“What? Why in the hell would you do that?”
The shock of him calling me out like that quickly turned to anger. “I’m sorry, Anson. It was a younger couple. I thought they were here to ask Ida about the house. I’m not always on guard for reporters, you know, and they didn’t fit the part at all. I wouldn’t have to be on guard if you hadn’t…” I stopped talking and let my voice trail off.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap. I just…I don’t want to cause you any more pain, Bri.”
I swallowed hard, and before I could stop myself, I said, “You couldn’t possibly cause any more, Anson.”
He was silent over the phone.
Clearing my voice, I asked, “Is that the only reason you called? To warn me about a reporter?”
“No. I mean, yes. I guess so.”
His admission that he had only called to warn me caused the back of my eyes to sting with unshed tears. Anson Meyer was not still hung up on me, no matter how many stupid, sad songs he wrote.
“Warning taken. If you’ll excuse me, I need to let you go.” My hand went to the wood banister in the foyer, and I fought to keep my breathing normal. His voice sounded like angels singing in my ears. God, I had missed his voice.
“Okay, I’m sorry again. Hopefully they’ll let it go.”
Ha. Not a chance if they overheard even one sentence of my conversation with Ida.
“Hopefully.”
“I hope you’re doing good, Bristol.”
A bittersweet tug pulled in the middle of my chest. I fought with the thrill of finally hearing his voice, the rush of having him say my name again, and the sadness of him not being here. I didn’t dare speak, because the moment I did, I would cry.
“Right. I’ll let you go. Take care, okay.”
I forced myself to speak. “Yep. You too.”
“Bye, Bristol.”
“Bye, A-anson.” The hitch in my voice was a clear indication I was upset, and before he could say anything, I ended the call.
I closed my eyes as I turned and stumbled back onto the steps. I forced the rise of nausea back down into my stomach as I buried my face in my hands. Finally, I let the tears I had been holding in for Lord knows how long, fall freely. Sob after sob, I cried as I sat on the steps of Anson’s grandparents’ home.
I felt someone sit down next to me.
“Shhh, it’s okay, Bri,” my brother softly said. I leaned my head onto his shoulder and did the one thing I swore I would never do again. I cried over Anson Meyer and my stupid broken heart.
Damn it all to hell. I was as much in love with Anson today, as I had been on the day he walked away from me.
And I hated him for that.
Anson
THE BILE SAT at the base of my throat as I stared out over the green grass hills of my Nashville home.
I heard the same hurt and pain in her voice as I had so many years ago. She hardly said a full sentence to me over the phone, but I knew. I knew because I felt it too.
Zeus ran up and dropped his ball at my feet and barked for my attention. I picked it up and tossed it again. He ran down the massive backyard with one mission in mind: get the ball and bring it back so we could do this a million times. I looked around at the large trees that surrounded the home I had bought a few years ago. One of the reasons I liked this place was the old farmhouse that sat on the property that I had converted into a recording studio. Every time I saw it, it reminded me of her. Of Bristol. I smiled when I thought about her love for old farmhouses. Hence, the reason for her tea room’s name.
My phone rang, and without even looking at it, I answered.
“Hello?”
“How’s your head?”
“My head?” I asked with a slight laugh.
“Yes, Anson. Your head. Have you been drinking? Are you in the right frame of mind for tomorrow’s show?”
I sighed. “Robert, if you weren’t my manager and my only friend, I would hang up on you.”
He laughed. “I’m not your only friend. You have Lanny. Jen.”
“The two women I pay to be in my life.”
“You pay me.”
“That’s different. If I stopped paying you, I’m pretty sure we’d still stay friends.” When he didn’t answer, I felt my mouth twitch with a smile as I asked, “We would stay friends, wouldn’t we?”
“We would, Anson, and it has nothing to do with how much money you’ve made me, which has been a lot.”
This time I laughed.
“Did you call her?”
“Ah, so this explains your wondering if my head is in it for tomorrow night thing.”
“Right. Well?”
“Yes, my head is in it, and yes, I just got off the phone with her. We may have a problem.”