Gavin
Five years earlier…
I press my hand to my cheek, where the feel of a kiss still lingers. My begs and pleas still sounding in my mind as I watched Hadley leave. This can’t be happening. My heart cracks, stops working altogether, and pounds heavily all at the same time—a contradiction that fits this moment.
Hadley wouldn’t do this to me, to us. She wouldn’t. I refuse to believe it. She’ll be back soon, realizing how wrong she was. She’ll realize how much she loves us and return with her things, saying it was some kind of joke. A sick one, but she’ll be here to make up for it.
She’s the one—the love of my life. We beat the odds. She’s supposed to be here, raising our daughter together, creating memories we’ll reminisce about when we’re old.
A piercing wail hits my ears, and my eyes fall shut. Penny. My beautiful baby girl. How do I do this? How do I raise her on my own?
My body moves on autopilot. I carry Penny and cradle her in my arms, trying to soothe her cries. This wasn’t supposed to happen this way.
Dropping onto the couch, I look at my daughter, her gummy mouth as she screams. The way she looks on the outside is how I feel inside. I rock her back and forth, words choking against my dry throat as I attempt to soothe her. When it’s no use, I continue to rock her silently, my own tears falling.
Maybe I’ll wake up, and this will have just been a nightmare. I’ll have the love of my life lying in my arms and my beautiful baby girl sleeping peacefully in her crib.
This is just a bad dream…except it’s not, and I have no idea how to move forward from here. I break down, hugging my daughter to my chest, and pray I’ll be strong enough for her. She doesn’t deserve to be abandoned by both parents. Just because one parent didn’t love her enough to stay doesn’t mean I can’t love her for both of us.
My body wracks with emotions, but I stare at Penny’s tiny face and whisper, “You’ll always be my girl. I promise I’ll always be there.” Then, my cries deepen, and I pray that I’ll be enough for the innocent child that never deserved to be left behind.
Sutton
“Oh. My. God. I am so sorry!” I push back against the hard chest I just rammed into, horrified that I wasn’t paying enough attention to notice someone was walking in my direction.
“’T’s okay.” The deep, gravelly voice hits me with greater embarrassment. I look up into the brown eyes I’ve been craving to see again all these months.
How can you be part of the same circle of friends and only see each other once? Granted, I don’t live in Everton, but the small Wyoming town has become my second home with all the traveling I do here.
“You’re the famous singer, right?” The sweet voice reminds me of the main reason why I probably haven’t seen the hunky cowboy since Labor Day, six months ago.
Hunky? Did I really just use that word?
I bend down, and my lips split into a genuine smile. “Well, I’m not famous yet, but hopefully one day I will be.”
I thought there was nothing hotter than a southern gentleman. Until I met a single dad cowboy.
Penny, Gavin’s daughter, smiles at my response.
“You’re friends with Knox and Harris,” Gavin finally speaks a full sentence.
“Yeah.” I nod, standing awkwardly in the middle of the sidewalk with the guy I’ve been crushing on. I thought that by twenty-five I wouldn’t crush on guys anymore. It doesn’t help that lately, the guys I’ve met haven’t been good picks. Most don’t understand the importance of my music career, let alone want the woman to be the star in the relationship.
“Daddy, the feed store is gonna close.” Penny pulls on her dad’s jean jacket sleeve.
“We should get going. She loves buying feed for the horses with me.”
“Yeah, sure. Have fun. Sorry about running into you like that.” My face screws up in a grimace.
“Don’t worry about it.”
I awkwardly wave them off, watching Gavin and his daughter cross the street and head in the direction of the store.
I continue walking toward Cup-O-Joe, the local coffee shop in town, to meet Ainsley, Knox Bentley’s wife, for coffee.
The last thing I ever expected was for this Southern girl to sign a country music contract with a label in Wyoming instead of Nashville, but when Knox Bentley, one of country music’s biggest stars, is one of the founders of said label, it was a no-brainer. I’ve admired his music for far too long to give up the chance to work alongside him.
I wrap my arms around my body as a gust of wind swooshes by me and focus on keeping my footing. It’s spring for goodness sake, and yet the weather here feels like it’s dead of winter. When Nashville’s temperature is in the low seventies, Everton still threatens with snowfall.
I pull the door open when I arrive at Cup-O-Joe and welcome the warmth mixed with the soothing, rich scent of roasted coffee.
“Hey,” Ainsley calls out from a table. Her laptop is opened, covering half of her face.
“Hey, sorry, I’m late.” I smile, warmth heating my cheeks. I take a seat across from her.
“What happened?” Her blue eyes twinkle as she watches my blush.
“Ugh.” I drop my head forward, landing with a thud on the table.
Ainsley giggles across from me, and I lift my head enough to glare at her.
“First, I need coffee. Do you want anything?”
Ainsley asks for a latte, and I walk up to the counter to order two lattes, a muffin, and a chocolate chip cookie. Whoever said cookies can’t be breakfast food didn’t know what the good stuff in life is.
Once I sit back down, Ainsley raises her eyebrows. “Okay, spill.”
“I ran into Gavin, Abbie’s cousin. You know him.” She nods in acknowledgment. “I wasn’t looking where I was going and slammed into him. It was so embarrassing,” I groan.
“I think it’s adorable you have a crush on him. It reminds me of being young again,” Ainsley sighs, a hint of mockery in her tone.
“You’re so obnoxious.” I steal her muffin.
“Hey,” Ainsley calls out.
I chuckle and wave the muffin over my head.
Ainsley’s eyes widen, and she leans forward. “Guess who just walked in.” Her voice comes out in a rushed whisper.
“Pfftt… As if I’m going to fall for that. Remember, we toured together. I’ve learned to read you.” Knox and I went on our first tour together, three months around the United States, going to major cities in the hopes we can add more. It was an amazing experience opening for him and spending time on the road. The best part was that Ainsley was with us, so I wasn't stuck with Knox and Harris, the label’s co-owner. I had another woman on my side, who knows the difference between fringe and sequins.
“Okay.” She leans back on her chair and crosses her arms over her chest. When she waves at someone behind me, I turn around and drop the muffin on the floor.
Gavin tips his hat at Ainsley before bending down to hear what Penny is telling him. My head snaps back to her, and I glare.
“I told you,” she smiles. “You owe me a new muffin.” She points to the counter where Gavin is.