Learning to Breathe Again (32 page)

“
Actions speak louder,
Bayleigh! Last woman who told me that, I caught sleeping with one
of my therapists!” He grabbed the keycard off the desk. “I’ll get
another room for the night.”

“
Don’t bother! I’m leaving.
I won’t be with another man I can’t trust! Or who won’t trust me!”
Bayleigh clenched her hands into fists, her nails digging into her
palms.

“
Fine,” he paused at the
doorway. “Do you need cash for the room?”

“
If I did, I wouldn’t take
it from you!” her eyes narrowed. “I’ll be out of here in thirty
minutes or less.” Jack nodded and left the room.

Bayleigh closed her eyes and took a deep
breath, holding it for a few seconds, praying for calm. The tears
were threatening but she forced them back. If she started crying
now, she wouldn’t stop. He was supposed to be the one, damn it. The
one she could count on, the one to be there for her, right through
it all.

Opening them back up, she looked around the
hotel room. Luckily, she’d only unpacked her make-up and the
clothes she’d needed to change into to head to the sound check and
the show. Throwing everything back into her suitcase, she sent her
brother a text telling him she needed to come to their room for a
few minutes.

“
Hey, sis. What’s up?” Jason
opened their door and stepped back to let her enter. “Uh, why do
you have your suitcase?”

“
I’m leaving,” Bayleigh
looked over at Nicole. “I found out what Jack’s problem is. He
thinks I cheated on him.”

“
What? With who?”

“
Why would he think that?”
Jason and Nicole both asked at the same time.

Bayleigh held up her hand to stop them from
questioning her. “He tried to surprise me at the studio the other
day and saw me and Dusty in the parking lot. All Dusty did was kiss
my cheek, I swear!” Her voice cracked and she knew she was riding
that fine line between holding it together and spending the next
three days eating gallons of ice cream and crying. She pressed her
lips together and fought to hold it in, to hold it together for
just a little bit longer. “I just want to go home and pack. It’s
time for me to head to Nashville.”

“
I don’t think you should
drive that far tonight, honey. It’s late and we’ve already had a
long day.” Nicole stood up from the couch and walked to them.
“Let’s go down to the desk, see if there’s another room for the
night.”

Bayleigh shook her head. “We all drove here
together. I am not riding back to Waketon in the same car with
him.”

“
You can’t take a cab that
far, it’ll cost too much!” Jason pointed out.

“
I can rent a car. It won’t
cost that much. Or call Mitch or Paul to come get me. Or hell,
Brian would fly down to get me if I really needed him to, for that
matter, Jason. I have plenty of options,” Bayleigh paused to take a
deep breath and calm down. “I only stopped by so you wouldn’t freak
out in the morning. I won’t disappear on you, I promise. I’m only
going back to your place to pack and then to Nashville.”

“
That man needs to get his
head out of his ass. Let me guess, he’s got some issue from his
ex-fiancé playing into this, doesn’t he?” Nicole grabbed the
keycards off the desk, slipping one into her back
pocket.

Bayleigh sighed and nodded, wiping the tears
off her cheeks. “Yeah, it came up.”

Nicole nodded and gave her a hug. “I’m going
to go down to the bar and see if I can get to the bottom of this
fiasco for you. Hang in there and don’t give up on him just
yet!”

“
Well, he’s making it hard
not to, Nicole. I think I love him, but I can’t go through this
again.”

Nicole exchanged a look with Jason and then
nodded. “I’ll be in the bar,” she gave Bayleigh’s arm a reassuring
squeeze and her husband a quick kiss and then headed out the
door.

Jason looked at his sister, handing her a
couple of tissues from the box on the small table by the door. “So,
what do you want to do?”

Bayleigh shook her head. “Get the hell out of
here and as far away as possible from Jack, to start with. After
that, I don’t know,” her grip tightened on the handle of her
suitcase. “You should go get your wife out of the bar before she
and Jack wind up drinking each other under a table,” she tried to
offer her brother a smile.

“
You sure? I can help you
get another room,” Jason offered, holding the room door open for
her as the stepped back into the hallway.

