A Slow Burning Fire (16 page)

Arial snorted. “I'll be right down. Tell him it should only be another minute.”

Her sister disappeared from the doorway, leaving Arial alone. Taking in a deep breath, Arial gave herself a last once-over in the mirror. “Here goes nothin'.”

She walked down the stairs with an extra bounce in her step. The moment her gaze settled on Bryce, her heart started to pound. She didn't know if it was because of how nervous she was, or simply because he seemed to have that kind of effect on her. He offered his arm to her and escorted her out the front door and to the Henderlites’ car.

“Running errands with you is always so much more fun than going on my own,” he said.

She shrugged. “I tend to make everything a lot more interesting.”

“If only you knew…”

“Oh?”

He shook his head and got the door for her before going around to the driver's side. As soon as they were buckled in, he started the car and off they went. Going to town wasn't a long drive, but she enjoyed every moment she shared with him. His soft singing along to the radio with the wind blowing through the open windows made her feel like a teenager all over again. Or rather, the teenager she never got to be.

Bryce parked the car on Main Street and once more got her car door before she could even reach for the handle. He'd always been a gentleman, but this was new even for him. For a brief moment, their gazes met and they shared a small smile. His attention wavered quickly, however, and when she followed where he was looking, she noticed the large banners hanging between two businesses.

“What's Glory Days?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

She smiled, admiring the simple black banner decorated with a colorful assortment of balloons. “The annual town fair. It happens every summer. I forgot that was starting next week.”

“Town fair? Places still do those?”

“Yes.” She laughed. “I seem to remember going to one with you once upon a time.”

“That was a county fair, and that was on the outskirts of town in Nowheresville and…” He looked around him. “Okay, never mind. This place is more in the middle of nowhere than the last one. I suppose it would have a fair.”

Arial folded her arms in front of her and raised an eyebrow. “You’re talking an awful lot like a city boy now.”

He held his hands in front of him defensively. “I didn't mean it to come out like that!”

“Mm-hmm.” She winked at him, grabbing hold of his hand. “Relax, Bryce. It's exciting for me, too. I haven't been to a town fair in a long time. The last time I was home for one, I can't say I got to enjoy much of it anyway. I spent a lot of time lurking in the shadows.”

“How mysterious.”

“Hush, I had just gotten into a nasty fight with Nadine. This was about when I was sixteen. I was kind of a temperamental teenager.”

He laughed. “Kind of?”

Arial gave his arm a firm smack. “I'll admit there was a moment I had a severe lapse in judgment and acted like one of those entitled child stars. I felt like I deserved more than being here, so I sulked the whole time. When I was little, I remember it being something I enjoyed so much. Now I feel all kinds of awful that I looked on it in such a negative way.”

Bryce nodded, his gaze going back to the colorful balloons surrounding the banner. “Good thing that was only a stage. You grew out of it, and now you can go back to making good memories again. Because we are going to this shindig and havin' a good ol' time. I'm gonna win you a giant teddy bear and everything.”

“Not quite that fancy, but I accept your challenge,” she said.

They made their way down Main Street. Each shop they passed had an advertisement for the fair and some kind of sale happening for that week. On the windows of the music store was a sign that especially caught her eye.

“’Talent show. Sign up inside and show us what you got,’” she read aloud.

“Hmm?” Bryce's eyebrows rose. “Talent show? You should totally do it. Sing one of your own songs, or something.”

“No way. That would be an unfair advantage.” She pointed down toward the bottom of the bright pink poster. “There are going to be judges and cash prizes. It wouldn't be right.”

With a shrug, Bryce brushed past her and entered the store. She followed after him and stopped in the doorway when she saw him writing on the sign-up sheet.

“Um, what are you doing?” she demanded.

“Putting our names down,” he said. “We can do a duet. It'll be fun.”

She shook her head. “No.”

