Feels Like Home

by Kelly Elliott

  He looked pissed.

  Bristol

  “HELLO, BEN & JERRY. I’ve been dreaming of you all day!” I said as I dropped down onto my sofa. I opened my phone, held up the pint of ice cream, and snapped a picture. A few quick edits, and I uploaded it to Instagram.

  “Boy, do I need this today!” the caption read.

  I posted it, then set my phone down and turned on the TV.

  The news came on, and I closed my eyes as I let the ice cream slide down my throat.

  I moaned in delight. Ice cream is almost better than an orgasm. Almost. Then again, I hadn’t had an orgasm in so long, I had forgotten what they were.

  “CMA award-winning country music artist, Anson Meyer, a homegrown Texas cowboy, has found himself in jail in Nashville, Tennessee.”

  I nearly choked as I sat up and stared at the picture on the TV screen. It showed Anson being held back by someone and a man on the ground. I fumbled with the ice cream as I set it on the coffee table, then reached for the remote. I hit pause and stared at the man lying on the ground. Then I looked to the right of him, and there stood the lady who had been on Ida’s porch steps. My eyes darted back to the guy. He was holding his jaw.

  It was him. That was the couple who had been in Comfort.

  “Oh. Holy. Shit,” I mumbled.

  My phone rang. I didn’t even bother to look to see who was calling; I already knew it would be Mindy.

  “Hello?”

  “Tell me you’re watching the news!”

  “Yeah, I saw. Anson’s in jail.”

  Just then, they changed to a video of Anson sitting on a stool, a guitar in his hand.

  “Talk had been about how Meyer changed up the ending of his show, deciding not to play his first hit, ‘Let it Burn,’ but ending on a new song,” the news anchor said. “Here is a rare view of a very emotional Anson singing about a lost love.”

  My heart leapt at the sight of him. Then his voice filled the room.

  “This is a little song I wrote about a girl.” He laughed, but it was emotionless. “What is it about that one girl we let get away, guys?”

  I heard a few guys whistle and call out.

  “Let’s take a walk down memory lane, y’all.”

  Then it went to a clip of Anson singing. His voice grew sad, and the words hit me like a brick. When his voice faded away and cracked slightly, the crowd went wild. He smiled, shook his head, and then started singing again as he smiled slightly.

  I hit the off button and sat back on the sofa.

  “Still think he doesn’t have feelings for you, Bristol?”

  Slowly, I shook my head. “I can’t do this, Mindy. I can’t keep living in the past and neither can he.”

  “Maybe it’s time you both looked at the future then.”

  I nodded. “I think I’m going to go on that date with the guy at the bank.”

  “Wait, no, that wasn’t what I meant.”

  I laughed. “If you mean a future with Anson, then you’re insane. He lives in Nashville. I live in Comfort. I own a business. I’m not leaving behind what I built here, and he won’t leave his career. I wouldn’t ask him to.”

  The line went silent. “That’s why you let him go?”

  “No, I let him go because he wrote a shitty song about me and made it clear he was never coming back. That’s why I let him go.”

  “But…have you?”

  “What do you mean? I’ve dated other guys. I’ve moved on.”

  “Hmm.”

  My jaw fell open with disbelief. “What do you mean, hmm?”

  “Why do you think he punched that guy?”

  My eyes jerked up to the blackened screen of the TV. “I don’t know, but whatever it was, the guy pissed him off enough to make Anson hit him.”

  “If I’m not mistaken, that reporter is the same guy Anson got into it with a few years back. Mack something.”

  I frowned. “Really?”

  “Yep. I wonder if it had something to do with Mack being here yesterday. He got your name, so maybe he said something about you to Anson.”

  My stomach jerked and twisted. “Maybe. Anson has enough money; he’ll probably get away with a slap on the wrist.”

  “Maybe,” Mindy said, but her voice didn’t sound any surer than mine did.

  Damn. Why did life have to be so messy?

  The moment I turned the Open sign over and unlocked the door, Ida walked in with a group of her friends.

