Page 95 of Playing With My Heart Strings

“You’re lucky if we don’t terminate your contract for this!”

I could just imagine his expression—eyebrows slanted down, veins popping out of his neck.

“You heard the song she wrote. There’s promise there,”I muttered.

“You’re treading dangerous water, Dusty. One more slip up and it’s over.”

He hung up before I could respond and left me with a raging headache the rest of the day.

I have one final date with Valerie and Baylor. I thought a lot about what the last two dates would look like, and the plans for each one are very intentional. It’s my last effort to get the viewers to see what I see, to get inside my mind and understand my thought process, because although I can picture futures withboth of these women, the images that run through my mind are different.

Despite it not quite being sunrise, it’s warm. It’s the perfect twilight hour, and there isn’t a single cloud in the sky. I silently thank God the weather didn’t ruin my plans for Valerie’s date.

She’s waiting for me up ahead with a radiant smile on her face. When I reach her, I pull her in for a hug, wrapping my arms around her as she buries her head in my chest.

She breaks away from me, and I get a whiff of her perfume. “It’s so good to see you.”

“I’ve got something special planned for us today.” I rest my hand on the small of her back as we continue walking down the path.

“Is that where we’re going?” Her mouth gapes as she points to the field filled with hot air balloons. I nod, and she lets out a small squeak, eliciting a laugh from my chest when she starts pulling me along faster. “I’ve always wanted to go up in one of these.”

“Happy to be helping you experience it.” A genuine smile tugs at my lips at her happiness. My hope is that the first half of our date will make the second half easier.

Hand in hand, we make our way over to one of the hot air balloons. The pilot greets us while the crew inflates the balloon. It’s a smaller basket than some of the others to make it a more personalized and intimate setting instead of being with a large group.

“Welcome to SkyWonders! My name is Austin, and I’ll be your pilot today. Is this your first time riding in a hot air balloon?” Valerie and I both nod, so he continues. “It’s an honor to be taking you up into the skies. If you both will climb into the basket here, I’ll go over a short safety brief then we’ll be off.”

Valerie’s short and the basket’s about four feet tall, so I help her before I climb into it. Once we’re settled, Austin goes overeverything we need to know, including where to hold on, what to do in an emergency, and whatnotto do. Before I know it, he’s firing it up and we’re floating off the ground.

I put my arm around Valerie, resting my hand on her shoulder as we watch the ground get farther and farther away.

“You two doing all right over there?” Austin asks.

“Yessir.” I offer him a thumbs-up.

“This is incredible,” Valerie exhales. “I’ve obviously flown in a plane before, but this is unlike anything I’ve ever done.”

The people on the ground are mere specks as we approach three thousand feet, and the sun is beginning to rise, painting the horizon in streaks of orange and pink.

“Do you ever miss your family while you’re out here?” Valerie’s whispered question catches me off guard.

“Yeah, I do,” I confess. “I try to visit as often as I can, but I get so busy that sometimes months will go by without seeing them in person. But I text my mother every morning and night. At least I did before I came on the show. This has been the longest I’ve gone without talking to her.”

She looks out toward the horizon as she rests her forearms on the lip of the basket. “That’s what I worry about. My family is the most important thing to me. And I want this, I really do, but I’m afraid I won’t be strong enough without them. I didn’t leave home for the longest time, and even when I did, I didn’t go that far. Nashville is a long way from them, though.”

“It took me a long time to get used to being away,” I explain. “I mean, I was just a kid when I came to Nashville. But knowing I’m supporting them financially pushes me.”

She turns her head toward me as she nods, her deep-brown eyes wide. “That helps. I don’t want to give off the impression that I want to leave or don’t want this. Because I do.” She smiles. “I don’t know, I guess I was just saying what was on my mind.”

I brush my thumb over her jaw. “You don’t have to apologize. I understand. Sometimes talking it out is all you need. And no matter what happens this week, you can always talk to me. I’ll be here.”

“Thank you.” She doesn’t lean in to kiss me, just looks at me with understanding in her gaze.

“This is the highest point for today,” Austin interrupts. “I won’t be firing the balloon anymore, so we’ll be descending soon.”

The ride back down to the ground is silent, both of us appreciating the views and the sounds around us. The breeze rustling the balloon, airplanes flying overhead, and the chirping of birds and whir of traffic once we reach a lower elevation.

“I’m going to try to land us as smoothly as possible, but there are no guarantees, so make sure you stay seated,” he warns when we approach the ground.

---