Back to Texas

by Renee, Amanda

  Owning a music school ranked pretty high on his list, and now that Bridgett was in the picture, she had trumped them all. The chance of making his dreams come true was at his fingertips, and after tonight there was nothing stopping him from opening his school in town and playing the kind of music he enjoyed...unless Bridgett decided not to forgive him.

  “I knew it.” Lark stood in the doorway glaring at Adam. “I knew I’d seen you somewhere before. I couldn’t place where, but I knew your voice.”

  Everyone stopped singing and stared at Adam.

  Bridgett stepped outside. “Lark, what’s going on?”

  “It’s him.” Lark’s voice was thick with disgust. “I have to hand it to you, you clean up good.”

  “I don’t understand.” Bridgett’s eyes blinked rapidly.

  Adam stood, handing the guitar to one of the guys. “I planned to tell you tonight. Somewhere private.” His heart pounded in his ears, almost deafening him. “My name is Adam Steele, but for the past ten years, people have known me as The Snake.” There, he’d said it. It was out. He’d told her the truth. Adam inhaled sharply, waiting for her to respond.

  “No.” Bridgett shook her head. “No, I don’t believe you.”

  “I practically didn’t recognize you,” Lark chided. “Your singing gave you away, though. Very reminiscent of one of your earlier ballads, before you became so angry.”

  “Adam?” Bridgett questioned. “I’ve seen The Snake and you look nothing like him.”

  “Change the hair, give him a beard and it’s him. Bridgett, he’s lied to you all this time.” Lark whipped her phone from her pocket. “Here, I’ll show you.”

  Bridgett held Lark’s phone as a video of Adam’s band played. She looked from the phone to Adam and back again, and Adam knew she was trying to accept what she was seeing.

  “This is really you.” Tears fell silently from Bridgett’s eyes. “But I heard on the radio you were in Australia.”

  “That was my body double.” The words sounded ridiculous to him. “We sent him there to keep people from discovering the truth. I wanted to give you and my family a heads-up first. This should have occurred in several methodical stages. There are press releases and—it doesn’t matter anymore.”

  “I was part of a methodical stage?” Color drained from Bridgett’s face, causing Adam to regret his poor choice of phrasing. “How could you do this to me? Do you have any idea what it feels like to be betrayed and humiliated in front of an entire town...twice?”

  “It gets better. Have you seen him with Miss July?” Lark chided, showing Bridgett more photos.

  “Really, Lark?” Adam tried to lunge for the phone, but she snatched it away from his grasp. “You could have made your point without showing her those.” He hadn’t wanted Bridgett to see him in bed with another woman. She deserved better. He had been a fool for thinking she’d forgive him after this.

  “You’re serious?” Lark squared her shoulders. “Bridgett deserves to hear the truth. You lied to her. To all of us.”

  “Those photos are only hurting her more,” Adam growled. “You are no friend if you drive the knife deeper. I take full responsibility for what I did, but Lark there is no need to be cruel to Bridgett.”

  Bridgett brought the photo closer to her face and studied it. A visible chill shuddered through her body. She handed the phone back to Lark. “Give us privacy please,” Bridgett said, her voice low and quiet. “Lark, that means you, too.”

  “I’ll be right inside. You yell if you need me.”

  Bridgett nodded and waited for the door to close. “This is why your parents disowned you. Because you told the whole world you didn’t have parents. Your rags-to-riches story was bullshit.” Bridgett glared at him, her eyes devoid of any emotion. “People looked up to you. I promise you, I was never one of them. But kids worshipped you. They thought if you could make it maybe they could, too. But you’re nothing but a fake. Why did you do this? Why string me along with a lie?”

  “It’s complicated,” Adam began. “At first I didn’t want to risk blowing my cover.”

  “Your cover?” Bridgett stepped away from him. “This was a cover? You slept with me and spewed all this crap about a future together. So what was real and what wasn’t?”

