Restless Heart (32 page)

“I saw it happen to my friends all too often. The military divorce rate was higher than the national average for good reason.”

She nodded. She knew all that. Long absences, injury, and the ever-present fear of the worst hit families hard. But they had weathered all that. It wasn’t until it was over that they’d run into trouble.

“I loved serving my country, but being separated from you and the girls used to tear me up.” He opened his eyes and finally looked at her. “Still does.”

“But you have the power to change that now.”

“How? What do you want me to do?”

“Allow Destiny, Grace, and me to be ourselves. Love us for who we are and not who you want us to be,” Sara told him.

“I’m trying to do that—God help me, Sara, I am. I love you so much.”

For a moment his declaration made her melt.

Then he added, “I feel like you just don’t understand me anymore.”

“
I
don’t understand
you
?” She wiggled to a standing position.

“If you could just try to see why I feel the way I do—”

“Right back at cha, John. Maybe you can try to see why I feel the way I do, too.”

“I
am
trying. It’s all we ever talk about, Sara. You tell me how you’re feeling, and why it’s the right way to feel, and why how I’m feeling is the wrong way to feel. And you won’t admit that you’re having a—”

“Don’t you dare say it, John.”

She couldn’t stand hearing, once again, she was merely having a midlife crisis that would soon pass.

“Fine. I won’t.” He shook his head.

“And, anyway, maybe you’re the one who’s having one.”

“Me? I’m fine. I’m the same as I’ve always been, Sara. You’re the one who’s gone off the deep end.”

He turned on his heel and left the room.

“Hells bells, that man is stubborn!” Sara mumbled to herself, shaking her head.

 

 

 

W
ell over an hour after the show had ended, Destiny had done interviews with both the local news and
Nashville Now
magazine, and was still being hounded for pictures and autographs.

At last Miranda and Grace stepped in, her manager politely dealing with the lingering fans as her sister whisked her off to a dim corner of the bar.

“Need something to drink?” Max asked promptly.

“Mountain Dew if you have it. I’m drained,” she admitted.

“You must be. That was some performance,” Grace told her.

Max slid the soft drink across the bar. “It’s all part of the business and this is still just the beginning. If you don’t mind my asking, Destiny, do you think you’re going to be able to handle all of this?”

“What, are you kidding?” She smiled and took a sip of the soda, and saw Max and Grace exchange a glance.

“What?” she asked.

“Nothing,” they said in unison.

“Grace.”

“Your phone rang after you left to go onstage, and I heard it. I checked to see who it was, thinking it might be . . . I don’t know, someone important.”

“Grace!” Destiny said again, this time with a frown. Sometimes her sister crossed the line between personal assistant and nosy sister.

“It was Seth,” Grace blurted.

Destiny nearly choked on her Mountain Dew.

“Did you answer it?” she asked in a strangled voice.

“No! Of course not! Destiny, I would never intrude on your personal business,” Grace said indignantly.

Destiny rolled her eyes, already off the bar stool and making a beeline for the employee room.

Her heart pounded as she reached into her locker for the phone. She opened the Missed Calls file and sure enough, there it was: Seth’s name and number.

With trembling fingers, she dialed her voice mail access number and held her breath in anticipation of hearing his voice at last.

“You . . . have . . . no . . . new . . . messages,” the automated operator informed her, and her heart sank.

What now?

No.

The ball, she reminded herself stubbornly, and not for the first time, was in Seth’s court.

He’d called once. Chances were, he’d call again. She’d just have to wait.

T
he rest of Valentine’s Day passed without another call from Seth, as did the next day, and the next . . .

Weeks went by, and suddenly it was March, and Destiny stopped jumping in anticipation every time her phone rang.

And then, one gusty gray morning, she got a call she’d been waiting for, hoping for, praying for . . .

But it wasn’t from Seth.

“Destiny, are you sitting down?” Miranda asked.

She was . . . but she instinctively jumped to her feet, sensing what was about to come.

“ ‘Restless Heart’ just entered the Billboard Country Singles charts at number fifty with a bullet!”

“
D
estiny, do you know who I just saw out there?” Grace squealed, bursting wide-eyed into the dressing room. “I just saw—”

“Don’t tell me!” Destiny shook her head, but it was too late. Grace was already ticking off on her fingers some of the biggest names in country music.

“Well, what did you expect?” Miranda asked with a smile, looking up from her clipboard. “This
is
the Grand Ole Opry.”

“Did you have to remind me?” Destiny strummed her guitar, trying to ignore the commotion beyond the relative seclusion of the dressing room. The halls backstage were filled with discord and harmony as artists rehearsed, bands tuned up their instruments, and technicians and stagehands rushed around doing their thing.

Out in the auditorium, more than four thousand people—including her mother, Nessie, Max, Cooper, and Annie—were about to witness Destiny’s Opry debut.

Her father wasn’t among them.

Nor, she knew, was Seth.

He’d never called back.

So that was that.

Or so she’d been trying to convince herself.

There was a knock on the door. “Destiny? It’s time.”

She took a deep breath.

