Restless Heart (25 page)

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Authors: Wynonna Judd

BOOK: Restless Heart
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“But none of those other places will have burgers as good as Back in the Saddle’s.”
“You mean bartenders.”
Grace shrugged. “That, too. Here . . .” She thrust a doughnut at Destiny. “This’ll hold you over till we get there. And keep your mouth busy, too.”
“Hey, listen, just because I know—heck, everyone but Max knows—that you’re crazy about him, and yet you’re going out with Jesse Jansen instead.”
“We had a date. So what?”
“More than one.”
“Two.”
“Three, at least.”
“Just so you know, Destiny, I don’t count going out to eat after rehearsals as dates, when you and the rest of the band are there, too.”
“Why not? You and Jesse are in your own little world anyway.”
“He’s a friend.”
“What is Max?”
“Max is not my type.”
“Right, you go for jerks, not nice, hard-working good guys.”
“Hey!”
“Truth hurts.”
“Jesse’s not a jerk. He’s also not hundreds of miles away. Max is.”
Destiny shrugged. “Well, you know what they say. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”
“You know what else they say—out of sight, out of mind,” Grace shot back, and Destiny winced.
“Are you talking about you and Max? Because obviously, that’s not the case.”
“I’m talking in general terms. Not about me and Max,
or
you and Seth.”
“I know that,” Destiny said defensively. “Why would you be talking about me and Seth?”
“Because we were talking about long-distance relationships, and you’re in one. And if you don’t eat that doughnut, I will.” Grace gave her a pointed look.
Destiny took a big, soft bite, trying to remember the last time she’d eaten anything. Between rehearsals and costume fittings and photo sessions last night, and the crack-of-dawn road trip this morning . . .
“Hey, you’re finally smiling again. Is that a party in your mouth, or what?”
“I was just thinking how time keeps on flying by and I never get a chance to stop and sit and sort of take it all in, you know?”
Grace shrugged. “It seems like we’ve been at this forever.”
“I know . . . but how can that be? It’s been only a few weeks since we rode out of Wilmot on Tammy’s tour bus.”
“Guess you just get used to it. This is your life now.”
“I know, but . . . looks like ‘normal’ has taken a permanent holiday, hasn’t it?”
“Come on, Destiny. Our lives have never been normal. And anyway, normal is overrated, don’t you think?”
“Not necessarily.”
“Well, abnormal has always been as normal to us as normal is, so it’s all good.”
“I’m the only one who understands your twisted sense of logic, but yeah, Gracie, it’s all good.”
Well—
almost
all good.
She hadn’t seen Seth since the morning after the Wilmot concert, and they hadn’t even had a proper good-bye.
How could they? Tammy Turner’s big, flashy purple bus pulled up on Main Street right outside of the town square. Destiny dearly wanted to say good-bye to her mother and especially Seth in private, but they were surrounded by security and swiftly ushered toward the bus, with camera crews filming the entire procession.
She called Seth from the bus to apologize. It seemed to be a new pattern.
“It’s okay,” he said, and she could hear Mike barking in the background. “I get it.
We
get it. Don’t we, Mike?”
She could only smile through her homesick tears, wishing things could be different—even as she wouldn’t change a thing.
There she was, riding on her idol’s tour bus. She’d be crazy to long to be anywhere else.
Maybe I
am
crazy,
she thought, thinking she’d give anything to be in Seth’s arms right about now.
But that would have to wait until Christmas, when he was coming to see her show. He was going to bring Mike with him and spend the whole week—just as she was supposed to do in Wilmot. She’d be busy with the production, but at least he’d be close by.
And then he’ll have to leave again,
she thought glumly.
He’ll always have to leave.
 