  “Good morning, ladies,” I said as I motioned them over to a table.

  “Morning there, Bristol!” they all said.

  Ida walked up and kissed me on the cheek. “Hello, Sweetheart. How are you?”

  “I’m good, how are you?”

  She gave me a wicked smile. “I’m good. Anson has been the talk of the town this morning. Carl has already stopped by and warned me not to talk to any reporters.”

  With a nod, I said, “Hopefully no more show up!”

  She laughed. “Dear, that boy. He won’t ever learn to check that temper of his. He gets it from his daddy.”

  I smiled as I held out a chair for Ida.

  “What have you got on the menu today, Bristol?” one of the women asked.

  “Well, let’s see. We have Victoria sponge cake. Thumbprint cookies, mini cheesecakes with a fresh berry topping, and chocolate chunk cookies. We also have brownies, scones, and strawberry cake with buttercream frosting. The teas are our normal selection.”

  As I wrote down the ladies’ requests, I couldn’t help but get the feeling that something was up with Ida. She kept glancing my way, a smile on her face that said she was the happiest woman in all of Texas. Maybe it was the fact that everyone was talking about Anson and his arrest. I knew deep down Ida was likely loving it all. Anson had developed somewhat of a bad boy reputation in country music. But he was the bad boy who everyone loved, according to the headlines.

  My mother and Anna, a girl who worked part-time for me, helped get all the pastries and teas ready for Ida’s table.

  “They all have something to gossip about this morning,” Anna whispered as she prepared the pots of tea.

  With a glance over my shoulder, I noticed the women all talking a mile a minute.

  “How can they even understand what the others are saying? They’re all talking over one another,” Anna said, a disbelieving look on her face.

  I grinned and replied, “It’s a talent that’s years in the making.”

  “They’re all old, so more like decades in the making,” Anna stated as I giggled and went back to putting the desserts onto small plates.

  “Are you going to break the news to them that the tea room is going to be closed in a couple of days?” Anna asked.

  That day was coming up. Two days, to be exact. My heart lurched as the memory came back.

  “Bri, I want to tell you something.”

  The sun shone on my face. I kept my eyes closed so I could soak in the warmth. I was so comfortable in Anson’s arms. I’d never felt so safe, like nothing in the world could ever touch me or hurt me while he held me.

  The blanket Anson had laid out for us smelled like lavender, and I took in a slow, deep breath.

  “Okay,” I said softly.

  “I…I love you, Bristol.”

  My eyes flew open, and I turned to look up at him. He stared down at me, a soft smile on his face.

  “I think I’ve always loved you.”

  Moving out of his arms, I knelt and looked into those eyes that matched the color of the Texas sky above.

  “Oh, Anson. I’ve loved you since the first moment you smiled at me in grade school and told me my eyes looked like the stuff your mother puts on your ice cream.”

  Anson laughed, then pulled me to him. He rolled me onto the blanket and stared into my eyes.

  “Caramel. Probably why I love it to this day.”

  My fingers moved lightly across my lips. What came next was a kiss. A kiss I would never forget. A kiss I would compare all other kisses to. A
kiss that would forever haunt me. Anytime I smelled lavender, I thought of that day. Of Anson confessing his love for me.

  “Bristol?”

  I snapped my head quickly to Anna. “I’m sorry, I got lost in a moment.”

  She smiled softly. “Today’s gift is yesterday’s memory.”

  Her words sat on my chest like a heavy weight. “Yeah, funny thing is, sometimes those memories are not always a gift.”

  When her smile faded, I picked up the tray and headed into the tea room.

  Anson

  ROBERT PACED BACK and forth behind his desk. I could see the downtown skyline of Nashville from the oversized windows in his office.

  “The record company is livid. Your temper, Anson. Your attitude. It’s out of control.”

  I nodded. He was right, so there was no use arguing. When Bob McAllen had showed up at the police station and started to bitch at me, I told him to fuck off. Yep. I told the VP of Nashville Music Records to fuck off. Needless to say, he turned to Robert, told him to get me under control, and added that negotiations would be put on hold until I figured my shit out.

