Driving Tempo

by Thomas, Raine

  Archer had spent most of the time pretending to be on the phone as though bored with the entire process. “Sure, sure,” he said absently. “Whatever you want.”

  “Maybe I want more than one ring,” she said, giving him a sideways glance. “Do you think I’m worth more than one?”

  He blinked as though he was finally focusing on what she was saying. “Uh, well, sure. But who needs more than one engagement ring, right?”

  Her bottom lip turned out in a convincing pout. “I guess. I don’t think I can decide right now. Can we come back another time?”

  Archer ran a hand through his hair in a show of frustration. “Do you think it’s easy or cheap to schedule this kind of thing?”

  “Do you think I’m easy or cheap?” she countered silkily.

  He almost broke character and laughed. “Don’t worry,” he muttered. “I’m certainly not under either impression.”

  “Fine.” She turned to Sal. “Sal, you’ve been a dear. Thank you for taking the time to show me these rings. Your inventory is really something else. Can I get back to you once I’ve made my decision?”

  “Of course, Ms. Montgomery,” he said. “We can even have the ring delivered to you if you’d like.”

  “Thank God,” Archer said under his breath. “Are we done here then?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Lily said testily. She turned from him and started marching for the door.

  “Okay, we’re clear,” Duff called out, lowering his camera.

  Archer saw Lily’s shoulders drop down, telling him how tense she’d been throughout the scene. He walked over to her and gently rubbed her shoulders. She leaned her head back so it rested on his chest.

  “You did great,” he said, brushing a kiss along her temple. “Now can we actually get to the fun part?”

  “Hope it goes well,” Duff said. He turned to Sal. “I’ll let myself out the back if that’s okay.”

  “Of course,” Sal said.

  “I’ll lock the door behind you,” Teresa offered.

  “Thanks.”

  As they walked out, Jada rose from the stool she’d taken over from Duff during the filming. “Do you really like any of these rings?” she asked, moving closer to the three on display. “I could take photos if you want.”

  Lily shook her head. “They’re not really my style. Thank you so much again for putting up with me, Sal.”

  “My pleasure,” he said with a smile. “I will just return these to the display and then I can show you some rings I think might better suit you.”

  “Thanks,” Lily said again. “And you can feel free to record any parts of this that you think might be worth sharing, Jada. I trust your judgment.”

  Jada smiled. “I’m on it.”

  Teresa returned and both she and Sal made Lily the focus of their attention. They guided her away from vintage styles with chunkier bands since Lily’s hands were so petite, as well as anything art nouveau since her taste was more traditional. She gravitated towards silver, white gold, and platinum bands, so they ruled out colored metal. Lily also knew she wanted something that paired well with whatever wedding bands she and Archer chose, and she didn’t want anything that stuck out too far that would catch on everything.

  “I’m sorry I’m making this such a challenge,” Lily said when she still hadn’t fallen in love with anything thirty minutes later. “You’ve shown me such beautiful rings. I know there are thousands of women who would kill for any of them. I don’t know why they don’t really feel right.”

  Teresa looked up and met Archer’s gaze. He nodded. She smiled.

  “It’s quite all right, my dear,” Teresa said. “Don’t lose hope. Sometimes it takes a little while to find the right ring. I have one more that I’d like you to try. It’s in the back, as we haven’t had a chance to add it to our inventory.”

  “Sure,” Lily said.

  Archer could practically read her thoughts. She was tired, she was disheartened, and she really didn’t think she would find the right ring. She was worried about disappointing him and Sal and Teresa. She feared the ring Teresa was about to bring out was incredibly expensive because it was brand new.

  He wrapped his arms around her from behind and leaned down to kiss her cheek. “This isn’t something to stress about, Lily Momilly. If you don’t fall in love with a ring today, we’ll keep looking. No big deal.”

  She sighed. “I know.”

  Teresa returned carrying a small deep blue box that she placed on top of the glass case. “Here it is. Let’s see what you think of this.”

  She opened the box. Archer watched Lily.

