by Elena Aitken
Gwen gratefully took the glass. “You are an angel.”
“I’m not.” She held out her glass for a toast. “To you,” Deanna said. “The bravest woman I know.”
Gwen laughed with disdain, but clinked anyway. “I’m hardly brave,” she said after her swallow. “If anything, I’m the biggest coward in the world.”
“Would a coward be going to the festival tonight?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “No. A coward would have run away two days ago.”
“I wanted to.”
“But you didn’t,” Deanna said pointedly and then softer, “You didn’t.”
They drank their wine in silence for a moment before her friend said, “I read your post today.”
Gwen looked over her wine glass at her. “And?”
“Like I said, you’re the bravest woman I know.” Gwen ducked her head, but Deanna wouldn’t have it. “Seriously. You are, Gwen. The festival is full of feelings for you. It would have been way easier to just go home, or back to the city or wherever it is you were going to go. But you didn’t.”
No. She didn’t.
“You stayed.”
“I did.” Gwen nodded. “And I’m going to go and I’m going to get the closure I need there.”
Earlier, she’d published her first post since that night. It was a very real piece about the significance of the festival for her and how returning would allow her to see once and for all how she didn’t need the acceptance of a man to feel whole. She wrote about how she would finally have the dance she’d wanted for ten years. Even if she had to have it by herself. And not only did she feel good about what she wrote, she felt empowered. Somehow, it had made the prospect of going out in public, to the festival no less, a little less scary.
Still scary, to be sure. But a little less scary.
Gwen tossed back the rest of her wine. “I’m ready.”
Deanna smiled at her and finished her own glass. “Before we go, I should tell you that Jade has been calling non-stop. How she got my home number, I certainly don’t know, but she says she really needs to talk to you.”
Gwen shook her head and tried to let it roll off. She didn’t want to talk about Jade. Even though, in a very strange way, she kind of missed the pushy agent. “I told her no,” Gwen said. “There’s nothing she can offer me that I want. I’m through with all of that.”
“Okay. If you’re sure.” Deanna didn’t sound as if she believed her, but she stood and offered Gwen her hand. “Let’s go dancing.”
*
The festival had certainly changed over the years. When she was a kid, Samantha’s father, who’d been known for being somewhat of a drunk, had always been in charge. Not because he did a good job, but because his bar, the Grizzly Paw, supplied the alcohol. But now, Samantha was in charge of the Paw and the festival and it was beautiful.
Paper lanterns were strung across Main Street, lighting the way to the beach and the Grizzly Paw, where they’d set up a large outdoor stage and dance floor.
Arm in arm, Deanna and Gwen walked down the street. Dee waved at everyone she knew and although Gwen managed to keep a smile on her face, she couldn’t vouch for the authenticity of it.
“Are you sure Marcus was okay about not taking you to the festival?” Gwen asked, as they got close to the Grizzly Paw and the main festivities. “I mean, I love that you’re my date and all. But are you sure he doesn’t mind?”
Deanna waved her hand. “He’s totally fine with it. He doesn’t like this part of the night. The smiling and saying hi to people he barely knows.”
“I’m with him on that.”
“He likes the party part. He’ll meet us there later.”
“I’m not sure how long I’ll last.”
“You’ll be fine, Gwen.” Deanna gave her a radiant smile. “I’ve got you.”
“Yes, you do.” Gwen squeezed her best friend’s hand. “Thank you.”
“Anytime.” Deanna kissed her on the cheek. “Ready?”
Gwen looked at the busy party that was going on just through the arched fence. She could hear the music of Slade Black, Cedar Springs’ resident rock star, playing. Slade had been part of the band Jacked Crackers before falling in love with hometown girl Beth Martin and pursuing a solo career. Both the career and the relationship had thrived and despite his busy performance schedule, Slade made it a point to come back to town to perform at least once or twice a year. She’d been so excited about seeing him perform live. He’d been one of her favorite artists for years and when she’d heard about his Cedar Springs connection and that he’d be playing at the festival, Gwen was excited. Was.
