Page 43 of To Belong Together
To think Gannon was the brilliant mind behind some of the country’s favorite love songs. “No, thanks.”
Gannon laughed. “You could make herthinkyou’re treating her like a guy while you’reactuallytreating her like a girl.”
John opened his mouth, but words failed.
“You have to replace your car. Take her car shopping with you. Tell her you want a professional opinion.”
“I planned to order the same thing again and have it delivered. I liked that car.”
“She doesn’t need to know that.”
“Once the car arrived, she’d figure out shopping was a lame excuse for a date.”
“But not a girly date. She’d have to give you that.”
Trick her into dating him? If this was the best solution Gannon could muster, John shouldn’t be the single one. “How did you land Addie?”
Gannon grinned. “I don’t have to worry about this with her.Shelikes girly dates.”
Gannon had, however, put himself out there and endured being shot down a few times before Addie had given him a chance. His persistent personality was half the reason Awestruck had made it. The other half had been because of John’s more level head.
On second thought, those ratios were off. Musical talent and years of honing songs had played a role, but without God, none of it would’ve amounted to anything.
The same would hold true for him and Erin, so he prayed for wisdom.
“Speaking of Adeline. I picked a ring. Tim’s bringing it up from LA.”
“Tim?” Since when did their manager play errand boy?
“He’s concerned your accident will throw a wrench in the new contract. He wants to see for himself that you’re making a full recovery, and he’s talking about putting together a show to prove it to labels.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. Soon. Don’t be surprised if he campaigns for us to move back to LA too. He seems to think we moved here to retire, and if you want to call in Macky, you might have trouble convincing him otherwise.”
“I’m not retiring. I’m just … in pain.”
“You’re depressed.”
John watched the road without fighting the label.
Maybe he was.
He’d thought he had lots of time left to find love and start the family he wanted, but he’d almost died before he’d had a single solid relationship.
Going back to LA wouldn’t solve his problems. Freak accidents happened everywhere. Seeing his parents and siblings even less would damage his last connections with them. And he’d be as lonely as ever back in California, especially now that he couldn’t get Erin out of his mind.
Gannon’s idea to ask her car shopping was the best he had. It couldn’t put him any more on the outs with her than he already was, but he’d need to wait until the doctor lifted the ban on driving. In the meantime, another woman deserved a call.
Kate had driven hours to the hospital only to turn right back around after he’d blurted out that bit about the bachelor party. He’d talked to Mom, Hank, and Angie, but between him and Kate, two days of eerie silence had passed.
Since he didn’t have that many meaningful relationships, he ought to protect the ones he did have.
When the car ride finally ended, he added a blanket over his coat and sat on the deck while the dogs trotted in the yard, sniffing the trees. Despite the distance, he saw the bare spot on Camo’s side where they’d shaved him to do the stitches. Neither he nor the dog should stay out long.
Kate answered his call with one, reluctant syllable. “Yeah?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say anything.”
