Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 81401 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81401 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
“Levi Austin.” I feel as if this is a formality.
“Ms. Phillips, I have a Mr. Austin in the lobby. Yes, ma’am.” The desk clerk hangs up. I’m waiting for her to smile, but she doesn’t, and that pit in my stomach is slowly turning into a crater. “You can have a seat over there,” she says, pointing behind me. “Ms. Phillips will be right down.”
She’ll be down but didn’t ask the receptionist to send me to her room. I sigh and run my hand over my hair. Each step toward the couches is painful, and I opt to wait outside under the stars and the warmth of what’s left over from the sun.
“Levi.” Her voice rips through me like shards of glass. I turn slowly to find the woman I’m head over heels for stalking toward me. Her arms wrap around my waist, and her head buries between my arm and chest.
My reaction is immediate. I pull her as tightly as I can, holding her in the vice grip my arms have become. I refuse to think this is the last time I get to do this with her. It’s minutes later that she’s pulling away. The look on her face doesn’t match the feelings I have about the hug. She takes my hand and leads me around the side where there’s a patio, lit by lanterns, and casting a romantic glow.
We sit, across from each other, and I instantly want to leave. “What’s goin' on, Zara?” I reach for her hands, as she gives them to me willingly. “I’m really confused here.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I was ambushed. After I texted you, my phone died so I couldn’t call you and tell you that I needed help.”
“What do you mean?”
Zara shakes her head. “Let me start over. Hayden and Freddie were not in an accident. I got off the plane, and everything went to shit very fast. Van was in the limo. He checked himself out of rehab and just kept talking about giving him a second chance. As soon as we got here, I knew that the accident was a ploy to get me to California, and away from you.”
“So you’re not back together with Van?”
“Hell no!” she says rather loudly. “I want nothing to do with him, at all, which brings me to why I’m here. You see, the guys, not Darian, set this up to corner me. The band's manager from the label and my agent are also here, waiting for me to sign. . .”
“Sign what?” I ask.
“To sign over my interest in Reverend Sister or sign an affidavit that I will cease all communications with you. The label says you’re bad for my image, that sales are down and it’s because of our relationship.”
I sit back, stunned by this revelation. I’m unable to make eye contact with her right now as the feeling sinks in that we’re done. Her career means the world to her, and I can’t compete with that.
“So, I guess that’s it, huh?”
“I. . .” she looks at me as tears start to fall.
epilogue
There’s a soft melody, a chorus of sounds that are drifting through the house. It’s mixed with music, laughter, and nature. I smile at the people gathered in my home right now, waiting for me to make an appearance.
The woman who stares back at me looks nothing like I’m used to. Gone are the purple ends that I’ve had for so long, along with the platinum locks that have followed since my career took off. Now my hair is blonde with low-lights of brown mixed in.
I never thought I’d be the one to make a change, but over the past year, my life has been a whirlwind of changes. Some good, while others have been heartbreaking and shattered my resolve more times than I want to count. But today is going to be different.
The door opens, and my mother steps in. She’s dressed in a lavender dress that rests on her knees. She smiles, but quickly covers her mouth as I twirl in front of her.
This time around my dress is different. As much as I love being the belle of the ball, I opted for a champagne-colored sheath dress that sits off my shoulders, to go with my purple and cream-colored roses.
“Levi is going to. . . well that man will fall more in love with you than he already is,” my mom says.
It's hard to imagine my life without Levi and the girls. The day I was given the ultimatum to choose him over the band, the decision was easy.
After spending time with them, and becoming a family, my life is here. This is where I am meant to be. I couldn't have signed my name any faster than I did that day. My only regrets were I didn't leave right away and fly back to Nashville, which worked out because my hero came to save me anyway, and for not talking to Darian about it.