“I didn’t know you cared about her. Golly, she must be what? Sixteen or seventeen by now?”
“Eighteen.” I sighed, and for as much as I liked quiet, I reached for the radio knob.
Mom set her hand over mine. “Don’t you dare. You tell me why it’s over, and you tell me right now.”
“Dad’s why.”
She grunted.
“When he came to camp this last week, he found out about her and . . . hurt her.” My knuckles were turning white around the steering wheel. It felt like I’d drank poison. “It’s why they arrested him.”
“That son of a––”
“I can’t let him find her.” My eyes were stinging, and a lump was forming in my throat. “I won’t.”
She squeezed my hand. “I filed for a restraining order the second I got that call, and I mentioned everything that happened with that. Hopefully, the trial will go in our favor. He’ll be back in there in no time. I’m sure of it.”
“Can’t be too sure of anything where he’s concerned.” I narrowed my sights at the road ahead and cracked my window.
“I’ll never forgive myself.”
“For what? This isn’t your fault.” I don’t know how I’d turned into an echo of Lea, but it was the truth. None of this was her fault.
“No good mama stands there silent and lets her child get hurt. And I’m sorry for all the times I was too weak to fight for you.” Her voice cracked, and my heart broke. “If I could go back––”
“Don’t do that.” I shook my head and nodded toward the road. “Ten more miles, and we’ll be there.”
“Do you love her?”
I frowned. There was no way I was answering that question.
“You do, don’t you?”
“Gotta tell you something before we get there, Mom.”
“Why do you sound so nervous?”
“If this job works out for you like we think it will, I’m joining the Navy, end of August.”
She sucked a sharp breath.
I kept staring out the windshield.
“You’re joining the Navy?”
I nodded. “Uncle Dave always said he thought it’d be good for me. Just pray he wasn’t wrong.”
“He always told me he thought you’d do well on a ship.” She blew a whistle and leaned back in her seat, and I stole one glance at her. I couldn’t miss the smile stretching wide across her face. “Wow, son. That’s such a relief.” Her soft laughter rolled through the air, and she reached over to pat my cheek. “He’ll never find you out there.”
LEA
The sun had barely crested the top of the mountain across the lake, its timid rays stretching out into the sky, tingeing everything around me a bright shade of amber. Steam rolled off the water, and a dragonfly hovered over the surface, darting back and forth like it couldn’t remember where it was from, or where it was supposed to be going. I used to feel like that, before this week. Like I’d lost everything I’d ever known and I had nowhere to take all of my wondering. Last night reminded me exactly where I was going, but losing Cory without a trace of his plans—again—hurt worse than anything.
Jerk.
I tucked my good knee closer to my chest and rested my chin on top, a set of footsteps crunching on the gravel beside me.
Someone sighed and cleared their throat. “Mind if I sit with you?”
I tensed at the sound of my brother’s voice. “Actually, yeah. I do mind.”
“Look, I’m sorry, Lea. This is why I was worried about you guys in the first place. For this exact reason.”
“Well, you were right.” I shrugged, brushing a tear off my cheek. “Happy now?”
“No, I’m not.” He plopped himself onto the bench beside me and let out a growl. “I’m freaking furious. He had no right to do this to you.”
“He just doesn’t get how tough I am. That I can handle a little heat. So what if his dad got out?”
“Do you hear yourself?” Nolan ran a hand down his overgrown scruff and leaned forward, taking a deep breath. “The guy’s a lunatic! He drove six hours up a mountain to get back at Cory. And he threw you to the ground like you were nothing. I know you think everything’s gravy, but it’s not. He could’ve done so much worse.”
I stood and shook my head. “Whatever you’re trying to do right now, it’s not working. I love him, Nolan.”
Nolan scoffed, dropping his head to his hands. “You can’t know that.”
“I do.” I shook my head, remembering yesterday, when everything was basically perfect between us. “Probably way too much.” I swallowed and tucked my hair behind my ears. “I just have to wait for him to get it.”
