Page 50 of Hero on the Road
“You came,” I said.
She shrugged as if it was no big deal. “I heard about your show on the radio and thought I might as well come to see if you had any new material.”
I reached up, took her beneath her armpits, and brought her down to my level, setting her feet gently on the floor. “Some new stuff,” I said. “But I’m having trouble writing, these days. I can’t find the right chords.”
“I’m having the same sort of problem. Only it’s the lyrics, for me. The words aren’t working.”
I almost sobbed right then and there, my heart was so full. This was it. This was the moment I’d been waiting for. The moment when I could finally tell her what I’d been feeling for so long, and the moment when she was finally open enough to actually hear me.
“I can’t do it without you, Olivia,” I whispered. “And I think it’s because I don’t want it. I don’t want the contract or the tour or the music unless it includes you. I don’t want stadiums or tour buses. I just want you. I want our van. I want us traveling together. Forever. And I’ve thought about it a lot. I want us to do it on our own. We’ve done it before and we can do it again. Just us. Us actually together. Like, a lifetime together. Do you want to try it with me? Please say yes.”
It was all a jumble of words and way more than I’d intended to say, and yet…
It was right. We’d always been a jumble of words and notes and chords. And it was somehow the perfect recipe for us.
But only if she said yes.
She jumped at me so quickly that I almost didn’t catch her, and ended up straddling my waste with her arms around my neck, the grin on her face so big it looked like it might hurt.
She was crying.
“Yes,” she whispered. “A million times yes. Just you and me. Let’s do it.”
I kissed her the way I’d been dying to kiss her since the very start—like she actually belonged to me and I had a right to kiss her in front of everyone else, and damn the consequences. Because finally, finally, this girl had come to me and promised to stay.
And I was going to hold her to that.
No matter how hard I had to work for it.
Epilogue 1
COLIN
Okay gang, it’s time for some rumors.
Or are they just rumors?
I may or may not know the truth about it all. Because I may or may not have been invited out on the newest Mystery Tour, featuring none other than Olivia Johns and Connor Wheating. So I may or may not have the inside story.
Oh, who am I kidding? I AM ON TOUR WITH THEM AND I DO HAVE THE ENTIRE STORY.
But I’ve been sworn to secrecy on so much of it that we’re just going to be covering the rumors here, and there are plenty of those.
First. Yes, you heard correctly. Olivia Johns and Connor Wheating are in fact on tour together once more, and though they might not be coming to a town near you, there is a link on their website that gives you an option to request them, and they’ve promised to take all of those requests into consideration on their next tour.
Next bit of gossip: Yes, they’ve both left Atomic Records. Country music’s too-cute It girl, Avery Dawson, recently decided to start her own label, and Connor and Olivia were her first artists. They’re touring on Avery Records’ dime, but that doesn’t mean anything’s changed. They’re doing some stadium shows and a whole lot more little shows. They’re hitting up the bars and tiny theaters. And they’re playing in every park they can find, for old time’s sake.
The biggest change is that they have opening acts this time. The Leathers are opening for them, and they’ve got Global Writers for half the tour, so you’ll get more bang for your buck if you get to see them. The real stars of the show are, as always, Connor and Olivia.
And the ring Olivia is now sporting on a certain finger.
Oh don’t look at me like that, you can’t see her in person without noticing it. The thing is huge. Now, there are no reports about who it may have come from, but there’s one guy who she happens to hang out with all the time, and we’ve all seen how they look at each other on stage.
So I guess the only question left is whether everyone’s favorite songbirds are not only ready to finally admit that they’re together, but also make it official.
I don’t know about you, but I sure hope so. Because yes, I loved Olivia at one time. I thought she and I were meant to be. But it turns out she’s meant for someone else, and between you and me, I don’t think anyone deserves to be happy more than these two. They faced the Montana wilderness together. They sang for their supper. They single-handedly reinvented what it means for artists to be on tour.
They fought a freaking bear together.
