don’t see why not. But aside from hitching a ride on the charter, what’s the rush?”
He heaves out a breath. “Because after this party…I’m staying in LA. My hand surgery is next week and after that, I’m scheduled to go back into the studio.”
“Oh.” The backs of my eyes burn.
He threads the fingers of his good hand into my hair, pulling me against him.
I want to tell him not to go, but that feels petty and childish. I know it’s not only the logistics that are keeping us apart. The last time I went all in on him, I lost him. We’re older now, smarter, but the possibility of him changing his mind, or of the lives we’re building coming between us, is the most awful thing I can imagine.
He moves behind me, wraps his arms around my waist. “Sing me that song again.”
I close my eyes and give in to the feeling and do as he asks.
I pretend for a moment it could always be this way—him asking for things, me knowing I can give them to him, that I can make this man happy. This man who, by breathing, gives me so damned much.
“It’s beautiful,” he says. “What happens when this pitch session goes well?”
Needing to distance myself even a few inches, I mix the cereal into the bowl, then spread the mixture into a pan, pressing it down with a wooden spoon.
“If it goes well,” I amend, “we get commitment to move forward.” I take the pan to the freezer and return to him. “Then, if we keep meeting stage gates and the reception is strong… we could be off-Broadway in one year. On Broadway in two or three.”
“Years. In New York.”
Hope swells inside me, but it’s bittersweet. “That’s the dream. And it is a dream, Tyler. For so long I’ve wanted to be in the spotlight. I thought it was about me, but after doing the first show, I learned it’s more than that. When you’re performing live, you get to be intimate with people. Whether it’s a few hundred or thousands, they’re not a crowd. You’re touching every person in that audience. People like us who are questioning if they’ve got it figured out, or who know they don’t and can’t see a way forward. People who need a flash of inspiration, something out of the ordinary. People who need to feel something real.”
He watches me steadily as he strokes a thumb down my cheek. “I have a call with my label this afternoon, but if you want someone to rehearse with first…”
“I’d love that.”
Tyler’s eyes crinkle at the corners. “Then let’s go to work. I’m all yours.”
But my chest aches because I want the second part of his vow more than the first.
17
“Table for Annie Jamieson,” I tell the woman at the front of the trendy restaurant in LA.
I follow her back to a table tucked into the corner.
“You requested something with privacy. How’s this?” she asks.
“Perfect. Thank you.” I sit facing the door and watch people drift in.
The full weight of my attention is on this meeting.
I don’t even know this woman, but I want to like her—and I want her to like me.
I smooth the skirt of my simple black dress and wonder if I should’ve worn my hair up instead of down.
The nerves didn’t hit me when I confirmed the meeting time, not even on the charter flight with my dad, Tyler, and Shay earlier today.
They’re hitting me now.
A waitress comes by and offers me the drink menu. “Would you like something?”
“Sure, I’ll have a glass of pinot grigio.”
I recognize her the second she walks in. Her hair is red like mine, and her mouth pulls into a startled smile.
“Annie. Oh my God.”
I shift out of my seat as her gaze runs over me. “You’re beautiful.”
Her eyes mist, and I let her hug me.
“Hi… Fiona.” I can’t say “Mom.” The word sticks in my throat. “Thank you for meeting me.”
She’s beautiful too, early forties and still completely fresh-faced and slender, her black jumpsuit revealing long, tanned legs.
“I was surprised to hear from you after all this time.”
“I’m sorry it took so long. I wasn’t ready.”
Her brows pull together. “Of course.”
The waitress comes by to offer wine, and Fiona jumps at it.
“Tell me everything,” she says once the waitress departs to get our drinks.
“I’m not sure where to start,” I confess with a smile.
“Wherever you want.”
So I tell her about how I grew up in Dallas, then attended Vanier for two years