  “I meant every word of it.” This was not going as Adam had planned. “I knew I had to tell you the truth. I wanted to from the beginning. But when you mentioned all the lies your mother had told you I was afraid. I thought if I told you everything, I would have never had a chance to get to know you.”

  “You should’ve learned from my mother’s mistakes that keeping secrets only damages a relationship. I don’t know if I will ever get back to where I was with my mother and that breaks my heart every day. And knowing what I’d already been through, you went and did the same thing. I don’t even know who you are. I trusted you. I confided in you things I hadn’t told anyone else.”

  “I didn’t want to lose you.”

  The pain in her eyes was a sight he had feared since day one. “It’s too late. I’m gone, Adam. You committed the ultimate sin in my book. You lied. It’s not about who you are or who you aren’t. Yeah, that’s major—huge! But it’s not about that. You lied to me. You had a front-row seat to not only my reaction to what my mother and Darren did, but deepest feelings about it. You took advantage.” Bridgett turned away from him. “You kn— I can’t—I can’t do this.”

  “Bridgett, don’t believe everything you read and those tabloids,” Adam pleaded. Watching her walk away tore his heart in two. “You are the first person I’ve told the entire truth to. Miami was a lie—a lie my first manager made up in order to sell records. It was a lie I was stuck with and one I fought to correct over the years. My management company said it would damage our reputation, so I just went with it. I allowed other people to control my life and I’ve regretted it since.”

  Bridgett spun to face him. “Is your sister really in Texas?”

  “Yes, Lizzy lives in Katy. So do my parents. They have their own ranch, and my sister lives in a house I bought for her to live in after her husband beat her up.”

  “You told me your sister’s hands were damaged from her ex, you didn’t tell me you bought her a house to live in. You left quite a bit out, Adam.”

  Thankful Bridgett hadn’t walked away, Adam attempted to explain his lies and omissions. “I bought her a house in a security-patrolled development. You can easily look at the register of deeds online and you will see it in my name...Adam Steele. I sold my house in Los Angeles after I met you. The closing is on Monday. Everything I owned is already on its way to a storage facility here in Texas. I have no intention of going back to California except to wrap up a few more business items. I’ll only be there for a day or two. Ramblewood is my home now.”

  Bridgett recoiled from Adam’s touch when he tried in vain to reach for her.

  “Don’t,” she warned.

  “Bridgett,” Adam said softly. “Ask me anything, but don’t run away from me. Please don’t shut me out. I’ll answer any of your questions but please don’t leave me.”

  Bridgett shook her head and just stood there without saying a word. He was grateful she was at least listening to him.

  “You had so many opportunities to tell me the truth,” Bridgett said without making eye contact.

  “It broke my heart not to tell you the truth.” Adam wasn’t going to deny or even attempt to justify why he’d kept the truth from her. “When I came to Ramblewood, I was driving from Katy to Los Angeles. I had just come off a bad tour—the band had collectively decided to break up the night before and I’d ended up at my parents’ house. They slammed the door in my face and I couldn’t blame them. I turned to my sister for help and she cleaned me up. When she finished, I didn’t even recognize myself. We tested it by running to the store to get some more appropriate c
lothing, and when nobody recognized me I decided to drive home to Los Angeles to regroup. It was the first time I was able to be in public without fans or paparazzi mobbing me. If I had let everyone in Ramblewood know who I was, I wouldn’t have had the chance to start over.”

  “Were you really going to make all those tourist attraction stops you told me about or was that another lie?” Bridgett asked, finally meeting his eyes.

  “All of that was true.” Adam’s hands shook. He jammed them in his jeans pockets to prevent himself from reaching for her again.

  “It doesn’t make any sense.” Bridgett folded her arms across her chest.

  “What doesn’t?”

  “You working at the ranch. You clearly didn’t need the money, so why put yourself through the hard work every day?”

