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“Oh lord, I think we should fly.” I laugh.
Kiki claps her hands. “Wait, I have a brilliant idea.”
“Oh boy,” Sarah mutters. “This never ends well.”
“Andie, look up Nana Rose’s number. I’m going to see if the guys are free for a little impromptu concert down in West Palm. Sarah, go call Connor and let’s go get TJ.”
Chapter 24
TJ
It’s been aweek since I landed on Nana Rose’s doorstep and I’m exhausted. Nana has had me biking, swimming, playing croquet, learning to knit, baking, and partaking in craft hour every day. Some old hag named Joan has it out for me during crafting hour. She calls me Carrot Top and always insists on sitting next to me, putting a timer in front of us to see who can finish faster and do it better. Yesterday I had to yank my kiln-dried, painted teapot away from her when she tried to hide it in the trash because all the ladies were ooh-ing and ahh-ing over it. Nana says she’s like this with everyone and not to take it personally, but I’m on to Joan. That geriatric won’t beat me. Today we’re making chunky knit blankets and I already have a plan to mess up her count.
I know I need to head back to Nashville, but this week, although tiring, has been very therapeutic. Nana and I have had lots of laughs over her delicious margaritas, and I even got to meet her pool boy, Sven, which is ironic because Nana doesn’t have a pool. It’s obvious I’m cramping her style, not that Nana would ever tell me, but I’m finally ready to go home to Connor and face the music.
Nana opens the sliding-glass door and sticks her head out. “Thomas, dear, can you come here for a moment?”
“Nana, can it wait? I’m so tired from our spinning class this morning. I can barely move my pinky finger and I need all my strength to out-knit Joan this afternoon.”
“I have Connor on the phone, dear.”
That’s odd. Why didn’t he call my cell? I check my phone. Fully charged, no new calls. “Well, why didn’t you say so in the first place?” I heave myself out of the cushioned lounge chair and hobble up the steps.
“Thomas, you really should stretch more.”
“Nana, I normally drink lots of coffee and complain at work every day. This whole exercising-every-day thing has awoken muscles I didn’t even know existed.”
I grab the phone from her and smile. “Hi, handsome.”
“Hi, Love, how’s yer day so far?”
“Nana tried to kill me with her sadistic spinning class, and I’m gearing up to show Joan that I can chunky knit blanket her under the table any day of the week. I’ve watched some YouTube videos and I think I’ve got my technique perfected.”
“Wow, that sounds…fun.”
“Joan messed with the wrong gay.”
“Right, well, I hate to mess up yer afternoon, but I need ye to open yer front door.”
“What?” I rush to the front door still holding Nana’s cordless phone to my ear. I fling it open. There on her doorstep is Connor, holding a bouquet of cream freesia, my fave. “What are you doing here?”
“You can hang up the phone, Love.”
I lower it and fling myself into his arms. “I’ve missed you so much. I’m sorry for leaving so abruptly and for getting so upset.” I tenderly kiss him. “I’m sorry for everything. Nana called me a buffoon and she was right. Can you forgive me?”
“Always.” He kisses my lips. “I know ye wanted some time to get over yer hurt, but we missed ye, too.”
“We?” I ask, leaning back, pulling the flowers to my nose, and inhaling deeply. Connor gives me his sexy smile and motions with his chin to look behind him. I hadn’t even noticed the executive coach parked across the road and its occupants. “Is that…”
Leaning against the luxury bus are Kiki, Sarah, and Andie. I shade my eyes.
“Yep, we decided we needed to come get ye and while we were here, the boys are promoting their new album with their first stop in West Palm Beach before they hit the big tour in June.”
“The guys are here too?”
“Yeah, they are doin’ a sound check over at the gardens as we speak. It took a lot of moving parts to throw this together so quickly, but we had your nana’s help.”
“Nana knew about this?” I ask incredulously. “Wait, is that Mandy driving?”
