Rim Shot Rebound

by Landry, Leigh

  Chapter Ten

  Kelsey zipped her duffel bag and lifted it from the bed. Despite her panic over how to take everything with her, she’d decided to pack light. She wouldn’t want to carry around a bunch of stuff later when she was hobbling around with a full belly.

  If that’s how this all played out.

  If necessary, she could buy bigger clothes at a secondhand store later. No point in taking more than this. If not, she’d be back in a few weeks.

  A few weeks. Might as well be a lifetime. She had Natalie to watch her place until she decided how long she’d be gone, but either way she’d have to find another job. She loved working at the record store, but she knew better than to get attached, especially not to a job.

  The band would find someone else for the festival. And, like Lauren had replaced Camille, that someone would probably stick around to replace Kelsey permanently. She would lose her job, her music, her friends…the only real family she’d ever known.

  But she’d made her decision. No point dwelling on what she was losing. She’d learned long ago how to cut her losses. And when to do it.

  She dropped the bag in the living room, then knelt beside the terrarium to view Michelangelo at eye level. “I’m going to be gone for a little while. Natalie and Cadence will come and take care of you, so don’t worry about that. You like Cadence. She’s sweet and quiet, and she thinks you’re the coolest little dude. Well, next to that kitten her mom’s boyfriend has.” Kelsey blinked back tears. “My point is, don’t make a big mess for them, okay? I’ll be back as soon as I can. I promise.”

  She just couldn’t promise how long that would be. Everything was still so uncertain. All she was certain of was that she couldn’t stick around. Not when she was more attached to someone than they were to her.

  And it was what was best for the band. She was the weak link right now, the agent of chaos that could bring the whole group down, and she couldn’t live with that.

  Kelsey picked up her bag again and took one last look around her apartment. It wasn’t much, but it was hers. She’d had to grow up so fast and had been on her own for so long. This was the first place that had been strictly hers. No foster family. No random relatives. No roommate. All hers. She would miss it almost as much as she would miss Michelangelo.

  She made it all the way to the front door, where she’d left a garbage bag to take to the dumpster on her way out, before she started crying. She slid to the floor beside the garbage, her bag of clothes on the other side of her, the strap still in her hand.

  For the first time in her life, she didn’t want to leave. She just didn’t know how to stay.

  A knock on the door startled her, and she choked back a sob. If she was quiet enough, maybe he’d go away.

  “Kelsey.” Another knock. “Kel, I’m not leaving until I talk to you.” His voice was strained and even lower through the heavy door, and it carried with it a weight and pain that she hadn’t heard in so long. A weight and pain she’d wished she never had to hear again.

  She held her breath to keep quiet. She held it as long as she could, but eventually she had to exhale. Another loud sob fell out.

  “Kel, I can hear you.” His voice was softer now, less insistent. “I’m going to use my key. I just want to know that you’re okay.”

  A moment later, his key rattled in the lock, and the door slowly opened. Eric poked his head in tentatively. His pale purple shirt collar was flipped awkwardly, and he wasn’t wearing a hat. When he looked down and saw Kelsey sitting on the floor, he closed the door and slid to the linoleum beside her.

  “Let me guess,” she said through sniffles. “Robin snitched.” She should have known better. Although, out of any of them, she’d thought she could trust Robin not to break a promise.

  “Not exactly.” He placed his keys on the floor, then pulled his long legs up and hugged his knees. “I was worried about you. You wouldn’t answer my calls.”

  Kelsey gripped her bag strap tighter. “I need to do this.” Her voice was shaky as she tried to convince herself more than Eric.

  “I’m not here to stop you. I’m just here to talk.”

  “To talk me out of leaving?”

  “I’d rather you stay. You shouldn’t have to run anymore.” He paused. “If it comes to that, I’ll leave. I’ll go wherever you want me to disappear to. I just want you safe and surrounded by people who love you. People you trust. Even if that isn’t me.”

  She turned to look at him. His eyes were rimmed with red and swimming with sincerity, and she had no idea what to say. Of all the things she expected him to say to try to get her to stay, this wasn’t on that list.

  “But you need to know one thing,” he added.

  “What’s that?”

