by LuAnn McLane
Arabella knew exactly where she needed to go. After locating her laptop and a few essential personal items, she hurried to the Mini Cooper and started driving north.
An hour into the journey, Grady called, but Arabella didn’t pick up, worried that he’d convince her to turn around, and she needed to stay strong. He called again, and then a third time, making guilt weigh heavily upon her. She wasn’t being fair to him and she knew it. With a cry of anguish, she pulled off at the next exit, turned into a gas station, and simply sat there, sobbing, questioning herself once again, wondering what the hell she was doing. This was Grady’s night, and she’d been so wrong to leave. They should have been celebrating, and instead she sat there and cried.
Leaning back against the headrest, she inhaled deep breaths, trying to calm down, but she remained a hot mess. She couldn’t begin to drive under these conditions, afraid as she was of being dangerous to others on the road. Surely there had to be a hotel nearby. Picking up her cell phone, she did a quick search and sighed with relief. “One mile down the road,” she whispered, and then put the car in gear. “Thank God.”
The standard hotel room seemed so cold and lonely after the warmth and beauty of the beach house. She rolled her suitcase into the corner and tossed her purse on the bed. Her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she hadn’t eaten in hours, but she wasn’t about to get behind the wheel again. The vending machine and minibar would have to suffice.
Arabella unzipped her suitcase and nearly laughed at the random contents. Shorts and T-shirts weren’t going to come in handy in November in Cincinnati, more proof that she wasn’t thinking clearly. She sat down on the bed and cradled her throbbing head in her hands, feeling very alone and uncertain.
The ping of her phone had her swallowing hard. Reaching in her purse, she looked at the screen and read the text message from Grady: Where are you? I’m worried. Please call or at least text me that you are safe.
Arabella leaned against the stacked pillows and sighed. Hot tears slid down her cheeks and she swiped at the wetness, angry with herself for being such a damned coward. She looked up at the ceiling and mumbled, “What have I just done?” She cried harder, wondering how so much fluid could possibly come out of her eyes.
With shaking fingers, she sat up and typed: I’m so sorry. I just needed to get away from the chaos.
Her phone immediately pinged back. Where are you?
Arabella stared at the message, wondering if she should tell Grady she was headed to Granny York’s house. If she let him know she was in this hotel an hour down the road, she knew he’d most likely follow her here, and part of her wanted him to. Before the night was over, she could be in his arms. But she needed to sort things out at her grandmother’s house. Her house now. She needed to have the house wrapped around her, to soak up the memories, feel the peace of being in the small brick home that had always been her safe haven. For just a few days she wanted to shut herself off from the rest of the world and digest the recent life-changing decisions she’d made.
Her phone pinged again. “ ‘Stop overthinking,’ ” she read out loud.
“Oh, wow, you know me so well.” Arabella laughed weakly and then waited for the next message to come. After a minute or so she read: I know things got crazy at the end of the show. I can understand why you would be upset and angry. We didn’t expect that kind of response. I wanted to be with you, not answering a million questions from the media.
Arabella shook her head and typed: I’m not angry.
Then come home.
I need a few days.
For what?
To let the events of the past few months sink in.
Arabella cringed when her cell phone rang. Taking a deep breath, she answered. “Hello, Grady.”
“Thank you for picking up. I needed to hear your voice,” he said gruffly.
“I’m sorry I left. But . . . I had to. At least, it felt that way at the time.”
“I wish you were here, but I guess I understand at least a little why you bolted. What happened after the concert was flat-out insanity. We weren’t expecting to be bombarded like that.”
“I tried to warn you.”
“I know, and I should have listened.” Grady sighed. “Well, get a load of this development: We’re leaving tomorrow morning for New York City to do a few morning talk shows.”
She gripped the phone tighter. “I’m not surprised.”
“I want you to be with us. You’re part of the success story and part of my life. At least, I hope so. But we’re doing it to talk about lupus awareness, not Heartbeat,” he said, but she could tell there was more. She inhaled a breath, bracing herself. “And we’ve decided to do an EP with Mom’s song, the slowed-down version of ‘Give Me Another Tomorrow,’ and Oliver’s ‘Love Me, Baby.’ The proceeds will go toward Mom’s foundation.”
“I think that’s wonderful.”
“We’re going to do a concert here and there for a couple of reasons. First, it gives us the chance to raise more money for the foundation by keeping us in the media, and we’ll be able to travel. But the events will be done sparingly, not a full-fledged tour. We decided that after the hard work we might as well do a few appearances. We had to make these decisions pretty quickly.”
“I knew you’d be bombarded with immediate offers.”
“We’ll only do a few. I promise.”
“I told you I didn’t want any promises.”
“I didn’t want you to hear any of this in interviews on TV. Arabella, please just come home. Go with us tomorrow. Or meet us there? I want you to be with me. It won’t be the same without you.”
Arabella had to bite her bottom lip to keep from crying.
“Please.”
“Grady, I have to take a few days of calm.”
“New York would be fun. We can stay and sightsee, go to a play. . . .”
The hopefulness in his voice clawed at her heart. “There are a few things I need to do.”
