Page 20 of When in Rome

“There you are!” says Emily, the oldest of my sisters, who I can best describe as a bottle of hot sauce. “You have so much explaining to do!” She just turned twenty-nine last year and has my mom’s green eyes. The same ones I have.

Next comes Madison, second to youngest, pushing through the swinging door and peering over Emily’s shoulder. “We just got back into town and had to hear from Harriet that you had a random woman stay over at your house last night!” Madison looks the most like my dad. She has dark hair and dark eyes. She pretends to be as assertive and unflappable as Emily, but she doesn’t fool me—she feels deeply.

And then next comes Annabell (aka Annie), the baby of the family at age twenty-six, the soft, quiet, wholesome one, and also the only one with naturally bright, nearly white, blond hair. Weused to joke that she got it from the mailman since neither my mom or dad had blond hair. Even Emily and I have more of a golden, sandy color than true blond. “But then, we heard from Phil, who heard it from Gemma, who heard it from Mabel that it’s not a random woman but Rae Rose! As intheRae Rose!”

Madison comes up and pokes me in the chest. “What were you thinking, keeping something like this from us? Do you not loveus?”

I grin lightly. “How was the flower show?”

“Don’t try to distract us! Go ahead, Noah, tell us you hate us!” says Emily.

Annie puts her hands on her hips. “It’s the only reason we can imagine you wouldn’t call us immediately and tell us that pop royalty is staying in your house.” She pauses a moment and her face turns slightly abashed. “And the flower show was nice. Thank you for asking.”

Like I said, energy of the sun. These ladies talk at a clip that only the most seasoned of listeners can keep up with. I happen to be one of them.

I clear my throat and then glance over each of their heads toward the poor woman with wide eyes in the back corner of the room, looking like a trapped bunny. This is good, actually. Maybe it’ll scare her out of town. I should have sicced my sisters on her sooner.

My sisters follow my gaze until their heads are swiveled toward Amelia.

“Ladies, this is Rae Rose.”Amelia,my mind corrects. “Her car unfortunately broke down in my front yard a few nights ago and she’s stranded in town until Tommy can fix it…or…” I let thatorhang.Or until she gets sick of us and calls a driver. Or until my agitation drives her out. Or until I wake up from this dream/nightmare.

My sisters’ mouths are wide open, catching flies, and they are speechless for probably the first time in their lives. Amelia smiles, and I’m unable to stop myself from noticing how it’s completelydifferent from the one she gives me. With what can only be described as grace, Amelia raises a hand in their direction and waves good-naturedly. “Hi. So nice to meet you guys.”

There’s about two seconds of complete silence before my sisters’ shock wears off and they pounce. It’s a swirl of peppy southern voices bombarding Amelia with question after question. Fortunately for Amelia, there’s only three people in this town who are genuine fans of hers. Unfortunately for Amelia, they’re all currently in the kitchen with her.

The conversation goes like this but pretty much all at once.

Emily:You’re stuck at Noah’s house? He doesn’t even have Wi-Fi, you know?

Madison:Noah is boring. Come out with us tonight!

Annie:We’re going to Hank’s if you want to come?

Emily:Hank’s is a local bar where we all go and drink on Friday nights.

Madison:We can pick youup!

Annie:We’ll make sure no one annoys you while you’re there.

Emily:You’ll love it, I promise.

I fully expect Amelia to shove them out of the way and take off running for the hills. There’s no way she even comprehended all those words pelted at her at once. But of course, I’m wrong again and Amelia is apparently the one woman in the entire world who can speak Excited Walker Women.

Her bright smile stretches across her mouth, and honestly, I’ve never seen someone look happier.Or prettier,my mind adds again because it’s a little jackass. “Umm—Hank’s, I’d love to go with you guys. That is if…” Her eyes slip to me and her smile falters a fraction. “If Noah’s okay withit.”

I’m not given a chance to respond before Emily steps between us and says, “Why the hell do you need his permission? Last Ichecked he doesn’t own the place. Well, he does ownthisplace, but he doesn’t own Hank’s. So will you come withus?”

How has this woman infiltrated my life so quickly? I think tornadoes have blown through this town slower. And probably with less damage than she’s likely to inflict.

Chapter 10

Amelia

It should feel weird staying at Noah’s house. Why doesn’t it feel weird? I haven’t even felt this comfortable in lavish hotel rooms with my favorite snacks overflowing from the minibar and a security guard parked outside my door. Something about Noah’s place feels homey. I glance around the room I’m staying in and realize it’s because everything in his house seems to have a purpose—a history—or a sentiment behind it. Where he has a patchwork quilt that was probably made by a grandmother or an aunt, I have an expensive duvet cover, selected by my interior designer. Andthisis what my house in Nashville is missing. It’s filled with stuff, not memories.

When did that happen? Sometimes I feel like the day I accepted the new title of Rae Rose, a big eraser zipped off behind me and wiped out my life before it. My heart aches thinking of those quiet evenings with my mom, huddled around the kitchen table painting our nails and eating popcorn. I never knew my dad, because when my parents got pregnant with me in their last year of college, he didn’t want anything to do with a family. He made it clear she’d be on her own if she wanted to keep me. My mom saidshe’d always liked the idea of being a young mom and starting a family at an early age. She didn’t see why we had to be any less of a family without my dad—so the decision was easy for her.

And she was right, I never felt like our household was lacking. I mean, things were lean, and she had to work a lot as a single mom, but we were happy. And our once-a-year epic road trips to the beach where we rented a soggy hotel room with sand in the carpet because we couldn’t afford anything else are still some of my greatest memories. My mom was all the family I needed. Mybestfriend. And then my first single went number one in the charts and that’s when everything changed.

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