“
I’m a big girl, Jason. Time
to start acting like one, I guess.”

Jason jammed his finger against the call
button for the elevator. “Well, you just say the word and I’ll take
the jackass out back and beat some sense into him. Mitch will
probably help me,” he grinned at her. “He never needs much of an
excuse to go at it with Jack.”

Bayleigh shook her head. “Right now, I just
want to escape. Fast and far,” she told him as the doors opened and
she stepped out, right into the solid chest of Dusty Rhodes.

“
Hey, girl! Where you headed
in such a hurry?” Dusty grabbed her elbows to steady her. “You
okay?” his voice dropped when he saw Bayleigh’s tear-streaked face
and the suitcase next to her. When Bayleigh didn’t answer him, he
quirked an eyebrow as he looked over at Jason. “Do you really want
me and your brother discussing your love life in front of you like
you’re not here? Because you know I’ll do it. You also know I’ll
call Maddie and put her on speaker phone, and she’ll call
Jade…”

“
Okay, stop already!”
Bayleigh grimaced and looked around the near-empty lobby. She
allowed Dusty to lead her over to a small alcove, while Jason
hovered nearby.

Dusty’s hand settled on her shoulder. “Now,
what’s going on with that man of yours?” he asked and when her
startled glance met his knowing look, he shrugged his broad
shoulders. “I saw how your guy kept glaring at me all night, and
now you’re down here with a suitcase, tearstains on your cheeks and
your brother looking ready to fight someone. It doesn’t take a
genius to figure it out, so go ahead and tell me what this idiot
has done.”

Bayleigh grimaced and leaned back against the
wall, tilting her head back to stare up at the skylight, avoiding
Dusty’s knowing look. “Jack and I had a big blow up when we got
back here tonight. He’s got some idea in his head that you and I
are, well, um…seeing each other.” Bayleigh felt her cheeks growing
warm as she said the words. She had never thought of Dusty in those
terms, ever. And even if she had, his wife would have scratched her
eyes out.

“
Well, hell.” Dusty glanced
over at Jason. “I’m guessing me going up to the room and telling
him that he’s mistaken wouldn’t be a good idea?”

“
Not with the amount of
whiskey he’s probably already ingested by this point,” Jason shook
his head with a grimace. “Nicole went to check on him in the bar
while I came down here with Bayleigh to figure out her next
steps.”

“
What is your next step?”
Dusty tilted his head to the side to study Bayleigh.

“
Rent a car so I can drive
to Waketon tonight so I don’t have to ride with Jack tomorrow,” she
mimicked his look. “Then pack up my stuff and get to Nashville so I
can start booking meetings with the publishing houses, sell my
music.”

“
So you’re serious about
getting the music out there?”

“
I told you the other day I
was,” Bayleigh nodded.

“
Then I have a solution for
you. Why don’t you and Crista drive out to Waketon tonight, get
yourself packed up and get back here by one o’clock tomorrow
afternoon and you can fly back to Nashville with me tomorrow? I’m
signing my deal with Liam tomorrow morning but will have it wrapped
up by noon. I’m taking the jet back to Nashville to spend some time
with Jade and the kids before the next leg of the tour kicks
off.”

“
Who’s Crista?” Jason
asked.

“
My personal assistant, kid
sister, all around nuisance and pain in the ass,” Dusty grinned.
“She just walked in the door,” he waved her over.

“
Oh, my God, Bayleigh! How
the hell are you? I haven’t seen you in forever!” Crista gave
Bayleigh a hug as she joined the group. “Sorry I didn’t get
backstage earlier to see you guys, but keeping this guy’s life in
order is a job and a half!”

“
I can imagine,” Bayleigh
hugged the younger woman back.

“
Speaking of jobs, I’ve got
one for you, Crista. Can you ride back to Bayleigh’s home, help her
pack up and be back her tomorrow in time to head to
Nashville?”

“
Uh, sure. Everything
okay?”

“
No one is coming after me,
if that’s what you mean. I just need to escape for a while,”
Bayleigh explained.

“
Well, let me head upstairs
and change into something more comfortable for driving in and we
can head out. You staying here, then, Dusty?”

