She’s My Kind Of Rain (Rawlings Ranch #1)

Chapter 27

27

SAWYER - JULY 4, 2004

Walking Daisy out to her car this morning, I notice Rhett’s truck in the driveway. I could have sworn he had mentioned plans that included him not coming home last night, so I wonder what happened? After she says goodbye to the horses, I kiss her one last time before she leaves and make my way back toward the house for some much needed coffee from our late night.

My eyes peer down at the threshold as I walk through the door. I look up and am surprised to find Rhett’s gaze meeting mine.

“Oh, fuck.” My heart races. I’m shocked to see someone in the house when I could have sworn Daisy and I were alone. “I thought you were in the bunkhouse, man. You just scared the shit out of me.”

“Ah, yeah ya could have been robbed last night and ya would have never known the wiser,” He laughs out, before his expression turns serious. “I owe ya an apology.”

“For what?” I question, unsure why he would be sorry for anything. He never truly was.

“Well I thought ya had no game. Not even a single ounce of it. I expected it to just be your mopey ass in this house all alone for the long haul.” He snickers and I know what’s coming next has been well thought out just by the look on his face. “Ya know I didn’t think ya had it in ya until I heard ya have it in her, Cowboy .” Laughter erupts out of him and even I can’t hold back the hilarity of that statement.

“I certainly did not see that coming,” I manage to get out between laughs.

Rhett, the asshole, can’t seem to get himself under control, chuckle after chuckle escaping him. “Yeah, ya didn’t see it comin’ because ya were too busy actually doin’ just that. Came down here to grab some ice cream out of the freezer and instead heard the whole cream pie.”

My eyes widen, and it’s a good thing I wasn’t drinking anything or I might have choked. “Jesus, Rhett, I’m glad you waited until she was gone to come out swinging like this.”

“I’m just kiddin’ with ya, bud. So how did the talk go? Must have went alright, hey?” The way my friend can shift from joking to serious in the blink of an eye never seems to astound me, yet this time I wish he hadn’t. I hastily consider anything to shift the conversation.

“I didn’t mention it. As you heard, there wasn’t a whole lot of talking.” I wiggle my brow, instantly feeling bad about the joke. “Okay, no. I wimped out. Honestly, I just don’t want to ruin things between us. I had planned on bringing it up, I just couldn’t. She breathes such a life into this place and me, and the longer I’m with her the less I’m willing to gamble losing her.”

I know that saying nothing to her isn’t the right thing to do, and anything good also requires a bit of work, but I can’t fathom losing her now that I’ve only just gotten her. And while singing fills my soul with joy, so does she. She breathes life into me. She’s like a puzzle piece I’d been missing up until now, and now that I’ve found her, I don’t think I can give her up.

“Now, wait,” I say, my brow furrowing together in question. “When did you get back? I thought you said you weren’t going to be coming back last night?”

Rhett’s deer-in-headlights stare tells me he’s got something he’s not sharing.

At the risk of sounding like a nagging mother, or otherwise, I consider not saying anything, but that look tells me I’ve got no choice. “So, where were you last night?”

“I—” And before he can even get out a word, my phone starts to ring.

I look down toward the screen as I pull it from my pocket and notice it’s a number I don’t have programmed into my contacts. For a moment, I consider letting the call go to voicemail, but the uncomfortable look on Rhett’s face reflects exactly how I feel. Flipping my phone open, I answer.

“Hello?” I ask, not sure who I’ll find at the other end of the line.

“Hi, Sawyer, it’s Blake Montgomery. I’m calling because I saw your file cross my desk from one of my A&R Reps. Looks as if we have a scheduled meeting coming up, and normally I don’t handle these calls myself, except I find your folder rather interesting. Seems here you have no previous experience, yet you have been invited to play at The Westmore? Is that correct?”

I can feel my pulse quicken. Blake Montgomery is on the phone with me. Me . I swallow back the anxiety writhing in my chest, and manage to respond, “Uh, yes, sir. That is correct.”

“Are you aware of the rarity of that?” He pauses for a quick second. “You must be, because of their reputation here in Nashville.”

“Yes, sir, I’m—I just recently received the invitation to perform on July twenty-fourth. Rather close to the card I received from Dai—I mean, Miss Holloway.” I run my fingers through my hair, worried I just made a rather large mistake, hoping that he didn’t catch the casual way I was about to say Daisy’s name instead of addressing her professionally.

A soft huff releases on the other end of the line, and I know I didn’t recover the way I had hoped for, but much to my surprise, he says nothing about Daisy and I. Oh God, did I just screw everything up?

“I like to see an artist in their element, so I will be seeing you at The Westmore, instead of having you come in. We will keep the scheduled interview date as is and explain how everything works if we decide to move forward. Have a nice day and good luck.”

It doesn’t take a genius to notice his shift in tone. Well, damn. Now I’m not only worried about how this relationship could affect me and my music career, but also how what I just did might affect Daisy.