  “For exactly that reason—it was hard work and I craved it. I needed to feel useful. I wanted to wake up with a purpose every day. Standing onstage in front of thousands of people is not as wonderful as you might think. Once the fans leave and you’re back on that tour bus, you have nothing. The adrenaline only flows when you’re onstage, and unless you have something or someone else to go home to, it’s a very lonely place to be. My bandmates have wives and families, I don’t. I’d never loved anyone until I met you. I never saw myself settling down, getting married or falling in love. I never thought I deserved it. But my opinion has changed because of you.”

  “My opinion has changed, too. I don’t know how to love someone who has lied to me from day one. You let me down. I mean really let me down, Adam.” Tears streamed down Bridgett’s cheeks. “You changed my whole outlook on life and now I feel more cheated than I did before you came to town.”

  “Would you have given me the time of day if you knew the truth from the very beginning?”

  Bridgett swiped at her cheeks with her fingertips. “Probably not. At least not at first. But if you stuck around long enough maybe I would have.”

  “I wanted a chance with you so desperately, and I took the biggest risk of my life. Maybe I was wrong, but I wouldn’t trade one minute we spent together for anything. I would gladly give everything away and work on a ranch for the rest of my life if it meant I could be with you.”

  “I have to go. I have a family dinner to get through and I’ll need to explain your absence. Please don’t show up.”

  “I won’t.”

  Adam’s heart broke into a million pieces as Bridgett turned and walked through the door of the luncheonette. Lark stepped outside again, and for a moment he thought she’d tell him off one more time. Instead, she studied him silently for a few long minutes and then followed Bridgett inside. Adam didn’t know her background; no one did, but he suspected it wasn’t a very pretty one. Maybe she understood more than she let on.

  By now, the Langtrys had probably already heard part of the story, considering Maggie’s daughter was married to one of them. He needed to make his apologies and clear out of their place tonight, if they hadn’t already bundled his stuff and left it on the main road. Climbing into his truck, Adam scrolled through his phone for local hotel listings. He wasn’t giving up on Bridgett so easily. He’d fix this. He had to.

  Adam turned the key in the ignition, and rested his head against the steering wheel. The wetness on his own cheeks took him by surprise. His chest heaved, his heart aching at the thought of never seeing Bridgett again.

  * * *

  “AM I A FOOL for believing him?” Bridgett asked.

  Lark shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. I hate to admit it, but much of what he said made sense. And yes, I listened at the door. None of us would’ve given him a chance if we knew who he really was. And he’s right, you can’t believe everything you read online. What was he like when you were together?”

  “He was like a normal guy.” Bridgett flashed through their nights out. “I guess that’s what he wanted. No fans, no photographs.” She inwardly laughed. “The day we met, I asked if he was a reporter. He told me he’d been called plenty of things, but never that. It makes sense. He hated reporters as much as I did. I keep replaying conversations in my head. I can see where he almost told me the truth many times. He was on the verge. And half the time, I cut him short because I thought he was referring to my situation. I guess I need to learn it’s not all about me.”

  Lark gave Bridgett a hug. “Are you going to be okay?”

  “I’ve been worse.” Bridgett laughed. “If I can get through the twin debacle and tonight’s dinner, I think I can survive this.”

  Bridgett held up her hand for a high-five, and Lark met it.

  “You’re a strong woman, Bridgett.”

  “Hell, I just want to toss back a bourbon or two.” Bridgett laughed. “Let me go get changed and head over to the Tanners’ for family fun night. I think I owe a few people an apology of my own.”

  She knew dinner would be difficult, but she’d promised her mom they’d celebrate the holiday together. Enough promises had been broken for one night and too many people had been hurt lately. She’d let her heart finish breaking over Adam in a few hours. Right now, her mother, Abby and she needed to heal as a family.

  Chapter Twelve

  Adam sat in the truck for a long time before he built up the nerve to drive on to the Bridle Dance Ranch. Then, stealing his nerves, he climbed Kay Langtry’s front-porch stairs. He no longer felt comfortable using the side or the back entrances reserved for friends and family.

