by T. K. Rapp
That night, I told my boss I needed the next night off because I was going to be there to watch Vi perform, and hopefully convince her to give me another chance.
The next night…
I was walking to the front door of the coffee shop when I saw Vi stepping onto the stage. She looked different. Her hair was shorter, but she was just as beautiful as I remembered. But the biggest difference was the way she wore her confidence—the same thing that caught my attention all those years ago.
When I finally opened the door, I watched her get settled as she sang the first part of her song, and then she saw me. I wore a proud smile that soon faded as she looked from her hands and then to me. I nodded, encouraging her to continue with her song, but her voice cracked and she began to look shaky.
“I’m sorry…I can’t…” she managed to say before leaving the stage.
I watched her rush toward the back of the restaurant, lost in a sea of customers. As I maneuvered my way between tables and people, I found her standing next to Jo, whose arm was wrapped protectively around her. If looks could kill…fuck it, Jo was just going to do it with her bare hands.
Someone stepped in front of me and reached out to Vi when I spoke up.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
The guy in front of me stopped and turned to face me before looking back at Vi.
“She’s fine,” Jolie spat. “You need to go.”
“Who is this guy?” the brown-haired man said. We were roughly the same height, but he looked more squeaky clean than me.
“Banks!” Kirk yelled, catching my attention. “When did you get in town?”
“Just got in,” I told him. I realized the only people I knew were Kirk, Vi, and Jo. The rest were strangers, and I felt like I was she sideshow freak with the way they stared at me. “Sorry. I’m Will. Vi’s husband.”
“Ex-husband,” she said angrily. “This is my ex-husband.”
“Not yet, I’m not.”
I didn’t mean to sound so cocky; it just came out that way. I didn’t like the way this guy was looking at my wife, even if I didn’t deserve to call her that anymore. I chose to ignore him and focused on the woman in front of me. “Can we talk?”
“This isn’t a good time,” she said, and then gave her attention to the other guy. “Earp, can I use the phone in your office?”
He nodded at her and she hurried off to a hallway along the side where I’d entered the place. At first, the Earp guy looked like he was going to follow, but he stopped short and walked to the stage.
I turned to go after her when Jo grabbed my arm. I looked at her, her anger was replaced with sadness.
“You need to let her go, Will.”
“I can’t, Jo. I need her in my life. I love her.”
“You’re too late,” she said quietly.
I sucked in a breath and shook my head. “Not until she says so.”
Jo dropped her hand from my arm, and I rushed toward the empty hall and found a door open and Vi standing with her hands braced on the desk. She was breathing heavily and I stepped forward and put my hand on her shoulder.
“I’m fine, Earp,” she said.
“Vi.”
She spun around and her eyes were wide as she looked past me. She was looking for him. “What are you doing here? Why now?”
“I just needed to see you and talk about this,” I said, and then pulled out the divorce papers that I had folded and stuck in my back pocket. “Is this really what you want?”
“How did you know where to find me?” She asked, and then she laughed humorlessly. “Kirk. I’m gonna kill him.”
She stalked past me and turned right, heading toward an emergency exit door. I followed her and stood to the side as she paced.
“There’s nothing left to talk about, Will. I told you the other night, it’s been almost a year, it’s time to move on.”
“Is this what you really want?” I asked.
We were standing at least five feet apart, but it felt like more. I wanted to hold her, to tell her I loved her—anything to make her change her mind. As if she could read my mind, Vi closed the distance between us and wrapped her arms around my waist, holding me tightly.
“I fucked up, I know I did. You deserve so much better, and I promise, if you give me a chance, I’ll make it up to you,” I pleaded, kissing the top of her head.
She looked up at me, tears pooling in her eyes, and opened her mouth to say something, but I stopped her with a kiss. She dropped her arms from my waist and pushed against my chest, separating us.
“It’s too late,” she whispered.
“I haven’t signed the papers yet.” I smiled, hoping that made a difference.
“Will…it’s too late.”
“But I’m here now. For you.”
“I was in Spring Park for five months and you never once tried. It took me moving away, starting over, and finding someone else for you to make an effort. I’m not crying for what we lost or because I want you back. I’m crying because I can finally let you go.”
