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Her brow scrunches, and I want to kiss that spot and soothe away her worries. Soothe away my own. “Forward?”
I can’t read her and my heart pounds. “I love you, Honey. I want to figure out a way for us to have a future together.” I loosen my grip on her hands when she doesn’t respond, but she holds on tighter.
“I love you too, but my life is here and—”
I kiss her, everything falling into place in my heart. “My life is wherever you are. My life has been my career since I was eight. I want to try something different.”
She pulls back. “What does that mean? You can’t give up your career for me.”
“I’m not giving it up. Just changing a few things. I’m going to tour less and write more. I’m also done with anything not directly related to the music.”
She wraps her arms around her middle. “Are you sure that’s what you want? I love you, but my life won’t ever be exciting.”
“I think I’ve wanted a simpler life for a long time. I just didn’t realize until I had some time away to find out who I am without all the attention and the non-stop schedule. I want to be with you, in whatever form that takes. It’s going to be an adjustment and I’m not sure I’ll always love every moment of it, but this is the right choice for me, even if you don’t want to be a part of it.”
She dips her chin in a shallow nod. “I love the sound of that, but didn’t you say you’re leaving for a ten-month world tour next month? Are you still planning to do that?”
“I have a contract and fans have already bought tickets. I have to go on the tour, but I’m hoping you’ll come with me, at least for some of it. There’s a good chance stories about your past will come out, but my publicist has a plan for how to deal with that.” I don’t want to say the last part, because I’m sure it’s what will drive her away, but she deserves to know everything. “There’s no way I can promise your sisters won’t find out.”
“I told them everything yesterday. And I don’t care what anyone else thinks.” She glances to her left at the field where one of her sisters, probably Daisy, is hopping onto the back of a horse and taking off for a ride. Pigs and goats play nearby. “I can’t leave the farm. My sisters—”
“Sure you can,” someone shouts.
Honey and I turn to see Dani and Clover on the front porch, close enough to have heard every word of our conversation.
“What?” Honey asks. “Do you need my help with something?”
“I don’t need your help with anything,” Dani says. “I can cover the farm while you go on tour with Jaxon.”
“No.” Honey frowns and stomps her foot, but she leans closer to me. “I’m your partner. We’re doing this together.”
“I can help.” Clover’s ankle is wrapped, and she’s got a crutch under one arm, but she doesn’t appear to be in pain.
Dani hops down the steps and joins us on the grass. “You’ll always be my partner, Honey, but you should do this. Get out and see the world. When you come back, the farm will still be here and you’ll still be running it with me.”
Honey’s eyes go glassy and I wrap an arm around her shoulders. Whether or not she wants a future with me, I’m damn well going to comfort her.
“But it’s too much work for you on your own,” Honey says. “You’ll never get to have a day off.”
Dani shrugs. “In just a couple of months, the farm is coming into more than enough money for me to hire on help while you’re away. Plus, we’ll have the volunteers and—”
“Daisy and Goldy and I will help.” Clover shouts from the porch. “I bet Grant and Asher and Henry and Noah will too.”
Honey slips out from under my arm and steps away. “No. This is our time to be together as sisters. I’m not going to leave.”
Dani pulls Honey into a hug. “I love you, Honey. And I promise you, I’m not going anywhere. I’ll always be your sister. No matter what happens, I’ll be here for you. But maybe you can have the love of this man and you can have your sisters too. Maybe you don’t have to choose.”
Honey looks at me over her shoulder. “You really want me to go with you?”
The fact she even has to ask, that she doesn’t know how lucky I feel to have her even consider going with me, just makes me more determined to show her every day how amazing she is and how much she means to me. “More than anything. If you want, your sisters can join us on tour too. I’ll pay people to take care of all their jobs.”
Dani laughs. “Slow down, rock star. We’re letting you take Honey away. You don’t need to kidnap all of us.”
“But if you want to meet up with us somewhere,” Honey says. “Maybe just for a little while?”
I don’t even hear Dani’s answer because my heart is whooshing in my ears and it’s taking every bit of my effort not to do a victory dance. I hadn’t actually believed I’d be enough to convince Honey to come with me. I didn’t even have to tell her about the art museums I’ll take her to or that I’ve figured out how she can bring her pottery wheel with us and continue to make art.
Honey turns to me. “You’re really sure about this?”