“Will you at least tell me where you’re at? Where you’re going?” He hesitated. “If you’re coming back?”
“I have to come back. I’m driving your car.”
“I don’t care about the damned car,” he said with the first little edge of anger. “I just want you back here.”
“A few days. That’s all I need. Please understand and be patient. Okay? Remember when you needed time to think things through?”
“That was different,” he said, and in truth, it was.
“Can you give me a breather?”
The brief hesitation made Arabella’s heart thud.
“Okay,” he said in a tired tone. “Arabella, I’m sorry about the chaos after the show. If there had been a way to get to you, I would have done it.”
“You’ve got nothing to be sorry about. This is just me needing to sort some things out.” She closed her eyes, wondering if she was doing the right thing by going to Cincinnati rather than New York. “I thought I had everything figured out. Really. But my life has changed so rapidly. I just need to let my brain catch up with my heart.”
“I love you, Arabella,” he said softly. “Remember that while you’re thinking things through.”
“I love you too. That I know for sure. And I’m so proud of the performance tonight. You guys absolutely blew me away.” Arabella couldn’t keep the tremble of emotion from her voice.
“Thanks.”
“And tell Jimmy, Jesse, and Oliver I said so too.”
“I will. Safe travels,” he said, but she could hear the sadness in his tone, and this felt a little bit scary, like a farewell, even though it wasn’t meant to be.
“You too,” she said, and ended the call. She sat there in the hotel room feeling terribly guilty and alone, but she knew she had to get to the bottom of why she had felt so panicked, and her grandmother’s home was the best place for her to s
ift through the last few months and get a clear picture of her future. And Grady needed to make any Heartbeat decisions without her input or presence.
And she needed to slow the hell down.
She couldn’t believe she’d damned near sold herself out to Maxine Morgan! Arabella groaned at the thought. Desperation had brought her to Sea Breeze, but she’d never dreamed the decision would be so life-altering on so many levels. With the constant activity of getting ready for the reunion concert, especially the past couple of weeks, she hadn’t really thought much about the fact that she’d moved from California, sold her business, and rekindled her relationship with Grady. . . . She’d revisited fond memories, opened old wounds. In just a little over two months, her life had changed so much.
God . . .
Arabella reminded herself that she wasn’t running away but simply taking a breather. When her pulse started to pound again, she told herself that everything would be okay, and then reached for her purse, hoping to find a peppermint.
While being with Grady remained at the top of her list, she had to understand herself first. And there was no better place to go than the little brick house where she had learned to dance, laugh, and sing. Tomorrow morning, bright and early, she was heading to Cincinnati.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
HERE WE GO
The next two days passed in a whirlwind blur of interviews and photo shoots. Devin was in his element, and he barely gave the brothers time to breathe, which, fortunately, helped keep Grady from going completely crazy with wanting to be with Arabella. He’d spoken to her briefly and shared a few text messages the night of the concert, but he still had no idea where she’d gone. . . .
Until the next night, when he was sitting up in bed, thinking, and, just like that, the answer came to him. He had to be right.
“Well, damn.” Grady slapped his hand on the hotel bed, making Oliver sit up straight.
“What the hell, dude?” He shoved his fingers through his hair. “It’s three o’clock in the morning and we’ve got an interview to do at ten. We’re all gonna look like shit and say stupid shit if we don’t get some rest.” He punched his pillow and laid back down.
“Oh, come on, how can you sleep with Jesse snoring like a damned locomotive, anyway?”
“Would you asshats shut the hell up?” Jimmy grumbled from the other bed. “I’d finally fallen asleep. Or maybe my brain shut down from listening to Jesse. And he just farted.”
Jesse snored away in blissful slumber.
“I warned you when he switched to bourbon after dinner he’d snore,” Oliver said in a raspy whisper. “Oh, but did anyone listen? Well, you’re sure as hell listening now. To that!”
“I wasn’t cussing about Jesse snoring,” Grady said. “I just realized, like a dumb shit, where I think Arabella headed after the concert. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner.”
“Where?” Jimmy asked in a more alert tone.
“I’d bet anything she’s at her grandmother’s house.”
“Don’t tell me you’re going all the way to Cincinnati without knowing for sure,” Oliver said.
“I’ll call her mom and ask if my hunch is right. I hope she still has the same cell number. If not, I bet she still has a landline. If not, I can give her dad a call.”
“And you think Mindy will tell you if Arabella doesn’t want you to know she’s there?” Jimmy asked. “I can’t imagine her mother doing that.”
Jesse mumbled something in his sleep and then continued snoring.
“Jimmy, for the love of God, give him another shove,” Grady pleaded. “Well, I’m going to give it a shot. I think I’ll be able to tell by the tone of her voice.”
“So you have a superpower?” Jimmy asked.
“I have lots of superpowers,” Grady said.
Jimmy shifted to his side and looked at Grady in the dim light. “Do you think you should just give Arabella some space?” he asked in a low voice. “She only asked for a few days, Grady. Look at all that’s happened to her in a short span of time. I think she just had a moment, that’s all. I mean, what happened after the concert was way beyond what any of us expected. I wish now that we could have searched for her. Somehow gotten her to the RV with us.”