But that was before. The excitement of seeing Slade perform had definitely dimmed.
She nodded and straightened her shoulders. “I’m ready.”
“Let’s do this.” Deanna pulled her forward. “Sam reserved some tables. Let’s go find some friendly faces.”
Gwen wasn’t sure how friendly any of the faces would be when it came to her. After all, she’d not only lied to Ian, she’d lied to everyone. She wouldn’t blame anyone if they gave her the cold shoulder. She was ready for it.
She kept a tight grip on her friend’s hand as they weaved their way through the party. The whole town must have turned out—the place was packed. People were dancing, drinking, and eating all around her. It was everything she’d thought it would be and it filled Gwen with sadness that this would be her very last festival in Cedar Springs. She would no longer be part of the town. But maybe she never really was part of it. That thought made her even sadder.
“Excuse me.” Someone tapped her arm, stopping their progression through the crowd. Gwen turned to see a very pretty, slightly plump young woman standing next to her. “Are you Gwen?”
She nodded and braced herself to be told off.
“I’m really sorry,” the woman said. “My name is Milena. I just…I saw you and…well, I just had to say hi.”
“I know that what I—what did you say?” Gwen tilted her head.
“She said her name is Milena,” Deanna repeated for her with a smile. “And she just wanted to say hi.”
Gwen shot Deanna a look. “Thanks. I got that.” She turned her attention back to Milena, who smiled nervously. “Hi, Milena.”
“You saved my life.” The young woman blurted out the words. “I started reading your website about a year ago and…well, you saved my life.”
Gwen blinked hard and tried to process what Milena said. “How?”
Tears pooled in the woman’s eyes and she twisted her hands together in front of her. “I was overweight and diagnosed with diabetes and hypertension and I was totally overwhelmed. I was in a really bad relationship with a man who…well, he wasn’t nice and I didn’t think I could ever fix it, you know?”
Gwen did know.
“But then I read your blog and I saw how you were just an ordinary person like me and you’d done it. You made it seem so…doable. So I did.”
Gwen’s own eyes filled with tears. Impulsively, she pulled Milena in for a hug. “Of course you did it,” she said in her ear. “You’re amazing.”
They talked for a few minutes and when Milena finally left to find her friends, Gwen stood, shell-shocked, unsure of what to do or say next.
Thankfully, Deanna was still with her. “That was incredible,” she said. “You really changed that woman’s life.”
Gwen nodded numbly. “That was crazy.” She took another second before she smiled. “Whatever else happens, that was worth it.”
Deanna laughed and grabbed her hand again. “Damn straight it was. Come on. I see Carmen.”
They’d only gotten a few feet across the crowded room when they were stopped again. This time, the voice that called her name out froze her to the spot.
*
He wanted to look, but he couldn’t. Ian paced backstage as Slade Black performed his latest hit. He desperately wanted to peek beyond the curtain to see whether Gwen had arrived yet. He had no way of knowing whether she would r
eally come or not. He was running on instinct. The festival was too important to her. Even with everything that had happened, she would come. He knew it.
But the fact that he didn’t know for sure whether she was there yet was killing him. The plan wouldn’t work if she didn’t show up. Or if she showed up late, she would miss everything, and he’d miss his chance.
“Go look.”
His brother looked up from his phone and stared at him. “Pardon me?”
“Go look, please.” Ian dropped into the chair across from Mitch, who still had no idea what he was talking about. “I need you to go out there and see if Gwen is there.”
“Just peek out the curtain.” He gestured with his head. “I’m in the middle—”
Ian reached out and covered his phone. “Whatever game of Candy Crush you have going, it can wait. This is important.”
Mitch glared at him. “How do you know what I’m doing isn’t important?”
“Is it?” The truth was, Ian had no idea what Mitch might be doing on his phone because he’d been a shitty brother. From the moment he’d arrived, Ian had been preoccupied with his own drama. But that would change soon. He just needed to fix things with Gwen.
If he could.
“Seriously, Mitch.” He tried a slightly softer tone. “Can you please help me with this? I’ll owe you big-time.”
