I nod. Then I reach for her hand.
"Now you promise me something."
Robyn smiles. "Yes, the baby is yours."
I b.u.mp my forehead to hers. "d.a.m.n straight it is." She kisses me softly, but I won"t be distracted so easily. "Promise me you won"t give up on your dreams, either. You are d.a.m.n good at your job and you don"t have to give that up unless you want to."
She nods. "I"m going to talk to my boss about less travel and more behind-the-scenes event coordination. It will all work out however it"s meant to. Katie has volunteered to step in when needed."
"So are we good now?" I ask, holding the ring at her fingertip before slipping it all the way on.
Robyn pulls back once more. "You sure this is what you want? It"s not just the concussion talking?"
I laugh low against her lips. "Do you want to know what I saw when we were about to hit that truck? What flashed before my eyes?"
She nods and her body trembles against mine at the mention of the accident.
"I saw you. I saw us. I didn"t see my life as it was because there wasn"t much to see. Hotel rooms, tour buses, and audiences full of strangers-none of that came to mind. I saw the life I wouldn"t get to have if I died, or if I lived and walked away from you. I saw you holding our child in your arms and smiling up at me with those beautiful eyes of yours. I saw birthday cakes and toy guitars and G.o.d help us, the drum set Gavin will buy this child to bang on all hours of the day. I saw you in a white dress becoming my wife. I saw my family." I hold her close and kiss her hair. "Be my family, baby."
"Yes, Dallas," she says through her tears. "A million times yes."
Once we both pull it together and my ring is on her finger, where it will d.a.m.n well stay, I nod to the envelope she"s still holding.
"Are you going to do the honors?"
She hands it to me. "I think you should. I mean, you came all this way."
As we make our way across the street I slide my finger into the seam. A small black-and-white square sits inside. Taking it out gently once we"ve reached the parking garage, I stare at it, feeling the sunshine on my face and wondering if my parents and grandparents are smiling down on me.
There"s a song here somewhere, but I"ll write it later.
"Congratulations, Daddy," Robyn says softly, taking the picture from my fingers. "It"s a boy."
"You have a name picked out yet?" If I know Robyn, she has an entire list.
She leans against my arm. "I was thinking . . . Denver."
I can"t help it. I laugh. I want to pick her up and spin her around and shout from the top of the parking garage that I am officially the luckiest man in the universe.
"So what now?"
My girl always has a plan.
"Now we go get you some real st.i.tches in that arm. Then we go get some pancakes because I am seriously starving."
"Sounds good. Then what? We just wing it?"
Robyn scoffs at me. My girl doesn"t wing it.
"Then we live happily ever after."
EpilogueRobyn.
"DIXIE SAID YOU"D BETTER CALL HER YOURSELF SO SHE CAN HEAR your voice. I think there was one heck of a vigil going on over there. Sounded like she had a house full," I tell my fiance as he pulls me onto his lap. "Did you talk to Gavin?"
Dallas kisses me on the tip of my nose and places his palm on my protruding belly. "I will. And yeah, I did. He had some news, too, actually."
"He finally talked to Dixie and they"re getting married, too?"
"Uh, no. Why? What did she say to you about him?"
"Not much. Just that she saw him with some chick she plans to back over with your truck and that he acted like an a.s.shole."
Dallas makes a growly noise of discontent in the back of his throat. "Remind me to hide my truck keys when we go to Amarillo."
I rest my head on his shoulder and close my eyes, savoring the clean wood-infused scent of him. "Okay."
"Speaking of Amarillo," Dallas says, shifting me so that I lift my head. "We need to finalize the wedding plans because I have another proposal for you, but I don"t want to add any additional stress on the mother of my baby."
I roll my eyes. I basically thrive on stress and Dallas knows this. "Tell me what"s going on, Lark."
"Gavin works at that huge new bar downtown-the Tavern."
I vaguely remember Dixie mentioning that that"s where she saw him. "Okay," I say slowly. "And . . ."
"And Rock the Republic Records is hosting a Battle of the Bands there in a few weeks. First prize is twenty-five thousand dollars and a one-year recording contract."
I sit up so fast I nearly head-b.u.t.t him. "Are you serious?"
Dallas grins and nods. "Yeah. Since Capitol is probably already drawing up the paperwork to drop me like a bad habit, I"m thinking it"s time for the band to get back together and give it another shot."
I can"t even contain my squeal of joy. "I can get y"all a fan site set up right now. We can do a Facebook promo to get people to come out and-"
"Babe, slow down." Dallas tightens his grip before I can jump up out of his lap. "I was hoping you"d help out with that stuff. But there"s plenty of time for that. First I have to make sure Dixie is on board and that those two can put their drama aside to do this. Then maybe Leaving Amarillo will get a second chance. Think we can convince my sister to give Gavin one?"