“Yeah. Why didn’t I do that?”
“We were bombarded. It wasn’t anybody’s fault. Maybe let her take a break instead of chasing after her. Let some of this stuff sink in.”
Grady considered the advice for a moment. “No,” he said. “I couldn’t chase after her the last time she ran out because I was in the middle of a world tour. Now I have the freedom to do it. And we’re not kids anymore. I’m not going to let her slip away again. She overthinks things, and I want to be there to just talk.”
“I get that,” Jimmy said. “It’s not often we get a second chance at love.”
“You’re right.”
“Damn, I’d be happy with a first chance,” Jimmy said with a low chuckle. “All my dates seem to end in disaster. They either want to date me because of Heartbeat or they’re intimidated by the fame, which is silly,” Jimmy said. “And the concert isn’t going to help that problem. Once this is over, I plan on spending more time on my balcony writing songs and staying out of the limelight. But Arabella has always been different. She doesn’t fit into either of those two categories. She never did.”
“I think Jimmy’s got a point, and I think you’re right too, Grady,” Oliver said. “You should go after her rather than wait for her to come back if she doesn’t come home soon. But,” he continued, “don’t forget I’m heading to Nashville in a couple of weeks to set up studio time and hire some musicians for the EP. We need to keep this train rolling while the publicity is still hot.”
“I won’t forget—not that you’d let me,” Grady said. “Jimmy, I know you’re going to start working on some new songs, but will you stay on top of things at the foundation while I try to get my girl back home?”
“No problem. And Jesse can handle the music shop by himself while Oliver gets things going in the studio. And we can nominate him for anything else since he’s sleeping and can’t protest.”
Grady chuckled. “Kinda like when we got him to do dish duty because he was the last one to come in when Mom called us for supper.”
“Yeah,” Jimmy said. “Hey, it was his own fault.”
Oliver groaned. “Okay, good, now that we’ve got all that settled in the middle of the night instead of in the morning like normal people, can we go back to sleep? Please?” Oliver pleaded.
“Right, you need your beauty sleep, pretty boy,” Grady said, and gave his brother a teasing shove.
“I’m already beautiful,” Oliver said with a loud yawn. “Jimmy, make Jesse stop!”
“Jesse! Knock it off.” Jimmy gave Jesse a hard shove that nearly sent him tumbling over the edge of the bed.
“What the hell?” Jesse grumbled. The snoring stopped and they all sighed with relief.
But then Jesse started up again a minute later, making Grady laugh.
“Dude, this isn’t funny,” Oliver said. “I’m getting earplugs. I saw some in the bathroom. If the hotel weren’t full I’d get a damned separate room.”
“Earplugs won’t drown that shit out,” Jimmy said. “I want the earplugs. I’m the one sleeping with him. How did that happen, anyway? I had to spend nine months sleeping with him in the womb. He probably took up more than his share of the room like he’s doing right now. He’s sprawled in the middle of the damned bed.”
Grady laughed. “Shove the earplugs up Jesse’s nose.”
“Okay,” Jimmy said.
“No, he’ll breathe through his mouth and get a sore throat,” Oliver argued.
“I was only kidding,” Grady said, but his grin stayed in place. He’d forgotten how much fun it was to travel with his brothers. This felt like old times, only better. The
anxious feeling that had been haunting him had lifted. He was going to go find Arabella and bring her back to Sea Breeze, where she belonged. Because she loved him. And she adored his crazy brothers. And the beach house had been built just for her. And the night of the concert had sucked for them, but that was over.
Why wouldn’t she want to come back? He wasn’t about to give up on the woman he loved.
As Grady tried to drift off to sleep, Arabella’s image filled his head. As keyed up as he was, his brain refused to give in to fatigue. He knew he might have bags under his eyes during the interview, but still sleep eluded him.
Grady wondered what he could say to Arabella’s mom to ensure she’d let him know if Arabella was in Cincinnati? It had been so many years since he’d seen Mindy, but he remembered her as being bubbly and friendly. Still, she wouldn’t give away her daughter’s whereabouts without a good reason.
Grady yawned and was nearly asleep when the answer slid into his head like a slick dance move. His heart pounded and he was once again wide-awake. He stared at the shadows dancing on the wall from the streetlights outside, waiting for the doubts to butt their way in, but excitement and determination erupted like confetti in his head and love filled his heart.
“Yes!” he said softly, embracing his answer. Luckily, he failed to wake Oliver, or he might have gotten shoved off the bed and booted into the hallway.
Sleep could wait. Tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough. Glancing at the red digits on the alarm clock, he saw that it was nearly four thirty and sighed. He wanted to wake his brothers and talk to them, share his excitement, but he refrained. Barely.
Grady created a mental list of things he needed to do to put his plan into action. He had a lot to get done. After the interview, he planned to head to Tiffany’s. Surely a little blue box would have some persuasive power. He wanted to pick up his cell phone and start looking at selections, but he didn’t want the light to wake anyone. And he really should try to get some sleep. . . .