Melody of the Heart (Runaway Train #4)(37)

The summer Brayden and I became engaged was one of the happiest times of my life. I loved being out on the road with the guys, and I was sad to see it end. In the autumn, the guys hard work touring paid off. A promoter who saw them at a show in Anaheim sent their CD to a record executive. Within two weeks, the guys were offered a very lucrative record deal. Their first two singles topped the Billboard charts.

With the back to back success of Until There Was You and Twisted Reality, Runaway Train’s world literally went off the rails. Suddenly, they were everywhere. When I turned on the radio on the way home from class, I would always catch one of their songs. I squealed every single time, especially when Brayden came in to harmonize with Jake. They were sent out on a US tour almost immediately. Gone was the rickety old bus that had so many memories for Brayden and me. Now they traveled in style on the label’s half a million dollar home on wheels. They had handlers now—people you had to get through just to talk to them. It was overwhelming to me, so I couldn’t imagine how the guys were handling it.

And when the season changed to winter, everything in my life changed.

Nothing ever comes without a price, and the bounty to be paid for Runaway Train’s success was the slow demise of Brayden’s and my relationship. I’d never thought I would have to worry about him changing. He had always been so grounded and so humble. He didn’t have an ounce of ego in him like Jake and AJ. He never cared about wealth—he just wanted to be able to make a living from playing music.

But something happened when he signed on the label’s dotted line. It was like he sold his soul. With me doing my student teaching and working part-time at night, I was so busy that I didn’t notice things at first. The fact that my calls and texts went unanswered and unreturned, or he was always putting me off when I asked for their schedule so I could come spend the weekend with him. When I actually did talk to him, he sounded distant and not like the Brayden who used to talk to me for hours on end. Sometimes he slurred his words and said off the wall things. I began to worry that he was drinking too much.

But then we finally reached the end of the road on Valentine’s weekend.

***

“Hey baby, what are you doing?” Brayden’s voice boomed into my ear.

“Just pulling in the drive.”

“You go to the mailbox yet?”

I laughed. “Since when do you care about me getting the mail?”

“Just check it, Lils.”

“Okay, okay,” I muttered, as I walked over to the mailbox.

“Did you get it?” Brayden questioned, as I flipped through the envelopes.

Cradling the phone on my shoulder, I asked, “Get what exactly?”

“The ticket.”

My breath hitched. “You sent me a ticket?”

“Yeah, to come out here for Valentine’s Day weekend.”

His thoughtfulness caused my heartbeat to shudder and restart.  At the bottom of the pile was a long envelope addressed to me. I couldn’t help squealing.

“I guess that means you got it,” he said, amusement vibrating in his voice.

I tore open the envelope and eyed the plane ticket. “Oh my God, Bray, thank you so, so much!”

“Well, we haven’t spent a Valentine’s Day apart since we’ve been together. I figured we didn’t need to start now. You won’t have a problem getting off that Friday, will you?”

“No, it should be fine.” Pressing the envelope against my chest, I sighed, “I can’t wait to see you.”

“I feel the same way.”

“Don’t plan anything for us to do while I’m there. I just want to spend the entire time with you, preferably in bed.”

Brayden laughed. “As much as I would like to oblige you on that one, I have to attend a party at my label on Saturday night. Wanna be my date?”

I tried hiding my disappointment that I was going to have to share Brayden. “Sure. I’d love to.”

“Great. Listen, I’ll have a driver waiting for you at the airport.”

I laughed. “Seriously? Why don’t you come and get me?”

“Because I have shit to do, Lils. I can’t just drop everything to pick you up.”

His words and his tone stung me. When I could finally speak, I said, “Yeah, sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”

“So I’ll see you in two weeks?”

“Of course.”

“Bye, Lils.”

“Bye, Brayden. I love you.”

But he didn’t hear me. He had already hung up.

LILY

THE PAST

I sat in the first class seat Brayden had purchased for me, twirling my engagement ring around my finger. I hadn’t heard from him since our last phone call two weeks ago. Well, he had sent a text this morning asking if I was still coming. I didn’t know if that was more for him or more about the fact he needed to let the driver know.

The entire flight to LA I did nothing but think. I broke apart our relationship into pieces and tried to examine each one to find the flaw. As hard as I tried, I still kept coming up empty. I didn’t know how everything had gone wrong so fast. Part of me worried I was being irrational and overreacting. Relationships weren’t always passion, heat, and devotion twenty-four seven. They went through ups and downs. While Brayden and I hadn’t experienced many ups and downs yet, we were both under a lot of strain in our professional lives. Throw in a separation and that had to cause a little strain in even the strongest of relationships.