  “He broke the law, Robert. I put a restraining order against Mack to stay away from my grandparents’ and parents’ house. He broke it, and then he dragged Bristol into this.”

  Robert stopped and glared at me. “He brought Bristol into this?”

  I swallowed. Hard.

  He slowly brought his hand up and pointed at me. “You …you, Anson. You brought her into this by writing most of your damn songs about her.”

  “I never once used her name or talked about her in public. And those songs have made you a pretty little penny, in case you’ve forgotten,” I countered.

  He sighed, scrubbed his hands down his face, and then dropped into his chair.

  “You need to leave Nashville for a while. Get away, like you mentioned the other day.”

  “Fine by me. I’ll get Lanny to find me somewhere far away on a beach.”

  His eyes lifted and met mine. “No, you’re going home, Anson.”

  I laughed. “Home? You’re keeping me locked in my house, Robert?”

  The smirk that spread across his face made me grip the arm rail of the chair I was sitting on.

  “You’re going home to Comfort. You’re going to work out whatever shit that you have with Bristol and your daddy. You’re going to fix whatever fucking shit is going on that has your head up your ass. And then you’re going to cool down, for good.”

  I stared at him. “Comfort? You think I’m going back to Comfort?”

  “No, I don’t think. I know. Anson, you need to figure out where you see your career going from this point on. You’re unhappy, I see it. Lanny sees it. Hell, even your dog walker sees it.”

  “Dog nanny. She likes to be called a dog nanny.”

  The muscle in Robert’s cheek twitched, and I looked down at the floor.

  “Go spend the next month or two in Texas and don’t come back until you fix what needs to be fixed. Then we’ll both go to the label and see what needs to be done to get you back on track with negotiations. If and only if that is something you decide you want to do.”

  I sighed. It was like he could read my mind. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to keep doing this.

  “You’ve had an amazing career, Anson. It shot off like a rocket and you’ve been going non-stop for six years. No one would blame you if you took a step back. And you’re famous enough that you don’t have to live in Nashville anymore. You can live anywhere you want.”

  “Comfort?” I whispered as I let the idea of heading back home sink in. It wasn’t like I hadn’t been back. I had, a few times. But only Grams, Granddaddy, and my mama knew.

  Robert nodded. “I’ve already told Lanny to get the plane ready to take you back home tomorrow morning. She’s going to go with you, help you get things settled, and stay a week or two. She’s already canceled the last two shows in Nashville, as well as the European tour dates, again.”

  “Tomorrow?” I asked.

  He gave me a frustrated look. “Yes. Tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow?”

  He narrowed his eyes at me. “What the fuck is wrong with you? Yes, tomorrow.”

  My chest tightened as I slowly stood. How strange and yet perfectly timed that I would arrive in Comfort on the very day that I told Bristol I loved her, all those years ago.

  My phone buzzed in my hand as I stared out the window.

  “You know it’s him,” Lanny said.

  “He can wait,” I replied. “And I didn’t need you to escort me home, you know.”

  “Well, we couldn’t have you changing course in mid-air now, could we?”

  I turned and looked at Lanny. Her mouth was turned up slightly, and I knew she was attempting to hide a smile.

  “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t fire you, Lanny.”

  “I’m the only person who knows all your passwords and has the power to take away your dog nanny.”

  With a smile, I nodded. “That is true.”

  “Besides, I talked Brad into a little vacation. We’ll be staying in Fredericksburg, and I intend on as many wine and brewing places as I can. I’m going to get drunk like I’ve never gotten drunk before.”

  My laugh came out more like a roar. “Wow, is working for me that bad?”

  “When you punch reporters and tell the record label execs to fuck off, yes, it is very hard.”

  “My mama is going to be over the moon to see you. Same with Grams,” I said as I stared back out the window.

  “I’m excited to see where you grew up, Anson.”