  “I always intended to propose to you. Long before I knew you were pregnant. Before I even told you I wanted us to try a relationship again. Marrying you—building a life with you—was always the end goal.” He gently pried the bag strap from her and held both of her hands, his long piano-player fingers wrapping her safely in their grasp. His thumb grazed the ring still on her finger. “You didn’t take it off.”

  She swallowed the lump forming in her throat and found the words to answer him. “I couldn’t.”

  He squeezed her hands. “Kelsey, I love you. I’ve always loved you.”

  “Love was never the problem,” she said. “Babies can’t keep people together, Eric. They aren’t some kind of magical family glue. I’m living proof of that.”

  “I know. It’s no secret I’d love to have a family with you.” He bent his head to rest his forehead against hers and stared into her eyes. “But if that family ends up being just me and you, I will still consider myself the luckiest man on this planet.”

  A tear slid from her eye and down her face. He wiped it away, but more tears followed.

  Somehow she forced her throat to form words. “I believe you mean that. But I’m afraid I’ll never be enough for you.”

  He lifted her hands and kissed her fingers. “You will always be enough for me. You have always been everything to me.” He paused, then continued. “I’m so sorry I ever led you to think otherwise. And I promise to spend the rest of my days showing you what you mean to me.” Another pause. “Even if that means I need to walk away from you, if you need space right now.”

  She’d been an idiot. This man had been standing in front of her all this time, and she’d been too scared to see him for what he was now. For what he was offering her. All she could see were her own past and fears.

  But he was here now. It wasn’t too late to make things right.

  She squeezed his knee and leaned to meet his mouth. With her eyes closed, tightly blocking out the rest of the world along with her fears and doubts, she kept her mouth pressed against his, allowing herself to embrace the love between them. She kissed him until she felt every hidden corner of her body and mind fill with warmth and love and confidence in Eric. Confidence that they could face anything together.

  When she finally pulled back and looked at him again, she saw the man she loved staring back at her. His strength and hope. His promise.

  She no longer felt like a scared little girl who needed to hide her heart and prepare to run. She had someone she trusted, someone who would face the shadows and monsters with her.

  “Does that mean you’ll stay?” he asked.

  She smiled. “Only if you stay with me.”

  He gave her another soft, quick kiss. “Absolutely.”

  Epilogue

  Kelsey stared at the front of the brick house. Cars filled the driveway, covered the front lawn, and lined the side of the road. Eric’s mom always welcomed her whole flock for Easter, and this was the first time Kelsey had ever visited during a big holiday. They were about to be surrounded by more of Eric’s family in one place than Kelsey had ever seen before. Heck, she’d never seen that much of anyone’s family in one place before. Certainly not her own.

  “Deep breaths,” Eric kidded as he walked a
round the van with two gigantic packs of bread rolls—the only food his mom would allow them to bring. “It’ll be fine. I promise.”

  “Easy for you to say. You aren’t trying to hide a cantaloupe under your shirt.” She pulled at the bottom of the dressy tank and cardigan she’d borrowed from Natalie. While she wasn’t really showing yet, it still felt like all of her tops were too short already. Plus, even though Eric assured her that church-level attire wasn’t necessary, Kelsey knew her own wardrobe of graphic tees and faded jeans wouldn’t cut it on Easter Sunday. Eric wasn’t even wearing a hat today, because sure enough his mama would make him take it off the second he walked through that door. No hats indoors in her house on any day, much less on Easter.

  Eric laughed. “First of all, I saw the sonogram. It isn’t even close to a cantaloupe yet.” He held up the bags of rolls. “Not even bread-roll-sized yet.”

  “Well, tell that to my bladder.”

  “And second, everyone in there who knows you already loves you. And the ones who don’t know you yet will love you soon enough.” He kissed her on the forehead. “You sure you aren’t ready for any big announcements yet?”

  “Absolutely not!”

  He gave her a playful pout. “You’re no fun.”

  “I’m fun enough, but there’s no way I’m walking in that house and stealing your mama’s holiday hostess thunder with our news.”

  “Not even part of our news?”

  “Me walking in there with you is already spilling enough news that we’re back together.” She smiled and laced her fingers with his. She’d left the ring he gave her sitting in her jewelry box back at home. “Engagement news can wait. Besides, I kind of like having a secret that’s just ours.”

