Page 97 of Almost Perfect
“You said it,” I agreed, and we hung up.
I sent Calla a text, praying she’d receive it and respond.“I need to talk to you before you leave. Please let me see you.”
Might’ve sounded desperate, but this was not the time to hold back. Maybe she’d blocked me already, or maybe she’d screen it and delete it on sight. Minutes ticked by with no response, but I used them well. I showered so fast, the water had hardly warmed up before I got out, dressed in a suit though I skipped the tie because that was yet another thing I hadn’t learned from my father and my mom wasn’t here to do it for me, and grabbed my phone.
“I’m at the Silver Ridge Hotel. I’ll be at the bar from eight to ten.”
That deflated me, just a bit. It was half past six now. I wanted to see hernow, but by the time I drove safely into town, bought flowers, and found parking at the hotel, I’d have a few minutes to wait. I could handle that.
I would.
Because this was the most important night of my life. As I loaded into the car to head back to Silverton, I knew it with a clarity like I’d never had. I only prayed the realization hadn’t come too late.
FORTY-THREE
Calla
“Sorry I wasn’t the best company,” I said as Dahlia, Sarah, and Quinn followed me out of Guac.
“Whatever. Don’t apologize.” Dahlia waved off my words like a hand wafting away smoke.
“I can’t blame you for being distracted. First the breakup in general, and now…” Sarah gave a sweet smile.
She’d been the most excited by Wyatt’s text. I’d shown them when it came through because it’d stunned me. I’d lied to him and pushed him away. What could he want with me now?
Though, to be fair, he hadn’t said all that much in return. Maybe he needed more closure, more satisfaction that I knew what I’d be missing.
He didn’t need to drill that point home, because the hole in my heart made it clear. The fact that it still beat there in my chest spoke to the human will to live and nothing more.
“I’m your wingwoman tonight. If it gets ugly, you give me the nod and I get us both out of there.” Quinn set a hand on my arm and squeezed.
“Do you know when you’ll be back?” Sarah asked, her voice smaller this time.
I wished I could say yes, that I had a date on the calendar. “No. I don’t.”
And they heard the unspoken continuation of that thought—I didn’t knowifI’d be back.
Though the thought of not seeing them again, and not being back in this little town with its shops and mountains, made me feel sick. Or maybe that was the knowledge that I could’ve had something real here, and I’d thrown it away.
I breathed deep. “Let’s just get it over with, then.”
I reached for Sarah, then Dahlia, hugging them tightly before saying goodbye.
For a woman who hadn’t done much crying in her life, the last two months had been like drowning in tears. But it felt good to let out some of the deep and very real sadness that clutched at me as I said goodbye to my new friends.
Quinn chuckled lightly and patted my back as we walked to her car. “Something tells me you’re going to be fine.”
“Yeah?” I said, voice watery.
“Yes. Because one, you don’t need a man, even if he is Wyatt Saint, to complete you. And two, you’re about to sing some originals with yours truly on a small-time stage in Nowhere, Utah and it’s going to be amazing.”
The sky overhead was dim, just shy of fully black as we loaded into her car. She drove us along Main Street and up the sloping road in front of the old lodge and the new hotel. She parked in employee parking and pulled on her emergency brake.
“I’ll meet you in the bar, yeah?” she confirmed as we walked into the lobby.
“See you soon.”
Nerves had started twisting themselves together in my belly. I didn’t normally get nervous for performances anymore—not much, anyway. Though the nerves in the last few years had been rooted in all kinds of things, so that wasn’t true. But the performance element had become second nature. Until now, when I’d be playing my own stuff and doing it with only an acoustic guitar and Quinn to back me up on piano.