  “Don’t be. It’s a normal little town in the middle of Texas.”

  “What do you think everyone will do when you show up? Oh, maybe they’ll throw like a barn dance in celebration of your return!”

  “Or a street dance…or maybe throw tomatoes at me, instead,” I mocked.

  “Ha ha. Well, I’ve always wanted to go to a street dance.”

  We drove in silence the rest of the way. The drive from the San Antonio airport to Comfort felt like it took an eternity.

  Lanny drove down FM 473 toward town, and I felt my heart damn near beating out of my chest.

  “You’re sure your grandmother won’t mind me staying a couple of nights until Brad gets here with Zeus?”

  I huffed. “Are you kidding? She’ll love it. Just be ready to gain ten pounds, because she’ll cook you every meal and dessert under the sun.”

  “Oh, German food! I can’t wait.”

  “You say that now. Don’t blame me when your jeans don’t fit.”

  “Can we please drive down the little main street? I looked it up and it’s so damn cute! Please, Anson?”

  Laughing, I said, “Turn at the next left. It will take you right into town.”

  She did a little dance in her seat as I rolled my eyes.

  As we drove down High Street, Lanny took it all in.

  “I should have driven. You’re going to wreck us.”

  She squealed. “This is so cute! Anson, how could you say you wanted to burn this place down?”

  My head dropped to the back of my seat. “It was a metaphor, for fuck’s sake!”

  “No wonder folks in town talk about you.”

  “What? Who said that?”

  She gave a half shrug. “Your mother.”

  I smiled as the familiar historical buildings on High Street came into view.

  “Please, can we park and walk it?”

  My head snapped over to Lanny. “Right now?”

  “Yes!”

  “No!”

  “Why not!?”

  “Um, excuse me, but when did our relationship change? I’m the boss. There’s no arguing with the boss.”

  “No, for the next month or two, you’re simply Anson.”

  “Am I still paying you right now?”

  She nodded as she slowed down to park.

  “Then I’m the boss, and the boss says…”

  My breath was im
mediately taken from me. From the corner of my eye, I saw her.

  Bristol.

  “Pull in and park. Now!”

  Lanny was already halfway into a parking spot as I looked out the back window of the rental car.

  “That’s more like it, Anson!”

  I quickly opened the door and jumped out.

  “Um, where are you going?” Lanny called out as I crossed the street and made my way over to Huckleberry’s. Bristol was sitting at an outdoor table with Mindy and another girl.

  “Don’t run. Please, do not run,” I mumbled to myself as I walked up and stopped a few feet from the table.

  One glance up, and her beautiful caramel eyes met my blue. For the briefest of moments, I swore she was about to smile. I saw the surprise in her eyes. The corners of her mouth turned upward for a fraction of a second.

  “Hey, Bri,” I said as I watched her stand and slowly make her way over to me.

  I heard whispers, but I didn’t care. Because there she was, standing in front of me, the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid eyes on. She hadn’t changed a bit. Her brown hair was pulled up into a ponytail, and the way she stared at me made my cock take notice. I did a quick scan of her.

  Fucking hell, she was still perfect. But I knew she would be. Her white, soft flowing shirt was tucked into her jeans. She wore a brown belt and a pair of brown flat shoes. When my gaze moved back up and met hers, I swore I saw something familiar in her eyes.

  Did she want to kiss me as much as I wanted to kiss her?

  “You look—” I swallowed hard. “You look beautiful.”

  Then, something in her switched. She stood taller. Her eyes narrowed, turning dark with anger.

  Okay, well, I don’t think she wants to kiss me anymore. She wants to do something to me, but I’m not sure it’s a good thing.

  “Hell, you might want to take a step back, Anson,” Mindy said.

  My gaze darted quickly to her. I smiled when I glanced down and saw her hand on a tiny belly bump. Before I had a chance to say anything to Mindy, Bristol spoke.

  “How dare you! Today, of all days, you stroll into town and say, ‘Hey, Bri?’”

  “Well, I did also say you looked beautiful.”