Page 53 of Something New

Kyle just shook his head. “Let me give you some advice from an old married man. Never assume with a woman. Because you’ll always be wrong. Always. Ask her what she wants, don’t just try to fix it. Sounds like she got what she wanted and you decided it wasn’t what you wanted, so you walked away. Did you really expect her to give up California and move back here?”

Wyatt stared at him.

Kyle narrowed his gaze. “You’re really freaking me out with the staring, Wyatt. Seriously, say something.”

“I honestly don’t know. We had always figured we’d work in both places, me with the team and her with her filming, knowing that we would rarely be in the same place.”

“When did that change?”

“When I was still pissed that she got her dream, and I didn’t. I was still punishing her for being able to follow her dream when I couldn’t. Goddammit.” Wyatt slammed his fist on the table, almost knocking over their beer bottles. “I never really forgave her for that. She accused me of expecting her to give up everything and come back here, and that’s exactly what I did. Fuck.”

Kyle took a deep breath. “What are you going to do about it?”

“I don’t know. But I have to fix it. I have to find Anna.” Wyatt jumped to his feet, needing to do something immediately. The room swayed a bit, and he sat back down. “Maybe not right this minute.”

Kyle burst out laughing. “Yeah, not right now. Claire will pick us up and take you home. After the game tomorrow is soon enough. You have a plan?”

“Nope, but I was always good at thinking on my feet, especially fourth down, back against the wall.”

“Isn’t that when you blew out your knee?”

“Fuck off.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Four weeks had passed since Anna had had her epiphany—her come-to-Jesus moment, as her mother would say. Maybe all of her mother’s novenas and rosaries for her middle daughter had finally worked. Either way, Anna had not let the grass grow under her feet one bit. She had flown back to California, broke her agent’s heart over the rejection of the Broadway play, packed up the necessities from her house, and headed for Texas. She went to Whitby Island for the opening ofBye, Bye Birdie. The cast all did a marvelous job, especially the kids, who were thrilled to see her there. She spent some time chatting with Karen on her next move, and then she went home. The family welcomed her as if she had never left. Her mother force-fed her, saying she was too thin. Her father threatened to hunt Wyatt down and string him up. Her brothers offered her a waitressing job.

Yeah, that was so not happening.

Now, she was back at Memorial Stadium, hiding in a tunnel off the stadium grass, ready to put her plan into action. UT was getting ready to play against one of their biggest rivals, the Aggies, and Anna had pulled some strings to sing the National Anthem. As a former alumnus and a famous one, they were more than happy to slip her in.

When one of the crew gave her the nod, she strode onto the field, waving to the crowd. Anna chose her outfit carefully. She wore her amber Lucchese cowboy boots, of course, Levi jeans, and Wyatt’s old UT Football sweatshirt. It was a little battered, but it had memories, and she needed every boost she could get for that day. She headed for midfield, smiling and waving, while scanning the sidelines for Wyatt, but she didn’t see him. Ethan, who had helped her set up this event, had sworn that the offensive line coach, a friend of Wyatt’s, would make sure Wyatt saw everything. Well, with a jumbotron, everyone would see it all, no matter where they were.

“Please welcome one of UT’s most illustrious alumni, Anna Maria Costado, as she sings the National Anthem.” The announcer boomed over the loudspeaker.

Anna stepped up to the microphone and tapped it a couple of times to make sure it was on. The sound resonated through the stadium and people quieted down.

“Howdy, UT! It’s been a long time since I’ve been here.” The crowd roared their approval, although that could have been the beer from the tailgating before the game.

“Before I sing the National Anthem, I hope you don’t mind if I take a moment to say something.” She glanced at the UT sidelines and finally saw Wyatt push his way through to the front, a broad man standing next to him with a huge grin on his face.

She took a deep breath. Time to go all-in, her Hail Mary. “As some of you know, I’ve been living in California for the past few years.” Boos greeted that news and she laughed. “Yeah, it’s nothing like the great state of Texas. Love you all! But I left to chase a dream, looking for a place where I could stand out, where I could be someone special. And I certainly found it. How many of you saw me onBlazing Passions?” A smattering of boos and cheers greeted that pronouncement, and she grinned.

“Well, let me be the first to clue you in on a little scoop. Now this is just between you and me, okay? Bianca St. John isn’t coming out of that coma. Nope, she’s not. She decided that California isn’t where she belonged at all. See, I left to find a place where I could be special, someone unique, except I had that right here. I had someone special, who loved me for who I was and thought I was wonderful. But I threw that all away.” More boos. She was going to get a complex with all these booing people.

She shook her head. “No, I was stupid. See, I gave him up, not once, but twice, to chase that stupid dream, so focused on what I thought I wanted that I gave up friends, my family, and the love of my life, Wyatt Turner.” The crowd went wild for another favorite son and alumni.

Anna could barely see the sidelines at this point. Tears blurred her vision. She swallowed past a lump in her throat and continued speaking. “I made a stupid mistake, and I was hoping, being the queen of all grand gestures onBlazing Passions, that maybe, if I made this one Texas-sized grand gesture, maybe he would forgive me and give me a third chance.”

She blinked rapidly, trying to clear her vision, but couldn’t see Wyatt anymore on the sidelines. The spot where he had been standing was empty. She wiped her eyes and hung her head, hope draining out of her. How the hell was she supposed to sing the damned anthem now? She had not thought this out well, clearly.

A tissue appeared in front of her face. “Is that my sweatshirt you’re wearing?”

Wyatt stood in front of her, the tissue in his hand, an unreadable expression on his face. Anna took the tissue and wiped her eyes, hardly daring to look at him, fearing what she might see. She nodded, a jerking motion. “Yup, and I’m not giving it back.”

Some of their words were picked up by the microphone, and the crowd offered their own opinions on the matter, a loud, raucous cacophony that was almost indecipherable. Wyatt drew her away from the microphone. “Did you really quitBlazing Passions?”

She nodded. “And the Broadway show. I don’t want to give up everything for acting. I miss you. I miss my family, my friends. On the island, I realized how lonely I was, how much I needed you, more than anything else. Do you think you could give me another chance? I know I don’t deserve it—”

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