“
Yup. Need my beauty sleep,”
he gave his sister a wink as she rolled her eyes.

“
Bayleigh, you sure this is
a good idea?” Jason placed his hand on his sister’s arm, pulling
her away from the siblings.

“
Do you have a better option
for me?” Bayleigh arched an eyebrow at her brother. “Crista and I
will go get my stuff together, I’ll head to Nashville, and Jack can
kiss my ass.”

“
Is that what you want me to
tell Jack?”

“
I don’t care what you tell
Jack. He made his decision when he walked out of that room tonight.
No, wait, he made his decision the other day when he didn’t talk to
me about what he thought he saw. I won’t stick around and pay for
the sins of others, Jason. I’ve been a doormat in a relationship
long enough. It’s time for the old Bayleigh to
reappear.”

“
I’ve missed the old
Bayleigh, but I have to say, this new one is a sight to behold,”
Jason gave her a quick hug. “Drive safe, text me when you get there
and again tomorrow before you head to Nashville. And for God’s
sake, don’t be a stranger!”

“
I promise, I won’t. I’ll
keep you posted!” she went up on tiptoes to press a kiss to her
brother’s cheek.

“
You coming with us,
Bayleigh?” Dusty asked from behind her, as he looped an arm around
his sister’s neck.

“
You’d better believe it!”
she stepped over beside Dusty, her arm slipping around his waist.
Before she stepped on the elevator, she glanced over at her brother
one last time. “I’ll be fine, you know. I’m a survivor.”

“
That you are,” he agreed,
with a nod. “Take care of her, Dusty.” Dusty lifted a hand in
acknowledgement, listening to details of some promotional deal
Crista was trying to work out.

Bayleigh could see the worry in her brother’s
eyes, but there was no way she could stay here right now. As she
gave her brother one last reassuring smile, the elevator doors
closed and she leaned her head back against the wall. She just
needed time and space to think. And living with Jason, who was
married to Nicole, who was Jack’s best friend and business partner,
was not going to give her that time and space.

No, she needed to do this. She needed to get
to Nashville and get her name and her music out there, get it
noticed. And she needed to do it on her own, prove to herself that
she had the talent and didn’t need to hang onto anyone’s coattails
to get anywhere. Namedropping might get some doors opened for her,
but if she didn’t have the talent to back it up, she wouldn’t get
far.

She’d hoped that after all of that she’d have
a life in Waketon to return to, to keep her grounded. Now it looked
like she’d have to find somewhere else to call home and something
else to ground her if she needed it.

Dusty glanced over at her as the elevator
arrived on their floor and they all stepped off. “You okay,
kid?”

“
I will be,” she nodded.
“Just trying to wrap my head around it all.”

“
Hey, if you want to crash
in my room for the night and then we can head out tomorrow morning
to get your stuff…” Crista started to offer.

“
No, I don’t want to chance
running into Jack at all tomorrow. He left his truck at Jason’s. I
think it’s best if we head out there tonight. It’s not far, only
about two hours really. And I just need to throw a few things in
the suitcase and grab my music. I only have what I could carry on
the plane from England. It’s not like it’s a lot.”

“
Call if you need anything,”
Dusty instructed his sister. “I’m calling Jade, so if I don’t
answer, call right back.”

“
Will do. See you in the
morning,” Crista called over her shoulder as she motioned Bayleigh
to follow her down the hallway. “They have most of the band and
crew on this floor. Since Dusty was in town all week, the guys have
been out partying most nights. And they don’t have another show
until Wednesday, so they’re all out experiencing
Austin.”

“
I appreciate this, Crista.”
Bayleigh told her as they entered Crista’s room.

“
No worries. Let me change
and we can head out,” Crista grabbed some clean clothes out of her
own suitcase and headed for the bathroom. “Make yourself
comfortable for a few minutes.”

Bayleigh eased herself down on the couch in
the room and rested her head against the cushions. Her life sure
had a way of going from sugar to shit in a heartbeat, and she was
getting tired of it. It was time to stand up, dust herself off, and
make her own destiny.