  He gave her another quick kiss, this time on the mouth. “Yeah, but I want to share our good news with the whole world, not just the band. Especially if we aren’t sharing the other news just yet.” He scratched at her belly with his index finger.

  “I know. All in good time, though,” she said. “Maybe next weekend after we finish moving my stuff to your place.”

  “Our place,” he corrected with a wink.

  “Fine. Our place.” While she wasn’t quite used to the sound of it yet, she loved the way those words warmed her heart as they rolled off her tongue. “We could invite your mom for dinner and tell her about everything?”

  His eyes lit up, and he kissed her again. “Sounds perfect. Now, let’s get in there and get some mac and cheese before the edges are all gone.”

  She laughed and shook her head. “Every single piece of your aunt’s mac and cheese is divine. I refuse to argue this with you again.”

  Her phone dinged in her back pocket. “Robin says Happy Easter. To both of us.” She frowned at the text message. “With a question mark.”

  Eric shook his head. “That woman has no faith in us.”

  Kelsey raised an eyebrow at him as she typed a reply. “Can you blame her?”

  “I mean, we may not have the best track record, but she could at least pretend to be happy for us.”

  Kelsey finished her text, then put the phone away again. “She is happy for us. She’s just nervous about the festival. It’s less than a month away.”

  “Nervous we’ll screw that up?”

  “I’m sure. I didn’t help when I almost bailed on y’all. For the second time.”

  Eric put a hand on her back, the gesture soothing and familiar now. “But you didn’t. And we’ll show Robin everything’s gonna be fine. That both of us are sticking around. This month and every month from here on out.” He squeezed her hand and started walking backward, pulling her along with him. “But first, we’ve got food to eat. Lots of food.”

  Kelsey followed him toward the house, a smile plastered on her face. A couple months ago, she couldn’t have dreamed she’d be walking into Eric’s mom’s house pregnant, engaged, and confident that she and Eric would make it work this time. No matter what.

  But maybe she should have dreamed that. Maybe, just maybe, some things were worth dreaming. And—even more important—worth making a reality.

  Like the misfit vinyl from her store, Kelsey had finally found her home.

  Thank You!

  Thanks for reading Rim Shot Rebound! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading Kelsey & Eric’s story, and I hope you’ll continue to follow the band’s adventures in the final novella.

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  http://eepurl.com/dggjLL

  Cajun Two-Step Novellas

  Second Fiddle Flirt

  Six String Sass

  Rim Shot Rebound

  Novella #4

  (2018)

  About the Author

  Leigh Landry is a contemporary romance author who loves stories with fierce heroines, geek-sexy heroes, supportive friendships, and adorable pets. Once a musician, freelance writer, and English teacher, Leigh now spends her days writing happy endings, homeschooling her kids, and volunteering at an animal rescue center. She lives with her husband, their two children, two dogs, two cats, and an endless supply of foster kittens in the Heart of Cajun Country.

  EMAIL: llandryauthor@gmail.com

  WEBSITE: leighlandry.blogspot.com

  TWITTER: @LeighLAuthor

  FACEBOOK: @LeighLandryAuthor

  GOODREADS: LeighLandry

  Acknowledgments

  As always, this book would not exist without the love, support, and occasional kick in the pants from my fabulous support squad. This story was a particularly emotional one for me to tackle, and properly balancing their relationship was tricky at times, so I could never have gotten it right on my own. The following people deserve extra special thanks:

  Thanks to Mackenzie Walton for her keen editorial eye, encouragement, and push to get this couple’s back story sorted out.

  All the hugs and thanks to my critique partners, who all graciously looked at way more versions of this cover than any person should ever have to suffer through:

  - Maria, who read a really early draft and still loved these two characters as much as I do.

  - Chasia, who has championed this whole series and pushed me early on to crank up the tension and dig in even more with this story.

  - Kate, who swooped in to read so quickly and to assure me that I hadn’t screwed the whole thing up.

  - Stephanie, for always cheering me on and for keeping me going by supplying adorable foster kitten photos.

  Thank you to Lana and Mary for their continuous support from the beginning of this series.

  Thanks to my husband and kids for their support and understanding and for celebrating this writing journey with me.

  Finally, a huge THANK YOU to all of my readers. Your support means so much, and I hope to have many more sassy Southern romances in store for you.

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