His gaze locked onto hers. His eyes were more green than olive, more piercing than usual. “Why not? When was the last time either of us performed just because we wanted to? Just because we loved to be on stage. It's been since high school for me. What about you? Do you even remember what that feels like?”

Arial averted her gaze, no longer able to handle the way it made her so warm inside her stomach. She stared at her name next to his on the paper, at how right they looked together even in writing, and the bubbles began to replace the warmth. They'd never sung together before in public.

“It would be fun,” she whispered. “But it wouldn't be fair to everyone else.”

“Then I'll just write down that we're going to be special celebrity guests,” he said and jotted a quick note next to their names. “I'll call whoever is running the contest and we'll set something up.”

“That'll attract a lot of attention,” she pointed out.

He sighed. “I know, but it might be a good thing. After all, I can't hide forever, and the buzz could help the town. It wouldn't be hard to drop off the radar again after doing one show.”

For a moment, she raked her lower lip between her teeth as she mulled over the idea. “This is kind of crazy.” She shook her head. “Okay, we'll do it. We can make a thing of it. I just hope it doesn't come back to bite me.”

“I think it'll help with the animosity, but just say the word and you can scratch it out.” He held the pen out toward her.

“You're right, we should do this.” The wild pounding of fear inside her chest told her otherwise. One thing she’d learned many times was that if she had never taken risks, she would have missed out on some of the most rewarding experiences of her life.
This could be another one.

Bryce clapped a hand on her back and went about getting the necessary details from the store clerk. She was smiling, but her whole body was shaking. What if the town thought she was only trying to show off some more? Her performing in a talent show would attract local and statewide media attention. Bryce doing it with her could possibly bring in national broadcasters and photographers. The last time the paparazzi had come to Gloriana, the town treated her and her family coldly. Arial wouldn't be there much longer, but it was still her family's home. She didn't want them to suffer on account of her.

****

Once Bryce acquired the phone number for the contest organizer, he led the way out of the store. He noticed Arial was shivering despite the heat of a rather gorgeous summer day. Frowning, he put his arms around her, holding her from behind, to offer up as much warmth as he could provide. Perhaps even comfort because he wasn't so sure she was shivering because of the temperature.

“Let's go to the grocery store,” he suggested. “You said you needed to pick up a few things from there. Mama Henderlite asked me to grab some stuff for her, too. We should also get something to celebrate with.”

They walked into the grocery store, and he smiled as the scent of fresh produce filled his nostrils. He grabbed a cart for them to share. Shopping for food had been one of his favorite pastimes with his mother, back when he was younger. Getting to do it with Arial brought back a lot of the same sensations of warm security he tried to hold onto from his past. With how quaint and laid back the town was, that added to the moment. The aisles in the store were a bit more cramped than what he remembered back in California, and that detail alone made the store all the more charming.

She looked up at him with slightly wide eyes, as though she were lost. The raw emotions she presented to him were too much to take at times. When she was in any kind of distress, the only thing he wanted to do was fix things and make her sure of herself again. She deserved that just as much as anyone else. Every time she mentioned anyone giving her grief for being herself and pursuing the desires of her heart, he had to push aside his anger. Who were they to crush the dreams of such an amazing young woman? What made her unworthy of having those desires come to pass?

****

Arial took in a deep breath, determined to calm herself. “What are we celebrating exactly?”

“Being passionate again,” he said. “There's something special about remembering why you love something. Don't you think?”

“Yes,” she agreed. She felt it all the time every moment the two of them spent together. Each day she learned something new about him and fell harder. Did he even realize she thought about him that way? She picked up the spaghetti noodles she would need for her dinner and glanced up at him.

Clearing her throat, Arial decided to take a leap. “I was thinking tonight we could do dinner.” Hopefully, it came off as casual and not desperate. He smiled at her in response. That had to be a good sign. They continued to gather up everything they needed.

“I like dinner. It is one of my favorite things to do. Being with you would be an added bonus,” he said.

“Then I'll cook something up, and you can come by around six.”

