by Liz Isaacson
He left the hospital and checked his phone. He had time to get to the Mayor’s office before she left for the day. He was so used to limping that he still felt like he hadn’t gotten his normal gait back yet as he walked into the city office buildings.
He spoke to three receptionists before he found the right place and Mayor Berry was notified he was there.
“Go on back,” the last woman said, and Todd went past her desk with a smile.
The mayor met him at the door, all smiles and handshakes. He always had been. Todd liked him fine, but he really didn’t want to take down that sign on the outskirts of town. And he really needed it down if he was going to be anything but a bull rider.
And he had a lot of things he wanted to be. Vi’s boyfriend. Her husband. A father. A friend. A hiker. A concert-goer—preferably country music by a trio of women.
“So?” he asked as he followed the mayor into the office and took a chair in front of his desk “What did you decide?”
He sighed like Todd had tasked him with circumnavigating the moon without a spacesuit. “Well, no one’s happy about it.”
Todd folded his arms and watched him. He hadn’t said no yet.
“But we want to respect your wishes. So the City Council voted to take the sign down.”
Todd kept his face as passive as possible. “Thank you. That’s great news for me.”
“Are you sure?” He leaned forward, his bright green eyes sparking with energy. No wonder he’d won the hearts and minds of the people in this town. “Because you’re a hero to us.”
“I don’t want to be a hero,” he said. “I rode bulls. I didn’t cure cancer or even anything remotely beneficial to other people.”
“We’re still proud you came from Coral Canyon.”
“I am too,” he said. “But I just want a normal life here, like I used to have. And I can’t have that if my face is on the road on the way into town.”
He sighed again, and this time Todd smiled. “All right. The sign will be down by Halloween. What would you like us to do with it?”
“Do with it?” he repeated. “Whatever you want.”
“Maybe we can just put it up when the rodeo comes to town?” A hopeful glint entered his eye. “Just at the rodeo grounds. For a week. Two, tops.”
Todd squinted at him, this man who was probably the same age as him. “Fine. One week, at the rodeo grounds.”
He clapped his hands twice and slapped a folder closed. “Great. Consider it done.” He stood and extended his hand across the desk between them. Todd shook it and left, only one more thing to do on his get-my-life-together checklist.
Buy a ticket to Nashville.
Oh, and he should probably call Vi too. She wasn’t the type who enjoyed a pop-in visit, and the only kind of surprise she liked included hot chocolate and mini marshmallows. Or German chocolate frosting.
A few days later, he drove up the canyon toward the lodge, the windows down though the temperatures had taken a definite dive this week. Jetstream had his front legs on the side of the truck, and with every right curve, Todd felt sure he was about to dump his dog out of the cab.
But he stayed in, all the way to Graham’s. Then he paced on the front seat, a whine in the very back of his throat. “Oh, just sit,” he told the dog. He slid out of his side of the truck and walked around the front. Jetstream sat, his bushy haircut almost covering his eyes and his tongue hanging out of his mouth.
Todd opened the door and said, “Go on,” before Jetstream leapt from the truck and went tearing across the lawn toward the backyard. Daisy barked, and Todd laughed. At least his dog would be in heaven while he was in Nashville.
Laney came out the front door, wiping her hands on a kitchen towel. “Hey, Todd.”
“Thanks for taking him.”
“What’s one more dog?” She rolled her eyes, then pointed at him. “Don’t you dare ever repeat that. Graham’s already asking for another dog, and I keep telling him no.”
Todd laughed and held up his hands in surrender. “I won’t mention it to him.” Graham had become his closest friend again after his blunt intervention. Turned out he liked to sit on the dock and fish in silence as much as Todd. Maybe he did have the perfect life. Maybe it didn’t matter. Todd had apologized to him, and he hoped he’d have the courage he needed to say those words again—to Vi.
His pulse palpitated for the whole drive to Jackson Hole. The entire flight to Nashville. While he waited in the taxi line. He didn’t have her address, and he still hadn’t gotten up the courage to call her.
What if she didn’t answer?
He berated himself on the way to the hotel, where he paid the cab driver, checked in, and went up to his suite. “What’s the point of being here if you aren’t going to go see her?” he asked himself as he stood at the window and watched the lights of Nashville blink to life.
He was a champion bull rider. He strapped himself to two-ton animals and let them try to buck him off. Calling a woman shouldn’t be harder than that. And yet, it was.
Finally, after an hour of oscillating back and forth, he dug his phone out of his pocket and pulled up her name. He stared at it, imagining the blonde woman he’d met all those months ago in the kitchen at the lodge. She’d been holding up that spoon like she could do some real damage with it.
He chuckled, remembering her fetish for German chocolate frosting, the tender way she took care of him after he’d been injured, and the feel of her in his arms.
He tapped on the phone icon to call her, his heart racing the same way it did when he nodded to the other cowboys that he was ready for the chute to open.
Ready. He was ready.
Her line rang, and then rang again. She’d see it was him. And she wasn’t answering. Finally, the line picked up and disappointment pulled through him. He didn’t want to talk to her voicemail.
“Todd?” Her voice on the other end of the line sounded like angels singing.