 
 
W
ho the hell is Brody Ballard?
Seth clenched the computer mouse hard, waiting for the search engine to generate the results after he’d typed in the name.
It took only a few seconds, but that was long enough for his brain to conjure an unwanted image of Destiny holding hands with some other guy.
Shaking hands—she said that’s all it was, he reminded himself, as the screen filled with a list of links pertaining to his rumored rival.
Apparently, Brody Ballard was a hot new country stud—according to his own Web page, anyway.
Staring at the photo of a blond, square-jawed, guitar-toting cowboy, Seth felt sick inside. Quickly, he added Destiny’s name to Brody Ballard’s on the search engine page. He hit Enter, and the results were instantaneous, topped by a link to
Nashville Gab
.
He clicked it, and there it was: a big close-up photograph of Destiny with Brody Ballard.
At a glance, they were, indeed, holding hands. But they were facing each other, and it was clear—to Seth, anyway—from her body language that there was nothing going on between them.
The caption read “Future Superstars Only Have Eyes For Each Other.”
Yeah, right.
How could Seth have even believed, for a moment, that Destiny would get involved with someone else behind his back?
Relieved, he turned away from the computer and looked over at Mike, sound asleep on the rug.
“I’m an idiot,” Seth told the sleeping dog. “I know her better than that.”
And when the phone rang a minute later, he was so certain he’d hear Destiny’s voice on the other end that he didn’t bother to check caller ID. He picked it up with a heartfelt, “You were incredible!”
“Gee, thanks.” It was Tracy Gilmore’s voice that greeted him on the other end of the line. “But all I did was put you in touch with Tim. You did the rest yourself.”
“Oh . . . yeah, I guess.” Trying to shift gears, he grabbed the remote and put Keith Urban’s so-called hot new video on mute.
“I heard you made an offer this morning.”
“I did, but I haven’t heard back.” Having been awakened by the phone, Mike trotted over, panting the way he did whenever he had to go out.
“Oh, I’m sure you’ll hear back,” Tracy told him as he looked around for the pooper scooper, “and I’m also pretty sure you’ll be opening a bottle of champagne before the day is over.”
Champagne—that made him remember the day he and Destiny had celebrated her
Cowgirl Up
coup at Back in the Saddle. It seemed like a lifetime ago.
“Seth? It’s a great house for you.”
“Yeah. It is, isn’t it?”
Brick, with an eat-in kitchen, three bedrooms, and a big wraparound porch.
“I’m so excited about this,” Tracy said.
“Under these circumstances? Really?”
“Well, I’m upset about my brother’s marriage and everything . . . but they were never really happy together in the first place, so . . .”
“They weren’t?”
“No. Joyce gave up her career because he didn’t want her to work after they had kids, and I guess she always resented it.”
“Yeah . . . that happens.” Seth opened the utility closet so hard the door banged the wall.
“Personally, I don’t know what she was complaining about. If my husband wanted me to be a stay-at-home mom, I’d be more than happy to do it. Not that I don’t love teaching, but . . . you know what I mean.”
“Yeah,” Seth told her, slamming the door closed again—no pooper scooper. “I know what you mean.”
“So listen, after you get the phone call—which should be any second now—why don’t you call me back and I’ll come over with a bottle of champagne?”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I
want
to, Seth. Unless you don’t want me to?”
He hesitated. “It’s not that. It’s—”
He broke off, hearing a beep on the line.
“That’s call-waiting,” he said. “I have another call.”
“I bet it’s Tim. I’ll hang up. Call me back.”
He heard a click before he could respond.
He pressed the flash button. “Hello?”
“Seth, it’s me.”
“Destiny! I saw you on TV. You were great!”
“Before or after I almost burst out laughing in Randy Lee’s face?”
“I must have missed that. What was so funny?”
“
You’ll
understand. Grace didn’t, but she doesn’t get me the way you do. See, there were these cameras . . .”
She kept talking, and he tried to make sense of what she was telling him, but all he could think was that she’d just been on live television in front of millions of people, and here he was, hunting for a pooper scooper.
“Isn’t that crazy?” she asked.
“Yeah, crazy. So the cameras reminded you of robots?”
