Nashville by Heart: A Novel (17 page)

“I
wonder if I’ll ever see him again.”

“Do
you want to?”

She
shrugged. “If so, he’d better have a good excuse for what he did to me and my
mom.” She reached up and grasped his hands, pulled them down around her so that
he was now hugging her from behind.

“But
yeah,” she said, after some thought. “I guess I might want to see him,
someday.” Admitting it out loud made her feel better than hiding it. She was
mad at him, but after all that had happened, she’d been thinking about him
more. In her heart of hearts, she guessed she’d always wanted a second chance.

“You
don’t have to hang that back up,” Will told her.

“It’s
your Grammy. This picture should be on the wall. Besides, this picture has to
be a sign. It’s as if we’ve been connected for a long time. We just didn’t know
it.”

He
spun her around to face him. “Thank you for letting me into your life,
Gillian.”

Her
breath caught. Was this going to be it?

“Of
course,” she said. “Thank you for going to Gold Creek Gap to get me. It meant a
lot to me,

and
it meant a lot to Momma. She didn’t want me to give up on my dream. It’s her
dream too, you know.”

“I
hope she knows I’ll take good care of you.”

“You
are so sweet, Will Adams. How did I ever get lucky enough to find you?”

“It’s
not you who’s lucky. It’s me. Heck, I used to be like your dad, but you’re
changing me, woman.” He planted a soft kiss behind her ear.

“Into
what?”

“Into
a man who loves a woman so much that he brought her out here.”

Her
heart somersaulted. “I have a hard time believing you wouldn’t have ever
brought a woman home, Will.”

He
laughed. “I’m not talking about that kind of taking home, darlin’. I’m talking
about bringing a woman here, to my home.”

“What
about Audrey?”

“I
told you, she has someone, but I wouldn’t have brought her here anyway.”

“The
woman you were practically engaged to?”

“I
was never going to marry her, and I already told you we had an apartment in
town.”

“So
nobody?” she asked.

“I
promise you, I’ve never brought any woman here before except my mother, and of
course Dorothy, who insists on bringing me her husband’s leftover dinner in
little containers. Sometimes I forget to eat.”

“Hence
the stinky fridge.”

“Exactly.”

She
laid her cheek against his chest, wrapping her arms around his waist.

“I’d
love nothing more than if you lived here with me,” he said.

Even
though his words should have made her happy, her heart fell. He only wanted her
to be his girlfriend and live with him. He wasn’t the marrying type.

“I’m
not a gold digger, Will. I don’t need to live here to date you.”

“Well,
that’s good. Because I’m not offering you an allowance, darlin’. If anything,
you’re going to be giving me one if your career takes off like I think it will,
Miss Record Deal.”

“Stop
tempting me to live with you!” She threw her arms out to her side, laughing to
cover up her hurt. “It’s all just so much. It’s a fairytale, Will. It is so
cliché! If I move in with you, my whole life has become a cliché.”

And
all my dreams of having the fairytale husband, home and family will be over.

“What’s
so bad about that? It can be your fairytale.”

“I
like fairytales,” she said. “But I think our ideas of fairytales are
different.”

“I
dare you to find out,” he said. “I want you here with me, every day.”

She
walked from the room, twirling back into the kitchen. “This is a castle
compared to the house I grew up in. I don’t even know what I’d do here.”

I
would decorate it and make it homey is what I’d do.

He
waggled his eyebrows. “I can think of a few things
we
could do.”

Most
of her friends would think she was crazy not to move into a place like Will’s.
If she did, maybe it would turn into marriage, eventually. She’d heard of
plenty of people who’d done it that way, and it worked for them.

“You
know what, Will Adams? You’re crazy.”

“But
you said I’m your kind of crazy.” He smiled broadly, flashing those gleaming
white teeth in that amazingly handsome face, and her heart fluttered in her
chest. It almost felt like a fairytale.

Almost.
At least she’d have Prince Charming.

“Has
anyone ever told you how much you look like Keith Urban?”

“What?
That scrub?”

“Well,
you’re better,” she said. “But that’s what all my girlfriends say about you.”

“That’s
funny,” he chuckled. “Come here.”

She
walked across the kitchen where he stood at the counter. He lifted her up on
the surface until they were eye level.

