Page 150 of Again, In Autumn

Francesca murmurs, “This is the most romantic thing I’ve ever read.” She passes the letter to Heddy.

David finds my phone from under a stack of knit stockings. He shoves it into my hands. “Call him!”

I think of the phone number scribbled on the bottom of the page. I could call him and say I love him, that I messed everything up, that I would never choose someone irrelevant over the chance to have a life with him.

Then, of course, I’d want to touch him. I’d want him to kiss me. I’d want to be swept up in his arms.

“Calling him would be so lame,” I whine.

“How else are you going to talk to him?” David asks.

I say, “I don’t know. That’s not how it’s done in the Hallmark movies.”

Francesca rolls her eyes. “That’s because the women in those movies are dating Santa and he doesn’t have a phone.”

I explain, “I need a big gesture. Magical. Something that knocks his socks off.”

Francesca leans back into the couch pillow. Her eyes dart around, thinking. She asks, “Like one of those airplanes that flies a sign across the beach advertising half price bikinis at a creepy store on the corner?”

“No.”

Heddy chimes in, “A billboard!” She swipes her hand in the air like a rainbow saying, “Vienna loves Adam, always and forever.”

When her head comes back down from the clouds, I say, “I was hoping for a cheaper gesture.”

“Hang on,” David says. He stands and reaches for his phone in his back pocket. While he searches through it, he says, “Adam mentioned this little concert he does in Nashville every year around Christmas. He said it’s the first place he ever played. He used to work there or something. So, he does this concert tradition every year.” His eyes narrow, reading. “Aha!”

He spins his screen around and I read the information from his Instagram post.

Francesca says, “The twenty-first is –”

“Tomorrow,” I finish.

David makes a face. “Tickets might not be cheap though, it looks like a small place.”

Francesca groans, “No one cares about the ticket price, Dave, this is her big gesture, this is the moment she can see him in person. Vee, you have to go.”

Heddy’s face lights up. “Who’s ready for a road trip?”

With the five-hour drive mapped out, including stops for lunch, potty breaks, and gas, all six of us pile into the van. It’s midday morning. We should get to Nashville with time to spare.

“It says you have to buy tickets in person, at the box office,” I read as we drive across the Tennessee border.

Francesca bites her lip. “Maybe this is a scam.”

I stare at her in disbelief. “If it was a scam, they’d want us to use a credit card.”

“Oh, that’s right.”

Heddy sits beside me in the backseat. She breaks her meditation to offer, “I’ll bet it’s just how the venue does business. Especially since it’s a special concert. They probably just want to make it fair for everyone who wants to see him.”

“We will be there in plenty of time,” David says.

“You could stand outside the back door and wait for him to let you right in,” Francesca replies. “And take your top off, that’ll get his attention.”

I say, “That’ll get anyone’s attention.”

I feel suddenly nervous about this whole idea. I’m unfamiliar with the world of Adam Kent. I watched how differently he changed when Mackenzie’s sister recognized him, how charming he was to the crowd at the inn. I don’t belong in this part of his world. What if this is wrong? He might hate us showing up, making his work life awkward.

---