She hesitated. “Yes, but . . . you know what? It’s not important.”
“Talk about crazy—what about that Brody Ballard thing? That was pretty crazy, too, huh?”
“Definitely. I mean, someone introduced us the other night, and I guess there’s a picture on the Internet or something, so . . . You know it’s not true, right, Seth?”
“Are you kidding? Of course I know!”
“Good, because I didn’t want you to think . . . I mean, I know you wouldn’t think—but the way Ronnie Lee said it, it was just—and I didn’t even have a chance to explain.”
“It’s okay. I get it.”
“I’m glad.” The hollow tone to her voice sent warning signals through his brain. “Listen, I should probably—”
“Guess what,” he blurted in an effort to keep her from hanging up. “I bought a house.”
There was a pause—just a fraction of a pause, but it was there, and then she said, “Seriously?”
He hesitated. It wasn’t exactly official yet, but . . .
Oh, who was he kidding? Tracy wanted to come over here with champagne. Not that he’d let that happen, but . . .
“Seriously,” he told Destiny.
“Seth, that is just so . . . exciting!” she said brightly—too brightly. “Where is it?”
“Over by the high school. I can walk to work on nice days.”
“Tell me all about it.”
He did, trying not to sound like he wanted to sell
her
on it.
“Oh, I love those old brick houses. They have so much history and character. Does it have a front porch?”
“Yeah. A big wraparound porch.”
“Oh, that’s so awesome!” He knew her enthusiasm was totally forced. “You have to get a swing! Nothing is better than sipping a cold glass of tea on a front porch swing, just watchin’ the world go by.”
He tried—and failed—to imagine her doing just that.
“When are you moving in?”
“I don’t have all the details yet, but as soon as possible, I hope. It’s a fixer-upper.”
“That’s perfect. You’re handy.”
“Yeah, I love doing that kind of stuff. And between now and when baseball starts, it’ll keep me busy and my mind off of—”
He broke off.
“Off of what?”
Off of you. What else?
But he couldn’t admit that. It would sound pathetic. He sure as heck didn’t think she was sitting around mooning over him.
No, she was flitting around on TV and onstage with Ronnie Lee and Tammy Turner and backstage with some hottie jerk in a cowboy hat . . .
“You know, I’ve been pretty stressed about the spring baseball season,” he told her, “and about Chase’s situation.”
“Oh, Chase—how is he? Any new developments?”
“His mother wants him to move out there over the Christmas break.”
“Is he going to?”
“He doesn’t want to, but he might not have a choice.”
“Oh no.”
“Yeah. I’m doing everything I can to support the kid and convince his mother that he’s got a real shot at an athletic scholarship if she leaves him here, but it’s like talking to a brick wall.”
“I’m sure it is,” Destiny said, and he heard a voice in the background urging her to get off the phone. A female voice, he noted with some satisfaction.
“That’s Grace,” she told him. “She wants me to say hi.”
“And get off the phone!” Grace shouted. “We have to go eat!”
“Okay, okay,” Destiny said, and asked Seth, “Hey, one last thing—how’s Mike doing?”
“He’s okay. He misses you.” He hesitated. “We both do.”
“I miss you, too.” She cleared her throat. “Listen, e-mail me some pictures of the house, will you? Do you have any?”
“Yeah. I only took about a million of them. I want to document the renovations.”
“That will be fun. Be sure and send them to me.”
He paused, then said, “I was hoping you’d be able to come and see for yourself.”
“Well . . .”
“Hey, never mind. I don’t know where that came from. I know you’re too busy.”
“Seth, it isn’t that I don’t want to come home.”
“I know. Believe me. Forget I mentioned it,” he answered, and bent down to pet Mike, who was still panting at his feet.
“I miss you,” she said again.
“I miss you, too.”
“Good-
bye
, Seth,” Grace said pointedly in the background.
He hung up and looked at Mike.
“She’s doing great,” he told the dog.
Mike tilted his head.
“Yeah, I know. I’m glad to hear it, too,” Seth said. “
Really
glad. What, you don’t believe me?”
Mike just looked at him.
Seth sighed. “Come on, let’s go out.”
 
 
 
M
ax was behind the bar at Back in the Saddle, and glad to see them, giving Destiny a bear hug and Grace a shy once-over. The television overhead was tuned to CMT, where Ronnie Lee’s news program had given way to a Toby Keith video.

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