  She tilted her head with a considering frown, probably thinking Teresa had brought out the wrong ring. After all, it looked remarkably similar to the inexpensive ring she’d worn into the shop.

  Then she leaned closer to the box. She likely saw that the metal was lighter in color than the silver plating since it was platinum. The round center diamond was a carat larger than the one-carat cubic zirconia, and it glowed and sparkled beneath the store’s lights with far more brilliance. The tanzanite of the accent stones was a deeper, more vibrant blue-violet. A few small diamond accents wove through the delicate design to further highlight the center stone.

  “There’s a custom wedding band that pairs with it,” Sal said when Lily said nothing.

  He set a second box next to the first and opened it, revealing a slender curving band accented with leaf-shaped diamonds and tanzanite. When he removed both rings from the boxes and held them together, it looked as though the center stone was nestled in a hidden garden. The open flow of the design made it look light and airy...perfect for a fairy queen.

  Archer saw the tears in her eyes and knew he’d been right to have the ring made. He’d sent Sal images of Lily’s other ring as well as her ring size and ordered it weeks ago. Sal had rushed to get it done in time. It was worth every penny to see Lily’s reaction now.

  She turned to him as the tears slipped down her cheeks. He felt the love she held for him in the power of her violet gaze. Rather than speak, she reached up with both hands and pulled him down to kiss him. That kiss said more than any words could express, telling him just how delighted she was.

  He smiled against her mouth when he heard clapping from Sal and Teresa. He and Lily parted and shared one more look before turning to the couple who had made this moment possible.

  “We’ll take it,” he said.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Sage walked into his home’s sound studio and stopped a couple of feet inside the doorway. This space had been custom-designed with full sound-proofing and the highest music tech on the market. He’d chosen every element within it with care and precision. It was his haven, the place where he always felt at home.

  Now he stared around blankly, waiting and hoping for some sort of inspiration. He had several outstanding projects for other artists he had committed to working on after the tour ended. Their last day in Vegas had been a week ago and he hadn’t even been motivated enough to unpack his portable equipment or other luggage from the trip. It was still piled in the study just off the foyer.

  He’d hoped visiting the studio would give him the right nudge to begin working on something creative. Instead, he immediately knew his Muse would continue to elude him. Rather than inspired, he felt empty.

  His gaze fell on the origami rabbit, crane, and fish that Rosemary had made him. He had carried them in his pockets every day until...

  He fought back the pain caused by the memory of his last night with Rosemary. Once he’d made the impossible decision to accept Kaila’s condition on their rekindled relationship, he’d felt unworthy of carrying the treasured paper gifts. Keeping them on his person was in direct contradiction to Kaila’s wishes. He had placed them in the studio next to his Behringer mixer, a duplicate of the one he’d struck Rosemary with the first time they met. Kaila didn’t ever venture into this room when she visited, treating it like his man-cave.

  They’d gone on a cou
ple of dates over the past week, including attending the “Not Mine” video filming. After the video wrapped, they went to dinner. The conversation had largely focused on Kaila’s observations while she was on the set. She’d been quite complimentary about his band mates and their significant others, something that felt a little forced since she’d never expressed such things before. Still, she was making an effort, which he could appreciate.

  They’d met for a second-date brunch the day before. Kaila had looked beautiful in her floral print sundress, her dark hair curling over her shoulders in a way that told him she’d spent time achieving the look. Many heads had turned to enjoy the way the dress flattered her generous curves. She’d taken the time to apply makeup, accentuating her sultry eyes and full lips.

  Again, he could appreciate the effort. Being friends for so long made them both comfortable with each other to the point where the extra effort wasn’t necessary. It told him she really wanted to try and make this work. He kept reminding himself he needed to do the same.

  A wildlife photographer, Kaila was preparing for a month-long shoot in Wyoming in a few weeks. Their conversation the day before had centered on this since Sage didn’t have much going on at the moment. She had asked him if he wanted to go with her. He still hadn’t given her an answer.