"Well . . . you know how I feel about second chances." I place kisses along the edge of his jawline when he reaches over to place a protective hand on my slightly protruding belly b.u.mp-something he does often and I"m not even sure he"s conscious of.
He rests his forehead on mine and I am swept away by the overwhelming love and adoration in his gaze.
"That I do, sweetheart. That I do."
Loving Dallas Playlist "Crazy Town," Jason Aldean "Ho Hey," Lumineers "Smoke," A Thousand Horses "This Town," Clare Bowen and Charles Esten "Even if It Breaks Your Heart," Eli Young Band "I See You," Luke Bryan "Texas Was You," Jason Aldean "Springsteen," Eric Church "Distance," Christina Perri featuring Jason Mraz "Dancing Away with My Heart," Lady Antebellum "Hope You Get Lonely," Cole Swindell "Wheels Rollin"," Jason Aldean "Easy," Rascal Flatts featuring Natasha Bedingfield "Make You Miss Me," Sam Hunt "Come Over," Kenny Chesney "Love You Like That" Canaan Smith "It Goes Like This," Thomas Rhett "I Walk the Line," Johnny Cash "Save Your Breath" Josh Dorr "Let Her Go," Pa.s.senger "Mine Would Be You," Blake Shelton "More than Miles," Brantley Gilbert "Run Away with You," Michael Ray "Crash My Party," Luke Bryan "I Won"t Give Up," Jana Kramer "Simple Man," Lynyrd Skynyrd "Say You Do" Dierks Bentley "Play It Again," Luke Bryan
Acknowledgments.
FIRST OF ALL, I OWE A HUGE THANK-YOU TO ANYONE WHO READS this book. Readers make my world go "round and have given me the amazing gift of allowing me to live my dream. There literally are not words in existence to fully express my grat.i.tude. Thank you for investing in the Neon Dreams series and for continuing on the band"s journey with me! Thank you for putting your faith, trust, and hard earned dollars into this series. I pray I don"t let you down. Thank you for taking a chance on me and my books! I know many of you are planning to throw your books and e-readers at me because you are ready for Gavin"s story. It"s coming, I promise!
To my friends and family, I am so thankful for each and every one of you. I am eternally grateful and indebted to you for the love, support, guidance, and listening ears you have been. Thank you for tolerating and embracing my brand of crazy. I am so grateful for each one of you. It means the world to me to have such amazing people in my corner.
Speaking of my corner, I have so much grat.i.tude and appreciation for my editor, Amanda Bergeron, who is so very patient and understanding. She pushes me to be a better writer and she makes my characters better versions of themselves. Without my awesome agent, Kevan Lyon, this book wouldn"t be in your hands, so big hugs of love and thanks to her as well! Thank you, Dianna Garcia and Onalee Smith at HarperCollins for all that you do. Patricia Nelson and Gabrielle Keck, you both do fantastic jobs at keeping the ships running smoothly and your e-mails make me smile. To the cover design team that works on this series, thank you for being so patient with me and for all of your hard work making these books so pretty.
The ladies on my social media support team, CQ"s Road Crew, have been instrumental not only in helping to spread the word about this series but in making it better by giving me their honest feedback along the way. Thank you so much, ladies! The Backwoods Belles are also a fantastic group that works hard to share the book love and I am eternally grateful for everything that they do!
Thank you to those of you who buy books, leave reviews, love on authors, and make recommendations to your friends. I can"t even tell you how much I appreciate your love and support. You make my dreams come true-literally! Big tackle hugs of love to everyone who came out to Austin Book Fest and helped make Leaving Amarillo such a hit!
To anyone with a dream, keeping chasing it. If you catch it, chase another. And another. Unlike most things, dreams are free and unlimited. I"m a firm believer that you can never have too many.
Last but certainly not least, thank you to my fellow authors and colleagues who take time out of their own busy careers to read, critique, blurb, and promote each other"s work. I am so fortunate to have found such a great group of ladies to hold my hand along the way. If this writing thing doesn"t work out, maybe we can start a band.
MISSING DIXIE COMING OCTOBER 2015.
Fighting for redemption . . .
I"ve lived most of my life in darkness, beneath the shadows of secrets and addictions. The last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt the only girl I"d ever loved-the one who brought me into the light. In my entire life I"d made one promise-a promise I"d intended to keep. I"ve broken that promise and now I have to live with the fallout. Dixie Lark hates me, and I have to tell her that I love her. I also have to tell her a truth that might destroy us forever.
Can she love me even if she can"t forgive me?
Learning to move on . . .