Nolan groaned and buried his face in his palms. “He’s gone, Lea.”
“Right now he is, but he’ll realize how dumb he’s being, and he’ll come back.”
“He texted me when I went into town last night.”
A charge of heat shot through my chest, and I sat up straight. “What’d he say?”
Nolan shook his head, something haunting passing through his eyes. “That he’s sorry, but he’s not coming back. That he’s too dangerous for you.” He swallowed, scanning my face.
I balled my hands into fists and grunted. “He’s so stubborn.”
“He’s smart. Staying away is the best gift he can give you, and he knows it. You have to let him go––”
“Never.”
“You will. After enough time passes. When you finally realize how bad you are for each other.” Nolan sighed and turned his attention back to the lake. “Sometimes, it’s just not meant to be.”
“Don’t try and pin me with your problems. Just ’cause that’s true for you doesn’t mean it is for me.”
Another set of footsteps crunched beside us. “Hey, uh, Lea?”
I closed my eyes at the sound of Kyle’s voice.
“Genevieve said it’s time for the shoot.”
I wiped the tears from my eyes, lifted my chin, and blew a deep breath. Cory might’ve left, and maybe he wasn’t coming back this time, but I couldn’t let that ruin my life. I could only hit my knees hard and beg God to watch over him, and pray for peace as I took the next step on the path I was meant to follow. I could only hope Cory would come to his senses eventually. “I’ll see you later, Nol.”
He nodded, and I got up from the bench, walking beside Kyle back toward camp. We were supposed to do a photo shoot for our album cover, then we’d go home to say our goodbyes, and then we were being shipped off to LA together to start working on everything.
“You doing okay?” Kyle asked, holding a low-lying limb back for me.
I shrugged. “As good as I can be, I guess.”
“I’m here if you want to talk about it.”
A part of me shuddered at the thought of even walking beside Kyle, but I held back my typical bitter response. We were going to be tied at the hip for the foreseeable future, and I was just better off trying to form some type of a friendship from the start of whatever this ride was about to be. Besides, ever since our duet last night, something was different in Kyle’s swag. He was softer somehow, and I didn’t want some knee-jerk comment of mine to snap him back to reality yet.
“Thanks.”
“And Lea?” He stopped on the path and turned to face me.
“Yeah?”
“I’m gonna make it up to you.”
“Make what up?”
He ran his hand through his hair and folded his arms across his chest, toeing at the ground. “This was your game, and I totally bulldozed it. You should be the one walking out of here with a record deal. Not both of us.”
I shrugged and shook my head. “This is the way it went down, though. And honestly, as much as I hate to say it, I believe them. We brought something last night I wasn’t expecting to bring. I think . . . I think God meant for it to go like this.”
Kyle ducked his head and smirked. “You can’t mean that about me, Lea. Not after everything I’ve put you through.”
“May
be I shouldn’t mean it.” I narrowed my gaze at him and blew a deep breath. “You made choir freshman year a living hell.”
His cheeks puffed as he blew another breath.
“I think I’m stronger for it, though.” I mustered the best grin possible and nodded toward camp. “Come on. Let’s get in there and take some killer album shots.”
He cracked a grin himself and shook his head. “Still can’t believe this is real.”
“Me, either.” I started back in the direction of camp, trying my best not to look at the dock, or the fishing shed, or the parking lot.
But hearts don’t let eyes do what brains tell them sometimes.
Wherever he is, God, please keep him safe and help him see who he really is.
Eighteen
CORY
The road leading up to the ranch in Waynesboro was as pretty as it was treacherous. It was miles long, steep, and windy as heck.
“Sure is breathtaking, isn’t it?” Mom said, her voice soft, eyes sparkling.
“Sure is.”
I smiled, a peaceful calm invading the turbulence inside me. She liked it. That was a good sign.