  It was taking a while for his heart to get on the same page as his head. He kept hearing Archer telling him that Rosemary was suffering. It ate at him, and quite frankly it reflected much of what he was feeling himself. Suspecting that this terrible ache would last for both him and Rosemary until they had some closure had prompted him to run the idea of talking to her by Kaila at the conclusion of their date.

  “It’s hard for me to accept how I left things with her,” he had said when Kaila stared at him after making the request. The word “hard” was more like “excruciating,” but he figured Kaila wouldn’t want to hear that. “I’m not the kind of guy who ignores his friends or leaves a woman hanging with no word after sleeping with her.”

  Kaila’s lips had pressed together in obvious disapproval. “If you feel that you need to speak with a woman you slept with right now when we’re trying to get this relationship off to a good start, then you should go ahead and do it,” she said. “But it really says a lot that you can’t just let your one encounter with her go and move on with me. How do you think it makes me feel to hear you say that you need to connect with her again?”

  The plainly spoken words, laced with pain that he was causing her, had Sage backing down. He wasn’t sure he could feel like any lower a human being than he did, essentially a guy who was hurting two different women he cared about at the same time.

  Now, left alone with his thoughts and Rosemary’s origami gifts, he waffled again. Kaila wasn’t the one experiencing this keen loss. He was.

  Rosemary was.

  Yes, he and Rosemary had only been friends for a few weeks, but they had formed a bond that had only strengthened during their one night together.

  Archer said that Rosemary wanted him to be happy. He genuinely wanted the same thing for her. Maybe by speaking with her and apologizing for hurting her, he could help mend some of the pain he’d caused. Maybe if he called her and told her he was happy, she could move on.

  In a determined move, he pulled his cell phone from his pocket. He found Rosemary’s number near the top of his recent call list and tapped it, connecting the call.

  It rang once.

  He hung up.

  Cursing, he threw the phone against the padded soundproof wall. It ricocheted and ended up bouncing safely to the ground near his feet. He barely stopped himself from kicking the phone out of sheer frustration.

  He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t tell Rosemary he was happy, not when he wasn’t...not completely.

  He couldn’t encourage her to move on when his heart couldn’t accept the idea of that...not fully.

  God, he needed to get his head and his heart synced before he did any more damage to the people in his life.

  As that thought occurred to him, he walked over to the mixer and picked up the fish Rosemary had given him. It was the gift she had presented him when she mentioned the idea of him going to see his father.

  His finger traced her initials as he’d now done numerous times. It occurred to him as he reflected on their conversation that he might not be able to get the closure he needed with Rosemary right now, but he could take her advice and get closure in a part of his life that had needed it even longer.

  Once again, he picked up his phone.

  * * *

  “So we’re all in agreement that the sheath silhouette is the front-runner,” said Tierney Nessel, Lily’s wedding gown designer.

  Rosemary had been impressed by the designer so far, something that she had doubted upon seeing Tierney’s cap of electric blue hair, multiple facial piercings, and an almost frumpish wardrobe of a camo tank top and khaki cargo pants with flip-flops. Rosemary knew Lily had been friends with Tierney in high school but Rosemary didn’t know her well. Her expectations had been admittedly low. With Lily now having the goal of trying to bring attention to up-and-comers in their crafts, she had thought of approaching Tierney. Tierney had jumped at the chance to create Lily’s wedding dress.

  It appeared she had been working steadily since agreeing to do it. When Lily, Rosemary, and Monique arrived for the appointment, Tierney showed them a number of sketches, narrowing down the options as Lily expressed her opinion on them. Having gotten Lily’s measurements from Rosemary, Tierney had also created plain mock-ups of several gown silhouettes using basic fabric so Lily could try each of them on and further narrow down the design by how the silhouettes suited her.

  Tierney had great design sense, Rosemary thought. The sheath style suited Lily’s slender frame. It highlighted what curves she had and made her look more elongated.

  “It’s perfect,” Monique said as Rosemary nodded.

  “I love it,” Lily agreed. “Can I look again at the designs you created with this silhouette?”