Gavin Garrison broke his promise to my brother and he broke my heart in the process. I may never love anyone the way I"ve loved him, but at least I won"t spend my life wondering what if. We had our one night and he walked away. I"m finally beginning to move on when my brother"s wedding and a battle of the bands brings us back together.
Our band is getting a second chance, but I don"t know if I can give him one. How do you hand your heart back to the person who set it on fire once already?
"You know you really love someone when you can"t even hate them for breaking your heart."
-Unknown.
PrologueGavin.
"I NEED A MICHELOB LIGHT, TWO JACK AND c.o.kES, A BOURBON on the rocks, and a s.e.x on the Beach," a waitress named Kimberly calls to me over the crowded bar.
"Yes, ma"am," I shout over the din while filling the order quickly, tossing an umbrella into the fruity drink and briefly wondering what the h.e.l.l kind of group orders such random drinks. It"s an odd number, so probably not a double date.
Once Kim"s tray is full, she takes off into the crowd and I take a few more orders from patrons sitting at the bar. The house band announces that they"re taking a break and I"m grateful that the bar is full enough to keep it from being quiet.
Silence has always been my enemy. Hence why I play the drums, the loudest most deafening musical instrument in existence. They"re the only thing that drown out the sounds in my head. Once my customers and waitresses have been taken care of, I do a quick wipe down of the bar and restock the highball gla.s.ses.
It"s in the brief moment when the pool b.a.l.l.s knocking together and the raucous chatter dies down that I hear it.
Someone is playing the piano, the old Wurlitzer that sits abandoned in the back corner of the Tavern. It"s not the music itself that stops me where I stand. It"s the way it"s being played. A combination of effortless and meticulous that I"ve only known one musician in my entire life to be capable of.
Glancing in the direction where the melody is drifting from I notice I"m not the only one mesmerized by the sound. Half the bar has made their way to the back corner to get a closer listen. My boss, a perpetually red-faced man named Cal, is going to kill me, but I have to see. I have to know if it"s her. My body propels itself around the bar just as a voice from my right calls my name, startling me out of my trance.
Turning, I look directly into a pair of gleaming green eyes beneath a perfectly even bob of blond hair.
Ashley Weisman stands across from me in her pencil skirt and oxford dress shirt with two too-many b.u.t.tons undone to be here for professional reasons.
"You"ve been avoiding my phone calls," she says evenly.
"Been busy." Huffing out a breath, I place my hand gently on her elbow and attempt to steer her toward the exit.
Stilettos planted firmly on the liquor-sticky floor, she purses her full mouth at me and glares into my eyes. "You can"t ignore me forever. I"m your attorney. Besides, what"s the rush, Gavin? Not even going to offer me a drink? What kind of bartender are you?"
"One who doesn"t have time for this right now. I"ll call you tomorrow."
I can"t explain it, but deep in my soul-if I have one that is-I know exactly who"s playing the piano behind me. I don"t know why she"s here, I don"t know if she knows I work here, and I sure as h.e.l.l don"t know if she"ll want to see me. What I do know is that she and Ashley cannot cross paths right now. Not yet. Not before I"ve told her everything.
"I think I"ll take the drink now, thank you very much." Twisting out of my reach, she hops up onto a barstool and steadily ignores the scowl on my face.
The music continues swirling around us and all I know is right now, I need to know who is playing that d.a.m.n piano.
Clenching my fists, I walk around behind the bar and wait for her to tell me what she wants.
"I"ll have a screaming o.r.g.a.s.m, please." Her eyes gleam and I meet her interested gaze with a dispa.s.sionate one. "Multiples, actually."
I barely suppress a loud sigh and grab the Bailey"s and a top shelf bottle of vodka. Once her drink is mixed I set it down in front of her.
"On the house. Feel free to take it and go."
A frown mars her attractive face. "I don"t think I"ve ever seen you in such a hurry to get rid of me. You have a hot date later?"
I can"t help it, I glance over toward the piano. The music speeds up and so does my heart rate. The notes call to me like a siren song and I know I won"t be able to keep myself from barreling over there for much longer.
"The piano player? I saw her when I came in. She"s pretty."
"You done?" I nod to a newbie barback named Jake to come get her empty gla.s.s and he does.
"Oh, I see," she says evenly, watching me carefully. "It"s her, isn"t it? The one you"re so eager to get your s.h.i.t together for, huh?"
"I need to get my s.h.i.t together regardless, Ashley. You know that. How about helping me do that instead of causing more trouble?"
Her lower lips thrusts out in a pout that irritates me. "But trouble is so much more fun."
Closing my eyes, I inhale through my nose and exhale out my mouth like the meetings have taught me. "Then go find some."