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That’s exactly what my grandmother was talking about. I can’t buy her love with a recording contract or paying her bills or any of the thousands of things being a millionaire can offer. It has to be just me, and hopefully that will be enough.
She hasn’t seen me yet, and I bask in that moment, because I don’t want to see her face fall or watch her be in pain. Five minutes, that’s all I need. To try to tell her how I feel. Why I did what I did. I’m about to approach her, but just like at the festival, she sees me first.
Her face hardens, and she crosses the floor to me quickly. “I don’t want you to be here.”
“I know, just please, give me a couple of minutes to explain.”
Anna reaches into her pocket and brings out the ring and presses it into my hand. “I think you’ve done enough explaining.”
“Anna,” I say, and I can hear how desperate my voice sounds. “Please. Five minutes. And if you don’t want to hear from me after that, I understand. I’ll walk away. You’ll never have to hear from me again. Just give me this chance to explain.”
Her lips press together, and I can tell she’s thinking about it. Finally, she nods towards the back of the store behind the little stage, and I follow her.
She just stares at me, before finally gritting out one word. “Talk.”
I swallow. “I love you,” I say. “That’s the first thing you need to know. And the second thing is that I’m an idiot. I can’t say that I’ll never fuck up, but I promise that I’m going to try not to. And I didn’t want to hurt you again, and that’s why all of this happened.”
She makes a noise like she doesn’t believe me.
“It’s true. I never thought any of this would happen, and finding you again was the best thing that could have ever happened. You know what I wanted way back when? You. I wanted to marry you. I wanted to have a family with you. And that hasn’t changed. That’s all that I want now. I’m not going to lie to you, there’s more to it than that. Glenn’s an asshole and I’ll tell you all about that another time, because honestly, it’s going to piss you off probably more than it’s already pissed me off. I hit him in the face on Sunday, by the way.” I realize that I’m talking a lot, and I trail off, and after a second, Anna’s face cracks into a smile.
“You actually hit him?”
“I did. I lunged across the bar and he went flying. Wallace had to hold me back.”
She shakes her head. “Do I even want to know why?”
I sigh. “It involves Glenn trying to sue me for my portion of the company if I don’t participate in the pledge. Because the only thing that gives you an out is if you’re married. But I don’t care about that. I’ll give him my portion of First Shot. I don’t need the money, I just need you. I love you, Anna, and I still want you to marry me. Whether you say yes now, or you want me to wait a year. Or two years. I’ll wait. I’ll be here.” I open my palm, with the ring still there.
It’s an offer that I hope she’ll take, or at least consider.
Her arms are folded across her chest, and she’s staring at the ring. Then at my face. Then at the ring again. I see a bunch of emotions cross her face, and I have no idea what she’s thinking. She doesn’t say anything when she steps forward, and she doesn’t touch the ring, but she brushes a kiss across my lips. “Don’t hide things from me,” she says softly. “After everything that we’ve been through, I can’t…”
“I know.” I reach out, tracing my hands across her shoulders. “I promise. But I’m going to fuck up.”
“Me too. At least we can fuck up together.”
Her smile is small, but it’s there, and the relief washes over me in an icy wave. I’m about to ask if that means she’ll take the ring back when my phone vibrates in my pocket. I pull it out, and it’s home base. They’re probably calling about Anna. “I’m sorry,” I say. “It’s the label.” I swipe the screen and put it on speaker. “Hello?”
The voice that comes through the speaker is Andrew, my main producer. He’s a very energetic man, and when he gets excited about something he gets loud. “Frankie Perkins you sign that woman right now. You shouldn’t have even asked. I swear to God, if she signs with another label before she gets her hands on our contract I’m going to pummel you when you get back to Nashville. I don’t care if you are my boss. Sign her now. NOW.”
