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The chilly November air swept the dry leaves across the paved driveway, sending them tumbling along. Natalie suppressed a shiver as she stared at Amelia, hardly believing she was standing in front of her.
“What are you doing here?” Natalie asked when Amelia wasn’t saying anything. “This is hardly a coincidence. Unless you’ve been recording here.”
Amelia pressed her lips together. “I called Frank a few weeks ago to see if he knew where you were. I didn’t know who else to call. I’ve been trying to find you for months. You’re a hard woman to track down, Natalie.”
Natalie could feel her jaw clenching as she tried not to get angry. The reason she’d never owned a home was because she could never feel safe in one place, always fearing that the paparazzi would find her. Even though it had been a long time since that might have actually happened, it didn’t mean that that fear wasn’t still there, lingering in Natalie’s subconscious.
“I’ve never stayed in one place for too long,” Natalie said, managing to keep her voice level.
A heavy silence fell between them, and it was Amelia who broke it.
“You look great,” Amelia said softly.
Natalie just looked away. “Why did you want to find me?”
“I wanted to see you.” Amelia sighed. “You might not believe me, but I have thought about you so many times over the years.”
“I do actually find that hard to believe. You broke my heart, Amelia.” Natalie surprised herself with how detached she was from this interaction, with how little she cared.
Amelia’s hand was warm on her forearm. “You have no idea how much I regret the way I handled it.” She searched Natalie’s eyes as she dropped her hand. “Have dinner with me tonight.”
“We’ll probably be going late here.”
“I’m glad you’re getting back into music,” Amelia said with a hint of a smile.
“No, I’m not. I’m here for Sienna.”
That silence was back, and Natalie had to wonder if Amelia thought their relationship was purely professional. Natalie could almost see the gears turning.
“Look,” Amelia said. “The main reason I wanted to see you is that I’m filing for a divorce.”
Natalie shouldn’t have cared, but hearing Amelia say those words eighteen years too late knocked the wind out of her.
18
Sienna left her bag on the kitchen counter of the rental apartment Natalie had found before sitting down and putting her feet up on the coffee table. She was exhausted after getting up a six to get ready and be at Frank’s for nine o’clock. Then they put in almost eight hours in the studio. They had breaks for lunch and a pizza in the afternoon, but it was still incredibly tiring.
But Sienna was more emotionally drained than anything else. She’d spent the Uber ride back here realizing that as amazing as the last few weeks had been, neither of them had defined what they were doing.
They’d never said that they were officially dating. It certainly felt like they were. They spent three or four nights together every week.
“Amelia wants to have dinner with me tonight,” Natalie said, hovering on the edge of the living area.
Sienna pursed her lips. “Okay.”
“Do you mind if I go?”
“No. Not at all.” Sienna actually felt physically sick at the thought of the two of them having a candle lit dinner in some fancy restaurant in Nashville, but she couldn’t stop Natalie from going.
“Okay.” Natalie looked like she wanted to say something else, but she pointed over her shoulder. “I’ll just go get ready then.”
Sienna sat frozen on the couch for a few seconds, but when she heard the shower turn on, she decided to go and get changed into her pajamas and at least be comfy. She grabbed her black leather journal and a pen from her bag on her way back to the living room.
She sat down and flipped to the page she’d last written on that morning. She’d jotted down a song idea when they’d stopped for gas on the way, but reading over the words now, they made little sense. She was probably still half asleep when she wrote them.
Sienna tapped her pen against the page. She didn’t really feel like racking her brain trying to decipher her own words, but she needed the distraction. Otherwise, she’d just think about how good Amelia looked in her designer clothes today.
Sienna would start comparing herself to a woman that Natalie had once loved, and there wasn’t even any competition.