She rubbed her hands on her jeans, and I pulled up to the farmhouse at the front of the flatland surrounding us at the top of the hill we’d just climbed. “Think they’ll like me?”
“Who wouldn’t?”
She grinned and hopped out of the truck, giving me a wink before she closed the truck door and knocked on the door to the house. A hulking cowboy opened it, practically filling the whole doorway. Mom stuck her hand out, tough as nails, and had him following her inside before he knew what hit him. The door closed behind them, and I let out a long sigh. Of all the places she’d looked up for work, I think she might’ve found exactly where she was supposed to land.
I pulled up Bridgeport’s number in my phone and waited while it rang. “Bridgeport Lake Christian Camp, this is June.”
“Cory, here.”
“Cory Griffin. What the heck.? You ran off without canceling your tours. I’ve been dealing with cranky campers all morning.”
“Yeah. Sorry. I had a family emergency.”
“Oh. Sorry to hear that. Are you okay?”
“Mm. What time are last week’s campers supposed to ship off tomorrow?”
“After first service.”
I rubbed the steering wheel and nodded. “I should be back sometime tomorrow night. Can you tell Pastor Gregg for me?”
“Yeah. See you tomorrow night.”
The phone disconnected, and I scrolled over to the Bridgeport website. Lea’s gorgeous face was on the front page, and she looked like the siren she sounded like yesterday. Her makeup was darker than normal, and she was wearing this leather skirt and jacket, with that pearl white guitar out on full display. Kyle was there, too, but he might as well have been blended into the background. Lea was everything. And I’d missed it.
My phone buzzed, and a text from a random number popped up on the screen
Unknown: If you help her this time, you’re done for. And you can bet your woman will be the one to pay.
I slammed my palm onto the steering wheel and yanked my hat down lower, something like a forest fire spreading an evil heat through my veins. I wanted to be with her. That fact was unmistakable, but so was the fact that Dad knew she existed now. And his vengeance knew no end. Whatever shred of delusional hope I might’ve been holding onto for me and Lea disappeared with that text. I crossed my arms over my chest, doing my best to just accept it. Dad was deranged. There was nothing anyone could do about that, and this was the hand I’d been dealt. Better just to acknowledge the fact and move on with my life. Lea would find someone else soon enough, and she’d be all the better for it.
Dang, that thought made the fire burn worse.
Mom stepped out of the front door smiling, and when she got to the truck, she slid her hands in her pockets and shrugged. “Looks like I’m the new office manager out here.”
“They promoted you before you even started.” I blew a sigh of relief and put on the best smile I could. “Glad to hear it.”
She nodded, resting her arm on the frame of the truck. “I told him about your dad. He said he doesn’t sweat lowlifes.”
“Feel safe around him, though?”
A playful glint sparked in her eyes. One I hadn’t seen in a long time. “He’s a gunslinger, son. So are all his ranch hands. I don’t think we’re going to have to worry about a thing up here.”
That had to be the best news I’d heard in years, and judging by the glow in her eyes, she felt the same way.
“Anyway, he invited us to stay for lunch. You want to come check out where your mama’s moving for the long haul?”
“Remember how to get to Uncle Rick’s?” Mom asked.
“Yup.”
She blew a shaky breath and nodded.
The owner had showed her around her new apartment out back. It was nothing more than an updated granny unit, but it almost brought her to tears. This ranch and all the hands had my definite stamp of approval. If I didn’t already have Navy plans, I might think about asking this cowpoke for a job and getting back to the work I was familiar with. Hanging my hat up in Tennessee definitely had its draw, but it was too tame for a guy like me. Something about the ranch life, and the small town, and the common ground everyone had up here, it made me want a life I’d only ever been able to imagine. A life I’d thought Lea might’ve been a part of someday. But I’d never have that life now.
The ocean still called to me, anyway, and if I couldn’t have a dream life, a life on the water would be more than enough to keep me satisfied for a long time.