  Kay was probably about to sit down to Thanksgiving dinner with her family, but he wanted her and the rest of the Langtrys to hear the truth from him. The door opened and Kay invited him in, leading him toward the dining room where everyone sat around a turkey ready to be carved.

  “We’ve been expecting you,” Shane said.

  “I bet.” Adam nervously jammed his hands into his jeans pockets. “I’ll make this short so you can get back to your dinner. You’ve probably heard the majority of it already anyway.”

  “Maggie called and said you had something important to tell us,” Kay said. “But she said we needed to hear it directly from you.”

  Thank God for small miracles.

  “When I came to Ramblewood, I was on a mission of sorts to find myself. I am known worldwide by the name The Snake, and I am the lead singer of a rock band known for leaving a mass of destruction in its wake. When I first came on the music scene, my ex-manager created a fake biography that said I was a street performer from Miami with no family to call my own. He felt it would sell more records than the truth—that I’m a small-town Texas boy. Over the years that persona morphed into someone who was known more for his offstage antics than his onstage performance.”

  “Was anything you told us true?” Lexi asked.

  “All of it was. It was what I purposely left out that matters now. When I stopped in Ramblewood to check out your Harvest Festival, I had only intended on staying for the weekend. It’s no secret I fell in love with Bridgett, but I also fell in love with the community. I wanted to get back to my roots. I never lied to Bridgett or any of you. I haven’t been so open and honest with people in my life, and it was amazingly freeing. I wanted—needed—to feel human again and that’s why I asked you for a job.”

  “You probably have more money than we do,” Shane grumbled.

  “My net worth has been publicized repeatedly. It’s not hard to find on the internet so I will let you be the judge of that one. I wanted you to hear the truth from me, since it came out today after the charity lunch. I’m truly sorry for deceiving you.”

  “And Bridgett?” Lexi asked.

  “I’ve told Bridgett the entire truth. I’m afraid I may have destroyed my relationship with her for good and—and I’m having a hard time accepting it. I need you to know my feelings for her are sincere and everything I’ve done and said has been real. But I am guilty by omission, and I don’t
deserve your forgiveness so I won’t ask for it.”

  “You’re the one who sent in that large anonymous donation to Dance of Hope the first week you were here,” Kay said. “I remember how moved you were by our hippotherapy program and the donation arrived the following day. I had my suspicions then that it was you.”

  “But you didn’t say anything.” Adam was surprised to hear that from day one Kay had questioned his story. “Why didn’t you ask me?”

  “People send donations anonymously for a reason and I respected your privacy. Besides, I wasn’t certain it was you.”

  “Mom’s not the only one who thought there might be more to your story,” Shane added. “After you filled out your employment paperwork, Kenny left it on my desk for me to determine if we needed to do a background check. Certain positions require verification. Ranch hands typically don’t, so I decided not to do the check. But I did question why your temporary driver’s license had been issued two days before you started working for us. I wondered if you’d really lost yours or if there was more to it. I gave you the benefit of the doubt, even though I had the opportunity to find out for sure. We have had plenty of people on this ranch come here for a second chance at life. You wouldn’t be the first and as long as you were genuine and honest with us from the beginning, I decided to overlook it.”

  “You knew he wasn’t legit?” Lexi was surprised to hear her husband kept a secret from her. “He dated my best friend. Didn’t you think you owed it to Bridgett to check him out?”

  Shane rubbed his forehead. “Heavens knows I’m going to regret this, but Lexi, we’ve all made mistakes, you and me included. This was between Bridgett and Adam.”

  “No one is perfect.” Kay’s authoritative voice rose above the side chatter. “None of us at this table have the right to judge you or anyone else. You’re correct about not having to ask for our forgiveness, because there’s nothing to forgive. What happened before you came to Ramblewood was in your past. You’re telling us you’ve been honest since the time you arrived and I for one believe you.”