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Lexie rested her hand on her bump and rubbed it. “We’ve got a lot to be thankful for.”
“We do.”
Zac felt a strange sense of calm, considering what today was. Not too long ago, he would have seen this as an ending. Even a couple of weeks ago, he’d been preparing himself to walk away.
Things had changed now, though. He’d opened himself to the possibility of more, as Lexie had said. As she and Connor had done. As all of them had done, in one way or the other. This wasn’t an ending. It was a beginning. His family was growing. Their ability to create music together wasn’t going anywhere. Music was who they were. It had shaped their lives, and it would continue to shape them, even if that shape was slightly different now.
He’d spent the two weeks since he’d gotten back from the UK figuring everything out.
Figuringhimselfout.
A week ago, he’d invited his friends to his apartment and had an honest conversation with them about how things had been between him and his dad. The three of them were furious at his father, and pissed with him for not sharing with them before. He got it. They would have been there for him if he’d let them, but he hadn’t, and he figured that after everything they’d been through together, that probably hurt. But at the end of it all, they’d sat there together on his balcony overlooking LA, drank some beers, laughed and reminisced about their lives so far, and everything that was still to come.
Three days ago, the band’s charitable trust had forwarded him a letter from Annika, the little girl he and Cassie had met at the hospital. The writing was her mother’s, but the words were hers.
She had written to let him know that even though it looked like she was going to get to be a grown up one day after all, she was still okay with him and Cassie getting married. She also mentioned that she would like to be a flower girl at the wedding. Since she’d just been a flower girl at her aunt’s wedding, she knew what to do and whatnotto do now. Apparently, there had been a slight incident where she’d dumped all the flower petals out of her basket at the beginning of the aisle, rather than scattering them as she was supposed to do. But her aunt had just hugged her when she cried, and everyone had clapped and smiled at her when she’d kept going, throwing pretend petals in the air. She was hoping to receive her invitation to his wedding soon so she wouldn’t grow out of her flower girl dress and could wear it again since it was so pretty.
At the end of the letter was a note from Annika’s mother where she’d expressed her eternal gratitude to him and the rest of the band. The nurse at the hospital had let it slip where the funding for her daughter’s treatment had come from. She wanted to make sure she let them know that Annika was in remission and the doctors were optimistic about her chances of staying that way.
Zac had damn near shed a tear at that letter, then laughed at the drawing Annika had included, which showed stick figure versions of him and Cassie getting married, with a little stick figure Annika standing next to them throwing petals up in the air.
He’d had to force himself not to pick up his phone to call Cassie so he could share the good news right then. But he’d held back. His first conversation with her needed to be in person.
When he stood, Lexie’s gray eyes narrowed, even as she smiled. “What are you up to?”
“I have a gift I have to pick up. I’ll be back soon, though.”
Zac gave her a wink, then headed through the house and out to where he’d parked his charcoal gray custom Dodge Charger.
He drove through the traffic, winding carefully in and out of the other cars. He was eager to get where he was going, but he didn’t want to speed and get pulled over. If he was late, it would ruin everything.
He checked the time and pressed his foot a little faster on the accelerator.
ChapterForty-Four
Talia bounced over and hugged Cassie. “That was amazing. This song is going to be phenomenal. I can feel it.”
Cassie laughed and returned her hug. In the days they’d worked together leading up to this recording session, the two of them had hit it off. And even in that short period of time, she’d learned so much about what it took to be a professional songwriter. “I still can’t believe you wanted to record our song.”
“Yoursong.”
“It’s not just mine, whatever the rights say,” Cassie said.
Talia grinned. “I’ll walk out with you.”
Cassie picked up her bag and followed her out of the recording studio, looking around as they made their way through the building. A sad, hopeless, still-in-love part of her wished she could see Zac, even though she knew he wouldn’t be there.
Talia opened the door to the gated parking lot and stepped out. Cassie came behind her, blinking in the bright California sunlight. In front of the door was parked a sleek, dark-gray car with a tall, broad-shouldered figure leaning against it. She stopped in her tracks.
“Well, I’ll leave you to it,” Talia trilled.
Cassie turned a narrowed gaze on her. “I thought you said he wouldn’t be here.” She wasn’t angry, not really, but the blood was pumping so fast through her veins she needed a few seconds to regain her equilibrium.
Talia gave her a bright smile. “I said he wouldn’t be here while we were recording. And it looks to me like he only just got here.” She gave Cassie a kiss on the cheek, waved to Zac, and strolled off.
Cassie stood there and watched her go, willing strength into her body—and her heart. Then she turned to Zac, swallowing hard as her eyes drank him in.
He came toward her, and her pulse sped up even more. It had been over four months since she’d seen him in the flesh. She didn’t want him to know how his presence was affecting her. She had more pride than that. She raised her chin and kept her gaze steady as he stopped in front of her.