“Listen,
darlin’. I don’t know what’s wrong with me since we met, but I’ve been thinking
crazy things.”

“About
what?”

“This
house. My life. Even the stupid manly decorations in my room. It looks like a
bull rider lives in there.”

“It
is pretty macho,” she agreed, wondering what he was getting at. His mixed
signals were driving her mad. All the talk about her being there, but no
proposal. No hint at a ring or anything.

“And
I don’t want to be out here by myself forever,” he said. “I’ve been thinking—”

The
doorbell reverberated throughout the house.

“Saved
by the bell.” She hopped down from the counter, grabbed her purse and jogged to
the door. “Hold that thought. I’m starving.”

She
was digging in her purse for change to hand the pizza guy when Will reached
over her with a couple of bills. The guy took them and left.

“I
could’ve paid for it.”

“I
know, but you’re my guest.” He carried the pizza box over to the counter and
flipped it open. He took out the biggest piece and took a huge bite, stringing
cheese all over the place.

“Save
some for me! It smells so good.”

He
handed her a slice, and they both sat on the counter top, the pizza between
them, talking and eating until there were only two slices left. She teased him
about putting it in the fridge. “Don’t let that go bad.”

“I
can’t promise that.” He reached for a small rack on the counter. “You like
merlot, right?”

“I’m
really a chardonnay girl, but I’ll drink whatever you have.” She watched him
pull a bottle from a small wine fridge, pop the cork, and pour two glasses a
third of the way full. He handed her one.

“To
finding somebody to love.” He held up his glass.

“Isn’t
that a song?” She clinked her glass with his.

“Probably.
Almost anything can be a song, right?”

“So,
let’s go write one.”

“Right
now?”

“Right
now, in that big studio of yours.”

“Talk
about cliché.”

Will
had started out as a songwriter. Later he’d become a manager because he was a
good businessman, but his heart was always on the music side. He’d built the
studio in hopes of going back to songwriting someday, and now he couldn’t
believe he was sitting in his own studio writing a song, let alone with the
beautiful woman he was in love with.

How
could life get any better?

Of
course, he knew how it could, but he couldn’t get Gillian to stay on topic long
enough to tell her his plans, to see if she wanted to be part of them.

“Nope,
nope,” she said, interrupting his thoughts. “Wrong chord. It’s like this, see?”

She
strummed a chord and sang a few lines. It was pretty, like her, but something
bugged him about it. He picked a few additional notes on his own guitar.

“What
about that?”

“OK.
Let’s try it from the top.”

They
played in perfect tune with each other, Gillian sounding and looking beautiful
as she sang the lyrics of a song about a couple so crazy about each other they
got married in a Las Vegas chapel.

“You
know this song has been written before.”

“Yeah,
but not like this,” he said, adding a new line that nearly made her laugh out
of her chair.

She
set her guitar on a nearby stand and picked up her mostly empty glass. “This is
so fun, Will. This is the best date ever.”

“Is
this a date?” He sat his own guitar down and drained his glass. He wanted it to
be a hell of a lot more than a date.

“What
else would it be?” Her gorgeous smile made him want to kiss her, again.
Thoughts of the night in the back of his truck, and how ready she’d been to
give herself to him, made him restless. Not that making love to her was the
main thing he wanted, though. He wanted it all.

He
shrugged. “Seems familiar. Like we’ve been doing this forever, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah.
I guess it does. I like it.”

He
walked over to the sound system and flipped on a track. “But the only bad thing
about it is, I can’t dance with you when we’re both holding guitars.” He held
his hand out, hoping to make her fairytale complete.

She
stepped into his arms, and he realized he was turning into a total sap since
he’d met Gillian. He wanted them to be like this forever. He wanted to give her
the freedom to build her confidence as a singer, to be whoever she wanted to
be, but he wanted to protect her heart too.

“I
want to take care of you, Gillian.” They were swaying to a slow song, wrapped
in each other’s arms. She didn’t say anything at first, and he started to
sweat.

Damn
it, he thought. Why did he say that?

“I
think I do a pretty good job taking care of myself.”

“You
do,” he said. “But I want to care of you, and you to take care of me.
Together.”

“Now
who’s the old-fashioned one?” she asked.