  “Yep,” Tierney said. “Let’s get you changed first. Then we’ll talk details.”

  “This is so exciting,” Lily said with a smile as she followed Tierney to the short hallway where the dressing room was located. “I didn’t think it would be.”

  Rosemary returned her smile. It made her happy to see Lily enjoying herself. Most of the planning had seemed like more of a chore to her sister. Since arriving at Tierney’s studio, which she shared with her business partner, photographer Catarina Coco, Lily had been relaxed and enthusiastic.

  “I have a vision for the dress inspired by that gorgeous ring of yours,” Tierney was saying as they disappeared down the hallway.

  “That ring really is spectacular,” Monique said to Rosemary when they were alone.

  “It sure is.”

  Rosemary thought it might just be the most extraordinary engagement ring she’d ever seen, and she’d seen hundreds of them. It had truly been crafted for Lily.

  “How much do you figure it set Archer back?”

  “Monique,” Rosemary chided, smacking her friend on the upper arm.

  “Come on. That diamond is a couple carats easy and looks pretty damn flawless. Plus it’s a custom, one-of-a-kind design.”

  “It’s rude to talk about things like that.”

  Monique dipped her head and gave her a Seriously? look.

  Rolling her eyes, Rosemary mumbled, “At least fifty-k.”

  Sighing enviously, Monique said, “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

  She and Rosemary both pulled out their phones. They were trained to always give their clients their full attention when the clients were in the room. When the client went into a dressing room, it was time to log onto their phones and catch up on texts, voicemails, and e-mails. Rosemary tapped her phone to light up the screen. Her heart thudded heavily when she saw the note on her screen.

  Missed Call...Sage Strickland.

  “What is it?” Monique asked, evidently hearing R
osemary’s soft gasp.

  “I missed a call from Sage,” Rosemary said, showing the screen to her friend. “Should I call him back? I should call him.”

  “Did he leave you a voicemail?”

  Rosemary frowned, checking her voicemail screen. “No.”

  “Butt-dial,” Monique said, waving her hand in dismissal.

  “But what if—”

  “No ‘what ifs.’ Don’t torture yourself over this. If that boy wanted to talk to you, he’d damn well do it. He doesn’t deserve to at this point anyway. He’s had a week to explain himself and apologize like he should have. Screw him.”

  Rosemary tried to work up the level of anger towards Sage that her friend harbored. It was true that it had been a week since that disastrous night in Vegas. It was also true that she had believed she’d hear from Sage with at least a texted comment, apology, or farewell.

  Instead, it had been radio silence.

  Rather than anger, she’d experienced only heartache and loss. She missed their nightly conversations about nothing and everything. She missed his charming grin and teasing commentary about her love of nineties music. She missed introducing him to new kinds of movie candy and looking up at the stars, content just to be near him. She missed holding his hand and pretending to be something to him that she obviously wasn’t.

  It was especially awful to know that her last origami gift to him, a special rose she’d crafted of red paper with yellow at its core, had gone unacknowledged. She created the rose before making the decision to sleep with him. The yellow represented friendship and the red love. She chose the colors to represent the transition of her feelings for him. The rose itself was a symbol to remind him of her, as he often called her by the nickname.

  After Kaila’s confrontation in the hotel suite and Rosemary’s subsequent meltdown in Lily’s arms, Rosemary had packed her things to make her shame-filled retreat from the tour. She hadn’t been able to leave without gifting Sage the rose. Since she knew Kaila was staying with Sage in his room, she had gone onto the band’s tour bus right before her departure. The driver, Roscoe, had allowed her access. She’d ridden on the bus several times. She’d gone into Sage’s locker and placed the rose in the bag containing his portable sound equipment and other personal effects. His favorite earphones were in there, so she knew he’d see the rose quickly. She couldn’t think of a time when he hadn’t plugged in his headphones to listen to music or watch a show on his tablet while on the bus. Deep down she hoped he would look up the significance of the rose and the colors she had chosen and reach out to her.