posture making her look even smaller than the petite blonde usually did. “Forget I said anything about it, okay?” she continued. “And don’t tell Mia. She gets way too excited every time I even mention the possibility of dating. She makes me so nervous I end up chickening out every time.”
“You shouldn’t chicken out,” Marisol said gently. “Trust me, I know hard it can be not to, but love is…so worth it.”
Tulsi squinched her nose but didn’t lift her blue eyes from the steps leading up to the stage. “Yeah, loving someone is good. But I bet it’s a lot better when they love you back.”
Marisol’s heart clenched sadly in her chest, in a way it hadn’t done in the blissful three weeks that she and Robert had been a confirmed couple. Now that she’d found love, she wished she could give every lonely, sad soul a little piece of it to keep them warm at night. After a life of feeling love poor, she felt like she suddenly had so much she was obligated to give some away.
She knew she’d never run out, not with Robert in her life, teaching her that love could always get bigger, stronger, and more beautiful.
“I know we haven’t known each other for long, Tulsi,” she said softly. “But I think any man would be lucky to have a person like you in his life. Kind, funny people who also happen to be wonderful mothers and dear friends aren’t as common as you might think.”
Tulsi sniffed deeply, blinking faster. “You’re sweet.”
“I’m not, I’m honest,” Marisol said. “I’m the friend you can trust not to blow smoke up your ass, not the one who tells you that you look pretty in the pants that give you a camel toe.”
Tulsi laughed as she wiped at her eyes. “Well, thank God. I’ve been needing a friend like that.” She smiled up at Marisol. “I’m glad you’re my friend, and I’m glad you love our Bubba. You make him so happy and he deserves that. He is just…the best man. Truly, the best.”
For one horrible moment Marisol was possessed by the fear that Tulsi might have been carrying a torch for Robert all this time, and that’s why she was fighting tears, but then Tulsi added with a sigh—
“I’m going to fall in love with a good man next time. I’m done pining for bad boys. All they ever do is break your heart.”
“I have a hard time picturing you with a bad boy,” Marisol said, relieved that Tulsi felt only friendship for Robert. “You and Robert are pretty much the kindest, gentlest people I’ve ever met.”
“We all have our dark sides,” Tulsi said, even those ominous words sounding cute in her country twang. “We all do things we shouldn’t, and live to regret them.”
Marisol was about to tell Tulsi that doing things you shouldn’t doesn’t mean you’re beyond redemption, or doomed never to find love again, but at that moment, the boys in the band played the pulsing first chords of Robert’s Top 40 hit, and he rushed onstage, summoning a roar of approval from the crowd. Within a few seconds, conversation became impossible.
“Hello, Lonesome Point,” Robert called out, triggering an even bigger cheer from the audience gathered in the twilight beneath the trees, who were already on their feet and obviously ready to party. “It’s good to be home!”
The next forty-five minutes passed quickly. Robert’s performance seemed as effortless as usual, giving no clue how hard he’d worked—adding in extra rehearsals, and drilling his transitions from one song to the next—to make it seem that way. His voice pulled her in the way it always did, making her feel like he was singing just for her. And even though she knew every girl out there in the audience probably felt the same way, Marisol was the one who would be taking this man home with her tonight.
She still woke up every morning feeling like the luckiest girl in the world, and that’s the thing she focused on when she climbed onto the stage, joining Robert for the love song they’d started writing as a solo, and ended up turning into a duet. “Where You Are” was a beautiful song, with aching melodies and a soaring chorus that almost captured how it felt to be loved the way Robert loved her.
Almost. She hadn’t been able to write a song that perfect yet, but she intended to keep trying.
Robert took the first verse, staring into her eyes while he sang about how hard it was to be away from the person you loved, how it made a cold world seem colder, and every bright light go blue. And then it was time for the chorus and Marisol brought the microphone to her lips, nerves vanishing as she held Robert’s eyes and promised in song that she would always want to be “Where You Are.”
By the end of her solo verse, Marisol could see arms lifted in the air as people swayed side to side, but the crowd was strangely quiet, leaving her no clue how they were receiving the song until she and Robert hit the last note. As it faded away, there was a moment of almost eerie silence, as if the entire audience was drawing in a breath at the same time, and then they burst into applause that left no doubt how much they’d enjoyed the final number.
Marisol went to Robert, leaning in for a kiss that made the crowd cheer even louder. They’d obviously loved the duet, but Marisol still intended to ease off the stage and let Robert take his bows alone. He was the star of the show, after all, and it would be better for him to be alone when his mom and brother came up on stage so his attention wasn’t divided.
But when she tried to pull away, he locked his arm around her waist, holding her close as he brought the microphone back to his lips.
“Lonesome Point, you’ve got no idea how good it feels to share this dream come true with all of you,” he said, laughing as the crowd cheered loud enough to shake the windows in the historic mercantile building nearby.
“Thank you so much,” he said long moments later, as the crowd finally started to quiet down. “I am so grateful for everything that’s been happening for me, but there is still one dream I need to come true, and I’m hoping you can help me with that tonight.”
A woman in the front row screamed out, “I’ll help you with anything you need, baby!”
Robert laughed. “Well, thank you. It’s not such a big thing I’m asking, really. I’m just hoping you’ll help me out if this beautiful woman needs any extra convincing to say yes.” He turned to Marisol, pressing the microphone into her hand as he reached into his back pocket.
Before she could recover from her surprise, Robert was down on one knee, holding up the most beautiful ring she’d ever seen. Cries of delight echoed through the crowd, and almost immediately a group of women near the front started screaming for her to say yes, but Marisol only had ears for the handsome man kneeling at her feet.
“Marisol,” he said, his voice for her ears only now that the mic was in her hands. “None of my dreams mean anything without you. I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone or anything, and well…it just keeps getting worse every day.”
She laughed even as tears filled her eyes. “Worse?”
“In the good way,” he hurried to say, grinning that easy grin of his even as anxiety crept into his eyes. “Hell, I had this all planned out, but now that we’re up here, I just want you to say yes so bad I can’t think of any of the romantic things I was going to say. I guess I’ll just ask if you’ll do me the honor—”
