A Winter Wedding(92)

He was trying to convince himself to go to bed alone when her phone buzzed.

“Is that Derrick?” he asked.

She checked. “Yes,” she said with a sigh. “He’s been calling more than ever lately.”

This was a text. “What’s he saying?”

“‘I have something I need to tell you. Please call me,’” she read aloud.

Kyle finished his second drink. “Are you going to?”

“No.” She put her phone down.

“But you are going back. To Nashville. You’d never consider staying...” He held his breath as he waited for her answer. He had no right to ask so much of her, but he couldn’t let her leave without telling her that he was over Olivia. That he loved her and that he could offer her everything he had and could ever be.

She looked troubled when she faced him, and he knew, even before she answered, that it wouldn’t be enough. “I’ve never met anyone like you, Kyle. I could... I could fall in love with you. Maybe I already have. From the beginning, there was...something about you. But we want different things out of life. You’ve made it clear that you’d never want to leave Whiskey Creek. And I can’t stay.”

“You could travel for work. When you needed to.” Kyle had never dreamed he’d make that concession so quickly. But other couples conquered various challenges. It might not be his ideal future, wasn’t what he’d sought or planned, but he hadn’t expected to fall in love with a professional singer.

Another text came in before she could answer.

Since he could see the words, Kyle read it at the same time Lourdes did. “Come on, Lourdes,” Derrick had written. “This is a hit song. You can’t miss it.”

“Looks like it’s work-related,” Kyle said.

When she glanced up, he could tell she was excited by the message and tempted to respond. He couldn’t blame her. She wanted to rebuild her career, and Derrick could offer her the help he couldn’t. “Go ahead and call him,” he said and went to bed to give her the privacy to do so.





25

Derrick had found the perfect song. He could’ve given it to Crystal, but he was reserving it for her. He’d even played it for her. He’d had to call in a lot of favors, and pay a pretty penny to the songwriter, who owed him a favor, or he probably would’ve lost it to Miranda Lambert, since she’d also shown interest. But he was confident it was right for her, and Lourdes had to agree.

She’d never been able to fault his taste in songs, or his business acumen. He’d helped her build what she’d created so far, and it would be so much easier to continue with his support. Although she’d planned to find a new manager in January, she was now thinking about hiring Derrick again. He was a known entity, someone with plenty of experience and knowledge about the biz.

There was no telling if she’d get someone half as good if she switched...

Giving her this song was his way of keeping her in the fold, she realized. But she wasn’t entirely opposed to staying, despite what he’d done.

When her phone rang again, she looked at it in surprise. She’d just finished talking to Derrick—she was still holding her phone—so what was he calling about now? He needed to give her time to think...

But this call wasn’t from Derrick; it was from Crystal.

Lourdes curled the fingers of her free hand into her palm. Did she care to talk to “the other woman”? What on earth could Crystal have to say to her?

In the end, curiosity overcame her reluctance. Hoping she wouldn’t live to regret it, she slid the answer button to the right. “Hello?”

“Lourdes? Thanks for taking my call. I...I wasn’t sure if it would only make matters worse, but I felt like I needed to say something.”

Lourdes sank onto the edge of her bed. “I can’t imagine what we’d have to discuss.”

“Well, I bet we can both agree that I owe you an apology. I’m really, really sorry. And I just have to say it’s been awful watching Derrick go through this, when I know I’m partially to blame. I can’t explain exactly what happened that night, but—”

“You’re saying it was just one night?” Had Derrick been telling her the truth about that?

“Yes, it was. I swear. We’d had a bit too much to drink. We were excited about the sales of my latest album. We were making plans, and then it got late and...and before we knew it...things went too far. I wanted Derrick to tell you right away, but he was so afraid of losing you that he made me swear I’d keep my mouth shut.”

“I saw the picture that was posted on the internet where you two were making out over lunch, Crystal.”

“We weren’t making out! We were talking—about you and what we were going to do to right our wrong and how terrible we both felt.”

“So you’re not seeing him now.”

“No. Absolutely not. Our relationship is strictly professional. I asked him not to drop me. I’m just getting started in my career, and I really need his guidance. But I’m not after him in any other way, and...I felt...if there’s anything I can do to make things right between you two, I needed to do it.”

Lourdes rubbed her right temple. She told herself she shouldn’t buy into this, that it was another of Derrick’s attempts to convince her to overlook his latest indiscretion, and he’d only cheat on her again. But Crystal sounded so sincere. “I’ve hardly heard from him since he confessed the truth.”