Mitch pulled his phone back and tucked it into his back pocket as he stood. “Seems to me there’s a whole lot of favors going around, big brother.”
“I know.” Ian ran his hands through his hair. “And I owe you big-time. I really do. But I need to get this thing with Gwen sorted out. It’s killing me. I hate that I haven’t seen her in two days. It’s felt like a lifetime.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll help. You don’t have to get all melodramatic on me.”
Despite his growing stress level, Ian laughed. “I swear I’m not,” he said. “But I can’t even explain it. Not being with her is quite literally destroying me. I was an ass and I need to fix it.”
Mitch crossed the room. “If you ask me, you were both jerks. But you’re right,” he added a little less harshly. “You need to fix it. I wasn’t sure about her at first and I’m not going to lie to you, Ian, it’s strange for me to think of her as anything other than Gigi. But, I think that when you know, you know. And…”
“And I know.”
Mitch laughed. “I think that’s true.”
For a moment, he looked as if he was going to say something else, and not for the first time, Ian wondered what his little brother had left behind in the city. He promised himself to ask Mitch about it when everything was sorted out with Gwen.
“Okay, let’s see.” He pulled the curtain back and peeked out at the stage. “Damn, can you believe that Slade Black is here?” He looked back at Ian. “I mean, how crazy is it that he plays the Cedar Springs Summer Equinox Festival? That’s crazy.”
What was even crazier was that when Ian had asked Samantha for a little help getting Gwen back, she’d put him in touch with Slade. Ian had a rough idea of what he wanted to do for Gwen, but working with Slade had really helped concrete the plans. There was no way he wouldn’t be able to fix things with her now that he had a global superstar on his side. “I just hope it’s crazy enough to work,” Ian said. “Now seriously, is she out there?”
Mitch rolled his eyes and went back to searching. “There are a ton of people out there,” he said. “But I don’t…oh wait…”
“Wait what?”
“I see her. She’s with Deanna, and…”
“What?” Ian paced across the room again. “Who else is she with?”
“Some hottie.” Mitch looked back at him. “Seriously. This town has some ridiculously hot women in it.” He turned back to watch. “But…wait…I don’t think they’re friends. Gwen looks upset.”
“What?” Ian’s heart clenched and he pushed his brother out of the way. “Where is she?”
“Over by the bar.”
Ian followed his directions and spotted her. Sure enough, Gwen was in a heated discussion with a very attractive woman he’d never seen before. It was unlikely that she was from Cedar Springs, not dressed as if she’d just stepped out of the pages of a fashion magazine. But he didn’t have eyes for the new woman, not when Gwen was standing there looking as gorgeous as she was. Mitch was right, though. She looked upset. Whatever the other woman was saying was not going over well. Gwen shook her head and looked around, as if for an escape route. That couldn’t happen.
“You need to get out there.” Reluctantly, Ian closed the curtain and looked at Mitch. “You need to go run interference with that woman. Gwen can’t leave.”
“Oh, I’d like to run something with that woman all right.” Mitch wiggled his eyebrows. “I’m on it.”
“That didn’t take much convincing.” Ian chuckled.
“I’m there for you, brother.” Mitch gave him a quick salute and took off.
With any luck, he’d get to them in time and defuse the situation. Everything else was ready to go.
*
Gwen looked around for an escape route. She’d never thought Jade would show up in Cedar Springs. Let alone confront her at the festival. But the very last thing she wanted to deal with on an already emotional night was her agent—no, her former agent—who wouldn’t take no for an answer.
“Gwen, please.” Jade sidestepped so she stood directly in front of her again. “Just look at the contract. I’m telling you. You will want to see it. It’s not—”
“I don’t care. There’s nothing in there that will change my mind.” She shook her head, and tried again to find somewhere to go. Maybe it was just time she left. The festival was probably a bad idea. “Please, Jade. I told you, I won’t pursue it. It was a bad idea in the first place.”
“But this is different,” Jade pushed.
