Page 71 of Rival Hearts

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But I want to try.”

Last night, after she’d fallen asleep draped across me, I’d wondered if I’d been running from my feelings for her the whole time. Perhaps I’d spent the last twelve years restlessfor her, not for places or experiences. Her absence had made me roam. All along what I’d been seeking had been in Little Falls; I just hadn’t known how to get her back, get this feeling back. Honestly, I’d never even considered it a possibility.

“Well,” Kelvin said, tossing his bunched-up sandwich wrapper toward the garbage can and missing. “Until you get whatever this is worked out with her, I say we keep the campaign running in a low-key mode. Status quo.”

“Yeah, okay. You got some shit for me to take home to read?”

Kelvin pointed to a stack on the edge of the desk. “You still going to do that? Low-key means we’re kinda giving up without giving up.”

With a shrug, I rose and grabbed the stapled stack from the corner of the desk. “I figure one way or another, I’m going to end up involved in mayor business. Maybe I can actually be helpful to Maggie going forward instead of the thorn in her side.”

“You’re growing up, man. Right before my eyes. Course, I always knew if anyone could make a guy strive for their potential, it was Maggie.” Kelvin walked me to the front door.

The truth of his statement struck me. Maggie’s influence had been tremendous for both me and Trent. She’d taught Trent to read and had inadvertently given him the confidence to build a business. An illegal one, sure, but it had been something Trent had felt proud of. Now, she was inspiring me to write again. She was the key to this flood of creativity. If I managed to string together enough songs, this album would be the opposite of my first one. Where the first had been a diatribe against her, this one would be a love letter.

God, I’d been such a fool.

As I walked toward her pharmacy, I was determined to deliver a coffee and gauge how she was feeling about last night. There was no doubt in my mind about how I felt.

My phone vibrated, yanking me back to the present. My agent. For once, I didn’t want to avoid his call. I hoped Jack would ask the dreaded question. Maybe I’d tell him I’d started writing for myself again. The dam had broken. Not that Jack knew there’d been a dam.

“Jack,” I said. “Got work for me?”

“I do.” His self-conscious laugh traveled the phone line. “Not sure how you’re going to feel about it. The label wants you to come to LA for a producing gig. It’ll be a trial of sorts. You prove yourself here, you’ll get more work, more opportunities.”

I stopped walking. The leaves on the trees had turned from green to shades of gold, red, and brown, and were falling around me. October was a pretty time of year to be in Little Falls, which was one of the things I’d missed on my travels. There was nothing quite like the fall colors. I’d pulled this seasonal vibe into a song this morning—the reddish-brown leaves reminded me of Maggie’s hair. “When do they want an answer?”

“As soon as possible. Don’t they always. You can take a week or so, if you want. I can hold them off that long. You’d probably need to be in LA for six months to a year, start to finish. You do well, maybe another stretch after.”

“Six months to a year,” I repeated as the wind whipped past, stirring the leaves at my feet. My gut reaction was to say ‘yes.’ I hadn’t been back to LA since myCenter Stagedays, and it’d be fun to explore the city again. For once in my life, I couldn’t think only of myself. “I’ll need the whole week. I gotta talk this through with a few people.”

“Putting down roots already?” There was surprise in his voice. “This about the mayor thing?”

“Something like that.” I ran my free hand through my hair and walked toward Maggie’s pharmacy. Before I said anything to her, I needed to know where I stood on this opportunity. Today didn’t feel like a good day for life-changing decisions.

If Maggie was as tired as I was, she’d appreciate a coffee and not the added complication. We were sorting out our differences, and whether I wanted this job wasn’t a discussion we needed to have today. Maybe not for a few days. We needed time before I sprung this on her. The job complicated everything, but I couldn’t deny that I wanted it.

“Look, Grady. I’m not trying to pressure you, but I want you to understand exactly what this offer means. You’ll have a lot more freedom and control down the road. More money, obviously. Your old label is the only one asking. If you turn this down, I can’t guarantee you’ll get this opportunity again anytime soon, maybe never.”

“Nothing in New York?” At least there, I’d be a few hours from Little Falls by car rather than across the country by plane.

“I asked. I knew you’d prefer it there. That’s not what they’re offering. Not right now.”

I sighed and looked up at the clear blue sky. The wind came up the street in a whoosh, rustling the leaves and reminding me that winter was coming. I hadn’t missed the deluge of New York snow. The changing weather also meant the election was coming to a close. At the start of November, the town would be headed to the polls. This offer would give me a better reason to withdraw.

“I’ll let you know as soon as I get my head wrapped around exactly what this means,” I said.

“No more than a week.”

After I ended the call, I leaned against the wall outside Kathy’s Café where I normally bought coffee. I was torn about whether to mention the offer to Maggie. If I didn’t take the job, it wouldn’t matter, anyway. Unless I decided I wanted to go, I didn’t need to tell her about the opportunity. What we had last night felt fragile, and I’d do anything to keep from breaking it.

I grabbed two coffees and wandered to her storefront. Inside, the pharmacy was bustling. I balanced the coffees on top of each other and opened the door. She looked up from the customer in front of her and grinned.

Relief rushed through me. No regrets. I hadn’t realized I’d been a little on edge after talking to Kelvin. She’d been in such a hurry this morning I hadn’t been able to assess her feelings, and my two conversations had thrown me off a bit.

I waded through the customers shopping and waiting for their prescriptions to reach her at the counter. I slid the steaming hot coffee across.

The memory of the night before seemed to play between us, thickening the air with things we wouldn’t say here. I couldn’t wait to get her alone. Just my luck, her place was busy today. I’d passed by lots of times when there had been hardly anyone around. As I’d written this morning, various scenarios had sprung to mind. Setting her on the high counter at the back, pushing up her skirt, and giving her a reminder of how good itwas between us had been high on my list of priorities for today. I’d have to save that one for another day.

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