“I promise you’ll be glad you hired me,” Mom told the owner as he flicked the porch light on so Mom could see me out.
“You know, something in the air tells me I think I will.”
“Mind if I ask you something?” I asked him before we split ways.
“Sure thing.”
I glanced at Mom. “Just me and him, Mom.”
She nodded, pulling her phone out of her pocket. “Knock when you’re ready,” she said, before she ducked back inside her new place.
“Whatcha got for me, bud?”
Mom closed her door, and I faced him. “She’s the hardest worker I know, and she’s been through hell.”
He dipped his head. “She mentioned her ex-husband.”
“He’s ruthless. And he doesn’t know she’ll be up here, but he will.”
“Listen here. I’m not gonna lay my whole life’s story out on the line for you, but I’ve dealt with the worst of ’em. I can promise she’ll be safe.”
“That’s all I needed to hear.”
LEA
Genevieve led us down a long hallway on the fourth floor of the Zion Records building.
We were on our first day in LA, and things were getting real. Today was the big day. We were going to record the song we performed at camp.
She opened a door and motioned for us to go in ahead of her, and we were met with a flood of light and a hipster guy in a beanie and a button-up flannel.
“Lea and Kyle, this is Brad.”
He smiled and extended his hand. “Nice to meet you guys. I’ll be mixing your sound today.”
“Awesome.” Kyle’s hands were in his pockets, and his eyes were wide as he did a slow spin, taking in all the controls and the buttons on this side of the plexiglass, totally in awe.
I should be in awe, too.
Yeah! I should be in awe, too! Whatever was fighting me on it could shove it. I was in LA, in the top Christian recording studio, and I was about to watch my dream come true.
I grinned and lifted my chin, shaking Brad’s hand with the confidence of a thousand warriors going out to battle. Maybe I wasn’t as much of a warrior as I should’ve been over the past year, but if there was ever a chance to be one, now was the time, and I was so going to!
“Nice to meet you,” I said, returning his grin.
He motioned to the glass doo
r to the right of his soundboard. “You guys can head on in. There are two sets of headphones and two mics. Let’s get to that song you performed at the competition.”
Kyle rubbed his hands together and nudged me with his elbow. “Ready, Freddy?”
“Sure, Teddy.”
He chuckled and headed into the studio.
After three times through the song, a beep sounded in our ears, and Brad gave us a thumbs-up. “Awesome, guys, I think we got it. Let’s break for lunch and meet back in an hour to work on the next one.”
I followed Kyle out, and he pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Hey, I heard there’s a really good old-fashioned diner down the street. Want to try it?”
“Um. Sure?”
He grinned. “That positive, huh?”
I ducked my head and sucked a breath through my teeth. “Sorry. Still getting used to the whole being friends thing.”
“You’re not the only one.” He motioned toward the door, and as much as I wanted to stay behind and just find something to eat alone—okay, okay . . . as much as I wanted to stay behind and find something out about Cory—I made myself go with Kyle. This was my reality now, right?
My heart squeezed like it was in a medieval vice, like some blacksmith was just cranking and cranking on the lever.
Kyle held the door for me. “Look, if it’s that painful for you to go with me, forget about it.”
“Sorry.” I walked beside him out to the sidewalk and shook my head. “It’s not about you.”
“Oh.” He furrowed his brows, checked the coordinates on his phone, and glanced across the street. “This way.” I joined him, doubling my pace to keep up with his long legs. “Still hung up on your fisherman?”
“It was way deeper than that.”
“Wasn’t he a no-show at the competition?”
“He had an emergency.”
“Did he call you after?”
I frowned. “There’s no reception at camp.”
“Haven’t seen your phone blowing up.”
“Whatever, Kyle.”
He raised his hands out to the sides. “Whatever, what? Am I off?”
Falling In Hard: Book Four in The Bridgeport Lake Summer Series Page 16
