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Sighing, I went to her and put my hands on her shoulders to steer her around to face me.
“You’re the best singer I’ve ever met. You and Danielle were made for this, and this is what you’ve wanted since you were younger. What’s different now? You no longer want to do music?”
Tears shimmered in her eyes, and she sucked in a deep breath. “I want to do music. It’s killing me that I’m not in Nashville with Danielle right now, and ….”
“Then don’t kill yourself,” I cut in before she could say anything else. “Music is your passion, and no one should ever give up what they want. It’s never worth it in the end, and you’ll regret it if you miss this chance.”
She held my gaze only for a second before she looked away and licked her lips. Her next sigh was a loud release of air, and my right hand moved to her chin. I gently cupped and hiked it high so she could look at me.
“You can do this, Leah. You’re strong … You’re smart and you’re an amazing musician. Music is your thing, and I support you one hundred percent. Whatever your reasons for being scared don’t matter to me. It’s a fear you’ve got to face and deal with. Backing out of this deal only means you’re a coward, and I don’t think you are … Do you understand me?”
She nodded, and her lips parted, so I took the chance to taste them. Her kiss was intoxicating like it always was, and I shivered inside just from diving into her mouth and letting my tongue sweep across hers. She snaked her hands around my neck and kissed me back with the same passion, but I let it last for only a second, so I didn’t lose my mind.
“I’ll see you later tonight,” I told her before backing away.
It was a few minutes past four when my client finally walked in with full strides and located my table. Peter had sent me a picture of him, so I recognized him instantly and waved to show him my location. He joined me at a booth and offered a hand which I took.
“Mr. Trevor Butcher,” I said as we shook hands, and he smiled at me before taking a seat. Mr. Butcher looked around the diner for a bit before his gaze settled on mine again. He had round dark eyes that complimented his black hair and they seemed to darken further as he drew closer to me.
I chose Belly Rows for our meeting point because Peter mentioned he wanted somewhere on Main Street when we talked about the plans for our meeting earlier in the day.
“I don’t have much time, so I’ll just leave you with the details of who I’m looking for.”
“All right let’s get to it.”
I took out my notepad, while he also took out an envelope from his shirt pocket.
“I wanted to meet in person because I need you to understand that this person I’m trying to find is a criminal. She’s wanted by the law for a hit-and-run case, and I need to find her because the case involves me too. The cops had the court issue a warrant to arrest her before she ran off.”
He handed me the envelope, and I opened it slowly while he continued. “Her name is Leah Maureen, and she’s my girlfriend.”
His announcement made me freeze, and I blinked rapidly while staring at Leah’s picture and processing what Mr. Butcher just said. I couldn’t let him see my shock or notice that my hands had numbed.
What did Leah do?A sudden feeling of heaviness and cold expanded in my core as the question troubled me, but I had to kick all of that aside and focus on what Trevor Butcher had to say.
Chapter Sixteen
Leah
Ijustendedacall with Danielle when Tommy walked into the house. Taking Henry Truman’s deal was the best option for my career, and even though I had been running because of the incident back in Nashville, it was time to step up and move on.
Tommy is right. I’m not a coward.
He walked into the kitchen while I stayed seated and continued reading through the lyrics of the song Danielle sent me. I played a tone in my head and tried to come up with the right lines for the next bridge.
Nothing was coming to me because I didn’t have my guitar. I usually didn’t write songs without my guitar, but I left mine in Nashville because I was serious about never returning to my music career.
“Hey,” I greeted Tommy when he hovered around where I sat, then began pacing the living room. He stopped walking, braced his hands on his hips, and stared hard at me. He had something on his mind he wanted to discuss.
His eyes were emotionless, cold, and intent on mine. He had never fixed me with such an icy glare before, and it made me nervous. “Everything all right?” I questioned.
“You tell me,” he answered, then showed me the envelope in his hand. He dumped it on the table, and worry spiked a bit before I picked it up and opened it.
My picture was inside the envelope, and a copy of the warrant for my arrest I had received days before I fled Nashville.
“Were you ever going to tell me?” His tone was harsh as he barked the question, and my right hand shook as I held the picture. “You nearly killed someone, Leah, and then you ran off like it didn’t mean anything.”
“I didn’t run off,” I defended as tears instantly bit through my defenses and rushed to the surface. When I looked at Tommy, he was still pale, and his gaze didn’t leave mine. “I wanted to tell you, I …”
