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“Is Callie up there?” I ask, grabbing their attention. Both of their eyes widen, and they exchange a glance that makes my heart drop. “Where is she?”
“She left,” Emma answers, her voice coming out so sympathetic it makes me feel ridiculous.
“Like ten minutes ago, actually,” Bailey adds, gesturing out the window.
“What time is her flight?” I demand when neither of them says anything. “Do I have time to catch her?”
Emma looks down at her watch. “Uh, her flight leaves in thirty minutes, so no. There’s no way you’re going to make it. But also, I think she left something for you—or she forgot something. I don’t know.”
I nod, the defeat threatening to drown me right there on the spot. “Thanks for letting me know.” I slip past the two of them and take off up the stairs.
“Wade,” Bailey calls after me, and I stop to look back at her. “I think she loves you, too.”
A smile tugs at my lips at the glimmer of hope from my sister-in-law. “Thanks for telling me.”
“Go get her back!” Emma shouts after me as I thunder up the rest of the stairs. My calves are burning by the time I make it to the top.
I swing the bedroom door open, inwardly chiding myself for not asking either one of them what she left behind. However, before I can get too far with that reprimanding, my eyes land on a notebook sitting on the desk.
Lyrics.
It’s easy to recognize the notebook, mostly because after our first writing session, she started bringing that pink thing with her every time we sat down to work on music. I race across the room, sweeping it up into my arms. A loose folded piece of paper slips from the inside, fluttering to the floor.
What the heck?
I bend over and pick it up, seeing my name written on the front. “Of course, she would write me a letter instead of saying goodbye,” I grumble, my stomach fluttering as I set the notebook down and unfold the paper.
She’s such a writer.
Taking a deep breath, I begin to read.
Dear Wade,
I just want to start this off by letting you know how sorry I am. I had no idea what I was getting into when I agreed to be your fiancée. I thought that it would just be some sort of fun adventure that could lead to bettering my career.
But I was wrong. It was so much more than that.
Wade. I think you’re an incredible man, and I think you’re on the path to righting all your wrongs.
I’m going back to Arkansas, so you can deal with everything that’s happened here today. Regardless of what happens, I hope you can finally see how much your family loves you.
You never needed a fake fiancée for them to be proud of you, Wade.
Oh and one more thing … I fell in love with you. Yeah, writing it down in this letter probably isn’t the best way to tell you, but, well, I’m a writer, and this is what I do.
And I kept the ring. So you’ll have to come and take that off my finger yourself.
Yours,
Callie
I let out a laugh—one that feels like I’m on the brink of crying, and fold the letter up, shoving it into my pocket. Even in the middle of heartbreak, she still had her witty sense of self. And she’s right, my family does love me. Even after all this, they are so quick to forgive and accept me for who I am—I’ve never felt more loved in my life.
And I refuse to ever take it for granted again.
I grab the notebook, flipping through the pages of the lyrics. There’s a lot more in here than what she let on, and as I sit and flip through them, I realize one commonality through them all.
Love.