Gwen didn’t even have to think about it. She shook her head again. “No, Jade. I’m not interested.”
“You need to at least look at the deal, Gwen.”
“No, I don’t.”
“No, she doesn’t.”
Gwen spun around at the voice behind her.
Mitch.
Mitch? But he hated her. Or at least, if he didn’t hate her, he sure didn’t like her very much. Instantly, she stiffened.
“She doesn’t have to look at anything,” Mitch said, smoothly stepping up so he was right in front of Jade. “But if you’d like me to look at something—”
“And who are you exactly?” Jade stuck her hand on her hip and glared at him. Her words said one thing, but a blind person could have seen the reaction Mitch was having on her. If Gwen hadn’t wanted to get rid of her so desperately, she might have even enjoyed it a little bit. Especially considering Mitch’s body language opened up almost immediately.
“Mitch McCormick.” He held out his hand, which she took. He flipped it deftly and dropped a kiss on her knuckles. “Pleasure to meet you…”
“Jade.” She let him hold her hand while she answered. “Jade Johnson.”
“Can I interest you in a drink, Jade?” Mitch flashed her his killer smile and from behind her, Gwen heard Deanna groan. The McCormick brothers always did have a way with the ladies, but Mitch had definitely been the biggest player. But Jade didn’t know that, and Gwen would have happily paid for the drink, or the entire bottle, if it meant Jade would leave her alone.
No such luck.
Jade pulled her hand from Mitch’s grasp and tucked it smoothly into her tailored slacks. “I don’t think so,” she answered curtly. “I’m here on business and I’m not finished talking to—”
“Oh, we’re done.” Gwen cut her off. “I told you I’m not interested in reading anything, signing anything, or anything at all. In fact, being here was a bad idea. I think I’m just going to—”
“No.” Mitch grabbed her shoulders and stared at her. “You need a drink.”
“You need to let go of me.” Gwen glared at him. “I came here thinking I could�
��never mind….it was a bad idea and I should just go.”
“It wasn’t a bad idea.”
“What do you care?” Gwen couldn’t figure this guy out. He’d never been nice to her when they were younger, which was one thing when they were kids, but she didn’t have to put up with it now.
“I just do.” His eyes fixed on something behind her but then he looked back to her. “I’m sorry I was a jerk to you before.” He sounded genuine, but it didn’t really matter. “You didn’t deserve that, and I really am sorry.”
“I…um… I’m just…” Gwen stumbled over her words.
“You deserve to be happy,” Mitch continued. “And so does my brother.” With his hands still on her shoulders, he turned her around so she faced the stage.
And Ian.
Chapter Nineteen
He’d never been so nervous in his life. Unlike his younger brother, Cal, Ian didn’t like public attention. He could have used his brother’s advice on how to handle thousands of eyes staring at him at the same time. But Cal wasn’t there, and there hadn’t been time to call him. Instead, he’d just have to channel his little brother’s confidence. That’s what he’d been doing. At least, that’s what he’d been trying to do but now that he was sitting on the stage next to Slade Black, who was holding his guitar, Ian felt anything but confident.
And then he was looking into her eyes.
When Mitch spun her around, Gwen looked directly at him, and it was all okay. Or at least, it was going to be. He had to believe that.
“Ready, man?” Slade nudged him.
Ian nodded.
Slade leaned forward on his stool and started speaking to the crowd. “We’re going to slow it down for a minute now, with a very special surprise tonight. This is a brand-new song I’ve been working on. You all know I’m a very happily married man now…” There were a series of cheers and a few boos from the crowd, but Slade laughed it off and continued. “And being with my beautiful wife has taught me a lot about slowing down, and just enjoying life. So this song is about just that. It’s about taking a pause every once in a while to look around so you can see what’s right in front of you, especially love. I call it ‘Moment.’” The crowd cheered. Slade waited until they settled down before he added, “This is my buddy, Ian McCormick. He’s going to help me out with this one tonight because earlier today we worked on a few of the lyrics that are special just for tonight. And Gwen…this one’s for you.”