And
that was his cue. Throwing every ounce of pride he’d carried his whole life off
to the side, he dropped to one knee.

~~~~

Gillian
gasped. Was he doing what she thought? She nearly stuffed her fist in her mouth
to keep from crying.

“This
is crazy, Will. It’s too soon.” But a part of her didn’t care how long they’d
been together; the biggest part of her didn’t care at all.

He
pulled a ring, not a box, but a ring out of his pocket. It made her laugh to
think he’d been carrying that around.

“This
was my mom’s,” he explained. “My dad got her a new one, and so she gave this to
me, hoping I might need it someday. I never believed I would.”

“Oh,
my gosh, Will.” Tears gathered in her eyes.

“I
know we only met a few months ago, and that I’m absolutely crazy to be asking
you this, but I’m crazy in love with you. Marry me, Gillian Heart.”

The
trembling started, and he must have remembered it from the record deal
contract, because he quickly shoved a stool underneath her. She couldn’t help
it though. Even if she’d been hoping for it all day, he’d caught her completely
by surprise. She knew he wanted her to move in, and he’d teased about forever,
but holy cow. Get married?

It
was all she could do to keep from crying out, yes, a million times yes. She
finally found her voice.

“My
momma would kill me.”

He
shook his head. “I expected that would be your first response, but she pulled
me aside and gave me a talk when I was at your house. I think it will be OK
with her.”

