Page 18 of Hero on the Road
His face, which had been registering concern, broke into a grin. “Me too. Let’s get it, partner.”
He held out his hand and I took it. Yeah, I knew what that sort of gesture could mean and how he might take it, but right now, when it was just the two of us against the world, I needed some support.
And if he was going to offer it, I wasn’t going to say no.
* * *
“Ready?” Connor whispered into my ear.
I glanced out at the crowd in front of the small stage and nodded. This was actually a great venue. The stage was small enough for the two of us to dominate it and the park had, in fact, had sound equipment for us. It wasn’t terrific equipment but it would do for a small acoustic show. The crowd wasn’t huge—maybe twenty or thirty people, max—but it was respectable.
I wouldn’t have drawn this many people by myself back in Nashville. This was the label’s doing. And Connor’s.
And we were ready.
I thought.
“As ready as I’m going to get,” I said, looking up at him.
To my surprise, he was standing there with an armful of lilies.
“What are those?” I asked, shocked. “And where did they come from?” I hadn’t exactly explored the park—we’d been too busy trying to get ready—but I knew what I’d seen coming in, and there hadn’t exactly been fields of lilies just laying around the joint.
And those flowers in Connor’s hand were fresh cut. They hadn’t come from a florist.
He shrugged, blushing. “There were a bunch of them in a booth on the other side of the square. They said they grow wild around here so people pick them and bring them out to sell them. I saw them laying there and they were so beautiful that I figured...”
I reached a hesitant hand out to run a finger along the petal of one of the flowers. “You figured you’d bring me flowers before our first show?”
He gave me the dimpled grin and tucked one of the lilies behind my ear. “Exactly.”
My finger found the lily and stroked it again, my brain turning this over again and again. Connor had just brought me flowers. To make me feel better.
I couldn’t remember anyone ever having brought me flowers before in my life.
“You ready?” he asked again.
I felt a soft smile touch my mouth. “Yeah.”
He reached down and took my hand. “Then let’s get it, partner.”
“Let’s get it,” I said, nodding.
We stepped out onto the stage together, holding hands like we were little kids on the first day of school, and for just a moment, my stomach dropped.
Then the crowd started cheering and my guitar was in my hands and Connor was grinning at me and everything fell right into place.
CHAPTER11
Connor
Iwatched her stare out over the crowd, her shoulders stiff and nervous, and wanted to go to her. I wanted to touch her cheek and tell her it was going to be fine and that we could do this in our sleep at this point. Wanted to remind her that she’d been on stage at least a million times and that from what I’d seen—and heard—the crowd always responded to her. The girl was a natural with music. Her lyrics were otherworldly, and when she sang them she put her whole heart into the song, drawing the crowd right into her world and sharing her heart with them.
At least that was what I’d heard.
And seen. Because yeah, okay, since we’d both moved back to Nashville I’d been to one or two of her shows.
Maybe five or six.