He pulled in a breath and froze.
“Todd? Hello?”
“Hello,” he said quickly. It sounded very windy where she was. “Hey, Vi.”
“Can you hold on a sec?”
“Sure.”
She was obviously moving, because her breathing increased, and the wind died, and then a bang sounded. “Sorry,” she muttered, and then it was silent. “Okay, I’m in my cabin.”
“Cabin?”
“On the cruise ship.”
Foolishness flooded Todd. She wasn’t even in Nashville. “Oh,” he said, wishing he didn’t sound so surprised. “Where are you?”
“Off the coast of Canada…somewhere. We’re taking an Alaskan cruise.”
“Who’s we?” he asked, wishing he didn’t feel as jealous as he did.
“I’m with my parents and my sisters and Beau.”
“Oh, sounds fun.”
“It is fun.”
Todd fell silent, because he didn’t have anything else to say.
“So….” she prompted. “Why’d you call?”
“Oh, uh.” He turned from the window, imagining himself atop that two-thousand pound bull, flipping around wildly. He could sense it’s every move. Feel the muscles in it’s legs and side and back, anticipate which way it would go.
But he was flying blind here.
“I’m in Nashville,” he blurted. “I came to see you, but I guess you’re not here.”
“Oh.”
He imagined her to be blinking rapidly, the way she did when she was trying to figure out what to say. His heart melted, and he wanted to be with her so badly.
“It’s fine,” he said. “I brought your birthday presents, and I wanted to apologize and tell you all about what I’ve been doing the last few weeks.” Since you left.
“I won’t be home for another week or so,” she said. “Eight days, Rose says. I’ll be home in eight days.” Scuffling sounded on her end of the line, and Todd imagined her sister there with her.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
�
�We don’t need to talk about it now,” she said.
He drew in a deep breath. She’d answered. Spoken to him. “Eight days,” he said. “Can I see you when you get back into town?”
It seemed to take forever for her to say, “Sure, Todd. I’d like that.”
He said goodbye, the call ended, and he floated over to the bed. “Eight days,” he repeated. He could surely find something to do in Nashville for eight days.
Couldn’t he?
Chapter Twenty
Vi loved the Alaskan cruise. There was nothing quite as soothing as the sound of the ocean against the ship, or being lulled to sleep by the waves. It was colder than she’d thought it would be, even for September, and she’d bought several hoodies and jackets with whales and the outline of Alaska on them to keep warm.
When she landed in Nashville with her parents and Rose, a tremor of excitement flowed through her. Or maybe that was nerves. Or fear. Or something.
She wasn’t sure if Todd was here or not. He hadn’t said if he’d be staying or if he’d fly home to Coral Canyon and then come back.
Home.
She realized she’d just thought of Coral Canyon as home.
She suddenly had a lot more work to do in Nashville. She needed to list her house for sale. Go through it all and get rid of a lot of stuff. After all, she had an entire house worth of stuff already in Coral Canyon.
So what did she really need from her place here?
Her musical instruments. Maybe a better bed, as the one she slept on in Wyoming was old and had been in the house when she’d moved in. Some of her career things, like the platinum records she owned and her own music collection. Personal items she didn’t need for day-to-day living.
Lily’s name popped up on her phone as the cab driver started the drive to her house. Are you still coming for Christmas?
Vi had steadfastly refused to talk about Todd on the cruise, but apparently all bets were off now that it had ended.
She looked out the window. The sun shone here in Nashville, and she wondered what weather Todd was experiencing. She’d been to the Christmas Eve festivities at Whiskey Mountain Lodge last year, and it had been heart-warming and wonderful to be included in the Whittaker family celebrations.
They had traditions and loved each other, the same way the Everetts did.
Yes, she typed out and sent. Even if things didn’t work out with Todd, Vi wanted to spend the holidays with snow, hot chocolate, and Lily at Whiskey Mountain Lodge.
She told the driver the code for her gate when he pulled up, and she knew something was up the moment she saw the hulking, black SUV parked in her circle driveway.
“Here is fine,” she said, her heart pounding in her chest. Was she being robbed? Or had Todd somehow figured out how to get through her gate and into her house?
She really hoped it was Todd. As she stepped out of the cab, she asked the driver getting her luggage out of the trunk, “Could you wait here while I check the house?” She eyed the SUV. “I’m not sure whose car that is.”
“Should I call the police?” the man asked. “It’s got rental plates.”
“It’s probably….” She didn’t know how to label Todd. “I probably know them,” she said. “I just want to make sure. I’ll wave to you from the door, okay?” She dug in her pocketbook and pulled out a few bills. “Thank you.”
The cab driver didn’t wait by the car. He came up the steps with her, bringing her heaviest suitcase with him. She typed in the code for her keypad, and the front door clicked open. The scent of roses and bacon hit her simultaneously, and she smiled.
“It’s fine,” she said. “I’m sure it’s my friend.”
Todd appeared in the doorway that led into the kitchen, and Vi’s heart nearly sprinted right out of her chest.
“You sure?” the cab driver asked.
“I’m sure,” she said firmly. “Thank you.” She wheeled her suitcase across the threshold and entered the house, flashing him another smile as she closed the door behind her. She turned and faced Todd, who had not moved.
