Page 7 of Dear Southern Belle
“She was my child. I wasn’t going to lose her.”
“You lost her anyway.”
He looks down, but I don’t miss the flash of hurt in his expression. “I suppose I did.”
I’m surprised that he is willing to admit this. “It’s not too late.”
He laughs but it’s humorless. “It is.”
I don’t understand why he thinks there isn’t hope left to rebuild his relationship? But I have to think that while I may have been invited into his life by Martha, he might be willing to open up to me. I don’t want to sit here and rehash old wounds. They aren’t my wounds anyway. The two of us have a blank slate between us. This trip could be the start of some sort of relationship. I have to see if there is a chance to move forward.
“The Peach Festival kicks off tonight,” I say. “I was going to go check it out. Would you be interested in going with me?”
MAGNOLIA
“He’s here,” Sabine says as she runs up to me as I’m standing on the side of the stage waiting for my cue to head out.
“Who?”
“What do you mean who? The guy from the diner yesterday. The one you can’t stop bringing up in every single conversation.”
“I’m not doing that.”
I totally am.
Sabine rolls her eyes. “Deny all you want, but I saw the sparks between you too. The gorgeous man couldn’t take his eyes off you.”
My heart flutters in my chest. I’d been hoping that wasn’t all in my head. That my mind wished it so much that I remembered our interaction differently than how it actually went down.
“Does he look good?”
“What do you think?”
I nod. “You’re right. Stupid question.”
“Magnolia Nolan!” The mayor announces from the microphone on the stage interrupting us.
“How do I look?” I ask her.
She fluffs out my curls. “Knock ‘em dead.”
I step out onto the stage. I’ve done this so many times in the church choir to school recitals, but somehow this time is different. I feel butterflies flapping around wildly in my stomach.
My gaze sweeps the crowd looking for Braden. I both want him there to see me and I don’t want him there in case my nerves get the better of me and I panic. I find him near the back of the crowd. The smile that spreads across his face when our eyes meet, sets my body on fire. It’s like every nerve ending in my body is sparking at once.
Muscle memory kicks in as the music begins to play. The words come without me thinking about them, because my focus is on the pair of green eyes watching me from the crowd.
I sing my way through four songs before my set is over. The crowd claps and cheers but I don’t really hear them. Braden is moving along the edge of the crowd. It looks like he’s leaving. Disappointment fills me. I was hoping that we’d get a chance to talk, but that doesn’t appear to be what is happening.
When I walk off the side of the stage Sabine is gone. I knew she couldn’t stay for all the songs because she had to get back to her stand for the café. I do one last fruitless scan of the crowd for Braden, but I don’t see him.
“Are you looking for me?”
My heart thumps in my chest when I turn and see Braden smiling at me. I try to school my features, I don’t want it to be obvious that he caught me.
“I was looking for my friend.”
He chuckles. “Too bad. I was hoping you were looking for me.”
