Page 45 of Keeping Happily Ever After

“You don’t have to. None of that matters. I’m just glad you’re here now. We’ll keep you safe, Char. It’s going to be okay.”

She stared into his eyes so deeply, he felt as though she were searching for an answer he might hold the secret to. Finally, she nodded once, but didn’t agree with him.

Together, they walked to the front door. Despite the late hour, there were still lights on in the kitchen and the study. From what his dad had told Jeremy, they were staying up later and later—both of them worried and unable to get the rest they needed, but unable to do anything to fix the situation.

Jeremy hoped they would all be able to rest easier now that Charlotte was home.

He knocked twice before opening the door and calling out, “Mom? Dad?”

They stepped inside and just as Jeremy had expected, his mother came out of the kitchen, a towel in her hand at the same time that their father appeared from the den, where he’d no doubt been working on tying some new flies for summer fishing.

“Jeremy? What on—Charlotte.” His mother, Darlene, froze mid-sentence. The towel she held fell from her hand as she ran toward her daughter and without a moment’s hesitation pulled her into a tight hug. “Oh, thank goodness you’re home.”

Darlene smoothed Char’s messy ponytail over and over with her hand and she held her tight. His almost-six-foot-tall sister became a little girl in front of his eyes as she melted into her mother’s embrace.

His father came up beside her and put a hand on his shoulder. There were tears in Dwayne’s eyes when Jeremy turned to look at his dad. “Thank you, son.”

There were no words that were even remotely adequate. Jeremy nodded, took a deep breath, and went to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. It was going to be a long night of catching up.

Bella waited up at Jeremy’s apartment for him to return from rescuing his sister. Not that she’d expected him to return that night. Not really. After all, she had no idea what was actually involved in getting Charlotte home safely. She had no expectations.

But she would have been lying if she said despite that, she was still disappointed to wake up the next morning alone in his bed.

The timing was terrible. There was still so much left unsaid between them. But she had to go. Steph was picking her up at six so they could get on the road early and Bella could get to the studio for rehearsal before ten.

She’d picked up her phone and set it down without typing a message to Jeremy half a dozen times the night before. She hadn’t wanted to bother him or distract him from what he was doing with his sister. But truthfully, she didn’t even know what to say to him.

He’d all but ambushed her with the marriage thing. And even if they did have a chance to properly discuss it, Bella was feeling less and less as if they were on the same page, and that scared the hell out of her.

“Do you really have to go?”

His words had played on repeat in her head all night.

Was that who Jeremy was? Had she just not seen it? Was he the kind of guy who would really ask her to give up her dream, to stay with him in Glacier Falls?

It seemed he was.

So, without ever sending a text to him, Bella packed up the last of her bags and right before she left, she placed her key on the counter with a quick note.

Hope it went well.

~Bella

She knew she should say more, but for the life of her, she couldn’t think of one other thing to say. So she’d locked the door behind her, and walked to the waiting car Steph had arranged to drive them back to the city.

“You want to talk about it?” Steph asked halfway into their drive.

Bella turned away from the window and looked at her friend. “No.” She turned back to resume her watching of the passing trees and mountains. There was nothing to talk about.

No distractions.

In only a few hours, she was going to be in the studio for the first time to lay down the first tracks of what could be the biggest moment in her career. That was the only thing she needed to focus on.

She’d turned her phone off and dropped it into the bottom of her purse.

No distractions.

ChapterFifteen

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