They pushed up to a cashier, and she started to unload the cart. When she noticed how Bryce wasn't helping, she was a little taken aback. He was always a gentleman. What was wrong? When she noticed how pale and expressionless his face had become, she knew her worries weren't unfounded.

****

“Katie Daniels finds new love with Hunter Riley. Details on their secret five-month affair on page fifty-two.”
The headline was in big bold letters over a picture of Katie, Bryce's ex-girlfriend, locking lips with her rather dreamy co-star from her new movie. They were in Hawaii, wearing bathing suits, and looking awfully comfortable with one another. Too comfortable for his taste, and it disgusted him. Dirty was the other feeling to wash over him, because it didn't take rocket science for him to put together the obvious.

“She cheated on me,” he whispered. His hands clenched at his side for a second before he decided to help Arial unload the cart.

Arial's eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”

He tossed a copy of the magazine onto the counter. “She cheated on me.” And sure enough, underneath the huge picture and headline was a small image of him drunk from the after party.
“Bryce Valentine's reaction and heartbreaking plea.”

Arial picked up the magazine. “Don't believe this filth. You know better than that.”

“It makes sense.” Things had been different for a while. Her seeing another man might have been the reason behind the distance between them. He shook his head. “I don't want to talk about this here. I shouldn't have brought it up.”

She touched his arm gently. “You don't have to apologize. We can talk about it more over dinner and —”

“No,” he said. “Let's wait on that. Rain check for tomorrow night or something.” His stomach was in too many knots to even think about eating. “I need to go back home and think about all of this for tonight. We'll talk about it all tomorrow. I promise.”

****

Defeated, Arial nodded. “Okay, tomorrow. When you say home, you mean… here, right? At the Henderlites’, not L.A.?”

“Yeah, here. Home,” he said.

She let out a sigh of relief. “Tomorrow.” But all of the courage she had mustered up for her date was now gone. Clearly, he was still in love with Katie.

Chapter Fourteen

Bryce knew it was a bad idea, but he bought the magazine and read through the entire article — three times. He found every detail, analyzed it, and tried to sort through the facts and the exaggerations. One thing he knew for certain: if he didn't call Katie and talk to her, he would never know anything.

He swallowed, picking up his cell phone so he could dial her number. Practicality kept it in his address book even though the first thing he had wanted to do was delete it from his memory. When the breakup had first happened, he’d called her at least once a day trying to find answers. Bryce finally realized he wouldn't be getting any after about a week of vague and cryptic statements and rushed conversations. Almost two months had passed, so maybe she would finally be ready to give them to him.

Eyes closed, he selected her name on the screen and listened to the sound of ringing from the other line.
Slow, deep breaths. Remember to breathe. Don't let her own you.

It took less time than he thought for her to pick up.

“B-Bryce, hi,” she said. It amazed him at how strange it was to hear her voice again, something he used to live for. A lot had changed in a short time.

He took his time answering, so he could find the best way to word everything without letting his anger take over. “Hi.”

“What's going on? I mean, why did you call? Not that I don't mind hearing from you, but we haven't spoken for a while, so I'm a little surprised. Our last conversation didn’t go too well either.”

“I don't think this one is going to go much better,” he mumbled.

She didn't say anything for a few seconds. “Look, you'll always have a special place in my heart, but I meant it when I said this isn't going to work out and —”

“No,” he said sharply. “I've come to the same conclusion you have. After our last talk, I realized that our relationship wasn't exactly healthy, let alone all too loving. It should have ended a while ago. I guess what I want to know is, why didn't it? Especially since you've apparently been screwing around behind my back.”

“So you saw the magazine… that's what this is about.”

“It's about getting what I need so I can move on with my life. You know I hate being surrounded by questions. Please, just tell me the truth. You've moved on, and you owe it to me to do the same without all of these unresolved cliffhangers.” He exhaled slowly. “Is it true? What the tabloid said, I mean. Have you been seeing him for five months?”