I stepped away from her and she took one of my hands between her two and squeezed gently.
“I want you to be happy, whatever that means for you.”
“That happiness includes you,” I told her.
She shook her head and smiled. “No. I’ve found my happiness.”
“And it’s with him? With Earp?”
“Yeah,” she said. “It’s here, with these people and my music. And with Wyatt.”
“But, Vi…”
“I love him, Will,” she said, still smiling, but tears pooled in her eyes like she knew the words would hurt me to hear.
“Okay,” I whispered, and walked back into the hallway inside the restaurant. The office was still empty, so I stepped in and found a pen, signing the papers that she was waiting on.
I paused before turning around and handing her the documents.
“I don’t regret it,” she said as she took them from me. “Being married to you, I mean. I don’t regret it.”
I leaned down and kissed her cheek before whispering in her ear, “I’ll never regret it. You were the best thing that ever happened to me. I hope this guy knows how lucky he is…because I do.”
When I stepped past her, she reached out and gave my hand another squeeze before letting me go. “Bye, Will.”
The side door was still open and I didn’t want to risk seeing Jo or Kirk, so I slipped out undetected.
As I rounded the corner, I saw Wyatt standing in front of the store where a woman pulled him back inside. I waited before walking over to see what was going on, and I saw Vi back in front of the crowd.
“Sorry about before,” she laughed. “Guy drama. I just wrote this song today, so if I sounds like shit…well, whatever,” she laughed. “This is called ‘You’re All I See.’”
When she started to sing, I wished to hell those words for me, but she’d moved on and I had to let her go. She was staring at this man who did for her the things I failed to do. Vi was happy, and ultimately, that’s what I wanted for her. I loved her enough to walk away.
EPILOGUE
Six Weeks Later…
Performing in front of the small crowd at String Beans was exhilarating. Kirk kept insisting that I would be a great addition to The Fabulous Broken, but that was never my dream. Bright lights, screaming fans, and a hectic touring schedule weren’t things I aspired to have in my life.
My dream was to write music and hope that maybe someone liked it enough to listen to it. When Kirk mentioned that he and the guys would be on the East Coast for a while, I was happy for him. And then he mentioned that the band would be back in L.A. to record a new album. My song was to be included, and he hoped that I might have another few for him when they returned.
“What time are they getting here?” Wyatt asked.
We were planning on going out with everyone that night, since it had been a while. Kirk and Josh had texted me earlier that they had checked into their hotel and would be by so
we could go to Mood Swings together.
“Anytime now,” I said.
Connor had moved into an apartment several blocks away and Jolie appeared to be happy about it. She spent most nights at his place, but the last few, she’d been with me curled up on the couch insisting we needed a girl’s night.
I was putting the back on an earring when Wyatt walked into my room looking pale. I became worried and walked over to him, and started to ask what was wrong when I looked down at his hand.
“Vi? Do you have something you need to tell me?”
My eyes widened and I looked from the purple-and-white plastic stick in his hand and back up to him.
“That’s not mine,” I scoffed.
“It’s okay…you can tell me. It’s not what I was expecting, but I love you and we’ll be okay.”
I reached out and touched his hand, careful to avoid the toilet paper-wrapped end in his hand, and laughed. “I love you for that, Earp…but it’s really not mine.”
“Then whose is it?” he asked
The door to the apartment opened and we both turned to see Connor and Jolie entering the apartment holding hands.
“Are you two ready?”
“In a minute,” I answered and then turned to Wyatt, lowering my voice. “No way. Right?”
“No way—what?” Jolie asked from behind us, catching us off guard. It felt like slow motion as the plastic slipped from Wyatt’s fingers, landing with a snap on the floor below.
Jolie’s eyes darted from me, to Wyatt, to the floor…and then to Connor, her hands covering her mouth.
Connor stooped down and picked up the unsoiled end, and studied it before smiling widely at Wyatt and me.
“Congratulations, guys…didn’t know you were there yet.”
Jolie’s eyes pleaded with me not to say anything, though we both knew it was the wrong thing to do.
“We’re not…” Wyatt started.