 

 

 

“
L
adies and gentlemen, our next performer is making her Grand Ole Opry debut. ‘Restless Heart,’ her first single, was a hotshot debut at number fifty on the Billboard Country Singles charts before skyrocketing to number fifteen! Because of the success of ‘Restless Heart,’ Sundial Records has moved up the release of her debut album, and Nielsen Soundscan Building Chart is indicating that the self-titled CD will debut on the weekly Hot Two Hundred albums—an amazing feat for a brand-new artist! Please give a warm welcome to Destiny Hart!”

Amid thunderous applause, sitting alone in the far reaches of the vast auditorium, Seth wiped tears from his eyes.

 

 

 

E
ven now, a few hours after Destiny’s Opry performance, Sara’s body was still pulsing with energy—and her heart was still tinged with regret that John hadn’t been there to see it.

She’d done everything in her power to convince him to go, and a few times, she’d almost thought he was about to agree to it. But something held him back.

Something?

Pride.

It’s his loss
, Sara reminded herself, and smiled across the restaurant table at her daughter, feeling blessed to have been able to share this incredible evening.

“Destiny, I know I’ve already said it countless times tonight, but I just have to say it again. You were wonderful. I’m still bursting with pride!”

“Thanks, Mom. Aren’t you going to eat your potato skins?”

Sara looked down at her plate. She usually stayed away from such indulgences, but tonight was special.

“Sure she is,” Nessie piped up. “We were chatting before the show and your mom’s new motto is going to be ‘Loosen up and live a little.’ Right, Sara?”

“Nope.” She shook her head, then laughed at their expressions. “It’s ‘Loosen up and live a lot!’ ” To prove it, she picked up a loaded potato skin, added a dollop of sour cream for good measure, and took a big bite.

“Yeah, you two sure were having a good time,” Grace told her and Nessie. “I can only imagine what you were chattering about when you had your heads bent together.”

“Just girl talk.” Nessie winked at Sara, who wiped her mouth daintily with a paper napkin.

“Really?” Destiny arched an eyebrow and eyed them both.

“We were discussing how men are idiots,” Sara announced.

“Hey, as the only man at this table, I resent that.” Cooper reached for a nacho chip piled with toppings, but lost half of it down his shirt.

“You mean ‘resemble’?” Annie asked slyly, and they all laughed.

“Geez, Mom—
idiots
?” Grace shook her head. “Don’t hold back or anything.”

“One thing’s for sure—that big fella sure has eyes for you, sugar,” Nessie told Grace.

Grace looked around. “Which big fella?”

“Max.” He’d left them all after the concert, heading back to work the late shift at the bar.

“Oh . . . we’re just friends and he’s a little protective,” Grace explained with a wave of her hand, but Sara noticed that she shot a look at Destiny, who raised an eyebrow at her.

“He seems like a good guy, Gracie,” Sara told her. “Not your usual type.”

“Oh, really?” Nibbling a chicken wing, Nessie eyed Grace with interest.

“My sister tends to go for the bad boys,” Destiny said.

“Well, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” Grace shot Sara a look. “Right, Mom?”

“Way to go, Mrs. H.” Cooper offered her a fist bump.

“That was a long time ago . . . but yes, John certainly was a bad boy back when I first laid eyes on him,” she admitted, suddenly missing him so much that the potato skins no longer seemed appealing.

She looked down at the food and sighed.

“Mom, are you okay?” Destiny asked.

“I’m fine. I hate to break up this party, but I do believe I’m about ready to head back to my hotel. I can’t remember the last time I was out this late!”

“I should get going, too. I have to work at the hospital bright and early,” Annie said with a little pucker of her lips.

“Guess that means I’m leaving, too. We can drop you on the way, Mrs. Hart,” Cooper offered, getting to his feet and politely extending his hand to help her from her chair.

“Oh, that’s just silly, Cooper,” interrupted Nessie. “My car’s parked right here and I’m ready to get going myself. I’ll drop Sara at the hotel. What about you girls?”

Destiny and Grace looked at each other.

“I was thinking maybe we could go for a nightcap over at Back in the Saddle,” Grace suggested—undoubtedly with an ulterior motive, Sara thought.

So, apparently, did Destiny, because she smiled and shook her head. “You go ahead, Grace. I think I’ll just head home.”

“But it’s your big night.”

“Exactly, and I’m exhausted from it.”

As they stood and said their good-byes, Destiny asked, “When are you heading back to Wilmot, Mom? Can you stay a few days?”

“Maybe. The only thing I have to get back to, really, is Mike, and your father promised to take care of him—and, would you believe, to get my garden beds ready for planting.”

“You’re kidding. Really?”

“Yes, and I was just as surprised, believe me. The man has never picked up a hoe in his life—”

“Well,
that’
s good news.”

Sara threw her head back and laughed. “I’ve missed your humor so much, Destiny.”

“Really? Then why was I always in trouble for it?”

“Because I’m your mother. I had to keep you in line. It was my job. That didn’t mean that I didn’t secretly find you entertaining. And in truth, I could have loosened up more and realized that everyone should be allowed to be themselves. Shoving square pegs into round holes never works. Oh, why do we learn things way too late?”