~~~~

He
trembled slightly at the memory of the conversation in which Louise had told
him he better not mess with her daughter’s heart. She told him Gillian was a
forever kind of girl who deserved to be treated like a lady, and if he hurt her
in any way, he’d be sorry. Then she’d gone on to tell him how crazy her
daughter was about him. It’d blown him away. He’d been sweating bullets too,
since only a few hours earlier he’d been about to make love to her for the
first time in the bed of his pickup truck. Not that it wouldn’t be a sexy thing
to do another time, he mused, but first, she deserved a little romance.

~~~~

Gillian
couldn’t imagine her momma saying such a thing. She was protective, and she had
experience to back up why she was.

“Yep,”
Will said. “I promise you, she did.”

“Momma
knows?”

“Yes,”
he said. “She did tell me I’m too reckless. But she said you were a little bit
wild too, even though you hide it behind your shyness, and that maybe the two
of us together might be crazy enough to make it work.”

She
smiled, her heart about to explode with happiness.

“Oh.
And she also said she’d kick my ass into next year if I ever hurt you.”

“Momma
doesn’t even curse.”

“I
guess she does if she has a reason.”

She
laughed at that. “Oh my, oh, Will.” She grasped his shoulders. “Really?”

“You’re
killing me again. So what is it? Yes or no?”

“Yes!”
she exclaimed. “Of course!” She held out her hand and almost fainted as he
slipped on a diamond so shiny she needed sunglasses. She held her hand out to
stare at it, gasping for breath.

“This
was your mother’s?”

He nodded.
“Does that mean you like it?”

“It’s
gorgeous.” And it was. It was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen.

“Not
as gorgeous as you.” He pulled her close, kissing her long and passionately,
lifting her off her feet and carrying her over to the swanky studio couch.

He
smoothed her hair from her forehead. “Are you OK? You’re a little pale.”

She
smiled, wanting him to know she was perfectly fine and the happiest she’d ever
been in her life.

“Come
here.” She pulled him against her on the couch, sliding her fingers into his
hair. She loved to do that. “Now kiss me like you did a minute ago.”

The
touch of his lips set her on fire, and she kissed him back with a desire that
had been growing inside her all day long.

With
some effort, she pulled away. “So you want to be with me forever?”

“I
told you back in Gold Creek Gap I’d give you forever, and I meant it.”

“That’s
good, because if I let you do what I want you to, it’s going to have to be
forever.”

She
saw the hunger in his eyes, and he eagerly bent to kiss her mouth, her neck,
his hands caressing her until she was ready to give him anything. Finally, she
knew he would never leave her. He was the one. Her forever.

She
was tugging at his shirt, wanting to touch him too, when all of a sudden he sat
up.

“What
is it? Is something wrong?”

He
sighed in exasperation.

“Yes.
No. I don’t know.”

“What?”

He
smiled. “It’s a reckless idea, but it just might work.”

“What
might work?”

“What
if I told you,” Will said, “that we could take care of
this
tonight?” He
indicated them and their rumpled clothes. “And you can have your fairytale
too?”

“You
just gave me my fairytale.” She held out her ring for inspection. “What are you
talking about?”

He
strode across the room and grabbed his guitar.

“What
are you doing?”

“Listen.”
He shook his head, smiling to himself, then started again. “This is going to
sound corny.”

“It
already does,” she teased.

“Bear
with me.”

“OK.”
She pulled her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. She had no
idea what he was trying to do, but it had better be good after interrupting her
in her throes of abandoned passion with her someday husband. She hoped their
engagement wouldn’t be too long. Just enough to plan the wedding, but not
years, like some of her friends.

He
started playing again. It was the song they’d just written. She laughed, having
no idea what he was doing.

“You’re
silly.” But he ignored her and kept singing.

He
had a nice country voice, and she wondered if he’d ever wanted to be a singer,
and not just a songwriter or an agent. Their song was fun and romantic, a
little on the silly side, and the second time through, he sang it with gusto,
changing the words here and there, but when he reached the punch line where the
boy and girl run off to a Vegas chapel, he put extra emphasis on “Little
Nashville Chapel,” and let the note resonate across the room.

She
crunched her eyebrows. “What?”

“You
know. Nashville has at least one of those all night wedding chapels, like in
Vegas. Remember?” He winked.

“So
you want to change the song to Nashville? Isn’t that an Elvis-themed chapel
you’re talking about?”

Will
turned red, and she wondered what was going on. Then it hit her.

“Oh,”
she said quietly, and then as his meaning grew clearer, she exclaimed, “OH!”

He
nodded, sang the lick again. “What do you say? Wanna get hitched tonight?”

She
laughed. “Are you kidding?”

He
kept playing softly. “I’m serious.”

“You’re
crazy.”

“I
already told you I’m crazy about you, darlin’.” He waggled his eyebrows
playfully, and his blue eyes twinkled.

She
had to admit the idea charmed her. “But I want an old-fashioned wedding.”

He
kept playing the guitar, musical notes dancing between them like background
music to their act.

“Let’s
skip the engagement. We can swing by The Sweetest Tea and pick up Tasha and
June to be witnesses. I’ll call Dorothy and her husband. She’ll be fighting mad
if we don’t invite them. Come on, Gillian. Let’s be crazy.”

“Our
friends will think we’ve lost our heads.”

“Maybe,
but I don’t care. You’re the only girl I want. Why wait?” He stopped playing,
and she saw that his eyes were filled with warmth and meaning. “I want to spend
my whole life with you. If that’s crazy, then I am.”

He
reached for her hand and squeezed it tight. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s do it.”

She
couldn’t believe this was moving so quickly, but she had to admit the
recklessness of it was exciting. What if she threw caution to the wind? Would
her momma be hurt if she didn’t get to plan a great big wedding?

He
tugged on her hands. “Let’s go.”

“But
what about Momma? You didn’t tell her about this part.”

He
paused, probably remembering how she’d wanted her momma so badly at the
contract signing. And this was a ton more important.

“No,
I didn’t tell her about this part, but it’s probably better to wait until
afterward. Moms kind of put a damper on one-stop weddings.” He pretended to
wince. “Dampens the romance too.”

She
grinned, her eyes flirty. “If we do this, I’m definitely making you wait until
our wedding night.”

“Then
we’d better hurry up, before I ruin your plan.” He leaned forward and kissed
her with renewed meaning.

She
giggled, a surge of joy rippling through her. “We’re doing this?”

He
propped the guitar on its stand and pulled her close. “If you really want the
big wedding, I’ll take you back to your apartment right now, and we’ll set a
date. Or… we could get married tonight. However you want to do this, I’m OK.
But why wait? We can do what we want. It’s our life.”

She
laughed. “This is crazy stuff.”

“And
if it makes you feel better, we’ll have a great big reception later in Gold
Creek Gap. The fanciest thing you ever did see. Louise will love it.”

“This
is real.” She felt the seriousness of it settle over her, not uncomfortable,
but it definitely had weight. “This is forever, Will. Are we ready for that?”