“Telling anyone,” I interrupted quickly. “Big secret. Don’t want to freak anyone out until we know for sure. I mean, we’re not even sure it’s accurate.”
Wyatt looked down at me, his brows pinched together briefly before going along with it.
“Yeah, she probably needs to take another one,” he said slowly, as if questioning the validity of the statement.
“Right, yeah, another one.” I nodded at Jolie, who dropped her hand from her mouth and hid it at her side.
“Three?” I gasped before recovering. “I’ll know for sure in three days.”
Connor handed me the pregnancy test, still smiling as he patted Wyatt on the back. They walked to the kitchen, leaving Jolie and me standing a short distance away.
“You’re pregnant?” I whispered. “How far along are you?”
“I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?” I questioned, pulling her aside so they wouldn’t hear us.
“I just took the test today.”
“So why don’t you tell Connor?”
“I can’t… This ruins everything!”
“It’s a baby,” I cooed. “How can it ruin everything?”
“Because we set the wedding date.”
“And?”
She started crying. “I don’t want to waddle down the aisle.”
Acknowledgments
This story wouldn’t have been possible without the wonderful support of readers, bloggers, and fellow authors. You are all an indispensible part of the book world. Without your love of books and the stories within them, we’d have no outlet.
Thank you to my beta readers whose feedback helped this story more can I can say. You took time out of your schedule to read and offer your support, and for that I am grateful. Kizzy, every time I heard from you, you brought a smile to my face. You and Tina gave me so much to work with and opened up a world of possibilities for these characters. Thank you both so much for your guidance and advice. Lisa suggested this title nearly a year ago and I loved it. Thank you for the perfect, quirky title. Jenn Beach, I dub thee, The Guru. You are incredibly intuitive and have given me so much to consider. Miss you ladies.
Erin Spencer, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Who would have thought three years ago, the girl with the bag would be someone I consider a dear friend? Southern Belle Promotions has done so much for me with each of my books. Erin and Katie, you are amazing and I’m blessed to know you.
Also, thank you to Stacey Lynn, my Skype partner, my critique partner, and mostly my friend. I’d be lost without you. I miss my writing group, more than I can say. You ladies know who you are and how much I adore you. Amy Jackson, you made the editing process painless. I love your notes and your smart remarks. Kayla Robichaux, Heather Lane, Barbara Blue, and Sierra Cartwright thank you for everything.
I’m grateful for the love and support of my awesome family and friends (who are like family) who do everything they can to spread the love. Mieshaw, Da, Pop, Dea, Joey, Mr. Man, Kari, Kim (Gorgeous), Alisha, Aunt G, Toria, Ann, and my “peeps,” thank you.
My daughters are amazing because they give me time to write and do what I love. Gidge and Peese, you are my world and I love you. You make me proud everyday. And finally to Spence, I am so lucky to have my best friend with me in all of this. I never imagined when I started this journey three years ago, that you’d be reading my books and helping me plot. It’s just one more reason you’re the best husband I could ask for. I love you so very much.
About the Author
T.K. Rapp is a Texas girl born and raised. She earned a B.A. in Journalism from Texas A&M and it was there that she met the love of her life. He had a contract with the U.S. Navy that would take them across both coasts, and ultimately land them back home in Texas.
Upon finally settling in Texas, T.K. worked as a graphic designer and photographer for the family business that her mom started years earlier. She was able to infuse her creativity and passion, into something she enjoyed, but something was still missing. There was a voice in the back of her head that told her to write, so write, she did. And, somewhere on an external hard drive, are several stories she started and never finished.
Now at home, raising her two daughters, T.K. has more time to do the things she loves, which includes photography and writing. When she’s not doing one of those, she can be found with her family, which keeps her busy. She enjoys watching her kids in their various sporting activities (i.e. doing the soccer mom thing), having Sunday breakfast at her parent’s house, singing out loud and out of key or dancing like a fool. She loves raunchy humor, gossip blogs and a good book.
Visit T.K. Rapp online:
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If you enjoyed this book, check out the others by T.K. Rapp:
Being There
Mine to Lose
Mine to Steal
Finding Laila (YA Novel)
Fumbled GoB #1 (A Fumbled Novel)
Fumbled GoB #2 (YA Version)