“You broke into my house?” she asked, her palms flat against the door behind her. She needed it to keep standing. He looked good, and not just physically. There was something…lighter about him, and Vi could hardly wait to cross the room, knock his cowboy hat off his head, and kiss him.
“Technically,” he said, clearing his throat. “I didn’t break in. I had the codes.”
“Where’d you get them?”
“Your sister.”
“Which one?”
“Lily.”
“I’m going to have to talk with Lily about security,” Vi said.
“I wasn’t sure when you’d get home,” he said. “Wait here.”
Vi couldn’t move even if she wanted to. So she stayed pressed into the door, praying, until Todd returned, which only took a few seconds.
He carried a bouquet of blood-red roses in one hand, and a bag of gifts in the other. “I missed your birthday.” He approached with slow steps, but he wasn’t limping. “But I’ve had these for a long time anyway. I want you to have them.”
He stopped a few feet from her and extended the roses out to her. She took them, noticing the card stuck in them wasn’t in an envelope. It said I’M SORRY on it in big letters, and she bent to sniff the roses.
“I flew to Colorado Springs to talk to my parents,” he said. “I’ve, um, been angry with them for a long time. I wasn’t sure why. I just knew I was.”
Vi nodded. She’d known that most of his anger and darkness came from his childhood.
“And I saw them, and my dad asked me what I was doing there, and I just…I couldn’t really say anything.” He swallowed and shifted the gifts. “But I felt this peace come over me, and I just knew I needed to forgive them. So I said, ‘I forgive you,’ and that was that.”
“I’m so glad,” Vi said softly, looking right into those light gray eyes she loved.
“I really am sorry, Violet,” he said in that beautiful way he had. “I never should’ve taken my anger out on you. I know you took real good care of me when I was down.” The level of compassion and sincerity in his voice was off the charts.
She nodded. “Apology accepted.”
“I stayed off my leg.” He glanced down at it. “Doc says it’s all the way healed this time. Took about a dozen x-rays, from all different angles. No fractures.”
“That’s great.”
“I visited the farmhouse again. I’m okay now. I started training Jetstream. You should see him give high five.” He grinned, and Vi did too, thinking of that dog she loved so much.
“Graham told me to figure things out.” Todd took a step forward. “Fix them. Apologize. Be honest, with myself and everyone else.” Another step. If he took another one, it would only be the width of the rose bouquet which separated them.
“And I love you, Violet Everett. I need you in my life. I want you in my cabin, with me, in my bed.” He paused, his voice hoarse and low on the last few words. He glanced down at his hands and back at her. “That’s all. That’s everything.”
And it really was. He loved her. She could feel it in the very air, see it in his eyes, hear it in his words.
So she said, “I love you, too, Todd.”
Joy lit his face, and he took the roses from her and swept her into his arms. She giggled as he hugged her tight. “I’ve missed you so much,” he whispered. “Thank you for being patient with me. And straight-up.”
He dropped the gifts and swept his hat off his head just before he kissed her, and Vi had never been happier in her life. As she kissed him back, all she could think about was how much she loved him and how happy they would be for the rest of their lives.
“All right,” she said, standing and dusting her hands together. “That’s it.” She watched as the mover picked up the last box and headed for the front door. She stood in her library and looked at everything that was left.
Rose had said she’d go through it and anything she didn�
�t want, she’d give away, sell, or dispose of. Because Vi was going back to Coral Canyon that night.
She’d already been gone for far too long, as it was almost Halloween and she hadn’t seen Todd in a couple of weeks now. He’d stayed for a few weeks to help her go through the bigger items to sell and get rid of. The house was still for sale, and her realtor said it could take some time to sell, as it required a certain type of buyer.
Vi knew what that meant. She needed a rich celebrity to want to move to Nashville. Or have a house in Nashville. She could afford the payments, so she wasn’t worried about it. She’d even thought about keeping it, and using it as a vacation house for her and Todd.
In the end, the idea didn’t feel quite right, so she’d listed it and begun the process of cleaning it out. Her parents and Rose had helped a lot. And now she was ready to go. A tug of sadness moved through her, because though she wanted to return to Coral Canyon before the first big snowfall, she was also closing a chapter on her life she’d really enjoyed.
She wasn’t sure what the future held for her or the Everett Sisters. She knew Lily was going to have a baby, and she was hoping to have a wedding next year. She knew Rose would stay in Nashville. And she knew they had no plans to tour, though their next album hit shelves in April.
Vi was getting used to not knowing every little detail of her life, and it was quite exhilarating.
“There you are,” Rose said. “I thought you were coming out. Your flight is in a couple of hours.”
“I know,” Vi said, gazing toward the stairs that led up to her master suite. “I was just saying goodbye.”
Rose put her arm around Vi’s waist and they stood in the house where so much had been accomplished. So many songs written. So many lunches among the sisters.
“You should come for Christmas too,” she told Rose.
“Oh, I am. Mom and Dad too. Lily invited us all.”
Vi grinned and turned toward the door, causing Rose to drop her arm. “All right. I’m ready now. Let’s get to the airport.”