Chapter 43

CHAPTER

FORTY-THREE

H arry pushed his way into Belle’s apartment, calling out, “It’s just me, baby.”

“Come on back,” she yelled.

Harry turned to close the door and then paused to pat Simba, who had just jumped up onto the back of the couch. “How you doing, cat?” he asked, admitting to himself that it was nice to have another living thing greet him when he came home.

Of course, this wasn’t his home. He walked along the back of the couch through the living room and turned left to go down the hall. In Belle’s second bedroom, she had set up two six-foot tables where she had started to lay out her plans for the meet-and-greet in Nashville.

Harry had just finished his world concert tour last night with one of the huge Young family parties that morning, complete with plenty of waffles, maple syrup, bacon, sausage, and the biggest vat of scrambled eggs he’d ever seen in his life.

They’d celebrated at Uncle Morris’s house, and Harry had now completed all of his contractual obligations to Rebel Records in Nashville. As he went into the bedroom, he felt like God Himself had lifted an enormous weight from his shoulders, and he could breathe in a way he never had before.

When Belle straightened and turned to look at him, a glorious smile on her face, Harry saw everything he wanted in his life in her.

“Hey there,” she said pleasantly, walking toward him with a skip to her step before landing in his arms. She kissed him for only a quick moment and then turned back to the table. “Come look at this guest list. Otis gave me a bunch of names. I’ve listed everyone who’s contacted me, and I’ve got your people at Rebel and King Country. Adam added a few names, and we want to make sure it’s comprehensive.” She glanced over to him. “How was your call with your mom?”

“It was a call with my mom,” he said, hoping that would stitch it all up and she wouldn’t ask him anything else.

“So you’ll tell me later.” She turned her attention to the three sheets of paper laid out on the far end of the table.

“We’re going to design an announcement,” Adam said. “That we can mail to some people and email to others.”

“Have you chosen a date yet?” Harry asked, trying to clear the cobwebs, anger, and grumpiness from his voice. This should be a good thing. Belle deserved to make a career for herself as a country music songwriter. He certainly didn’t want to stand in the way of that. He also just didn’t want to go back to Nashville.

Simba pressed up against his leg, rubbing against him, which helped ease some additional tension from Harry’s muscles.

“I’m thinking the week after Labor Day,” Belle said, and she had the next three months of calendars taped on the wall behind the table. August loomed only a few days away, and Harry couldn’t believe that the past four months with her had flown by so quickly.

“I’m done with my record,” he said.

Belle grinned at him. “You’re done with Rebel,” she said, and that made him smile too.

“I’m done with Rebel.” He pressed his lips to hers and kissed her until Adam cleared his throat and said, “I think September twelfth is a great day,” in a very loud voice.

Belle giggled and ducked her head. She pointed to the calendar. “If we mail the invitations this week, that will give people five weeks to put it on their calendar. Do you think that’s enough time?”

“In country music, sometimes they move at the speed of a sloth,” Harry said. “And sometimes you have to be right there to catch the lightning in a bottle. If they can’t make it in five weeks, that’s their loss.”

“That’s right,” Adam said. “It’s their loss.”

“Okay,” Belle said. “I’ll send this list with you.” She gathered up the papers, folded them in half, and left them on the table. “I want you to help me with the venue next.” Adam shuffled down the table, as did Harry and Belle, and she had three pictures laid out.

“Adam has worked his magic,” she said, indicating the first picture. Harry recognized it, as he’d been there several times.

The Motown building.

“And we can have the meet-and-greet in the ground floor lobby here, which has a bar and restaurant that will serve drinks and appetizers.”

“The Motown building,” Harry said. “Wow. A couple of record studios are housed in that building.”

“Right,” Belle said. “King Country said that we could use their conference room and space, but we’d have to bring in all of our own food.”

“I’m going to veto that,” Harry said. “I like the Motown building far more.”

“I do too,” Adam said.

“The third option.” She cleared her throat and looked over to Adam. “Is your old apartment.”

“What?” Harry looked down at the picture there. “My old apartment? Why would we ever go there?”

“Nostalgia,” she said. “The place where Harry Young wrote three albums, practiced them to the point where he could record them perfectly when he walked into the studio.” She nudged him with her hip. “It’s available right now, and Adam contacted the landlord and asked how much it would be for us to rent it for a week.”

“A week?” Harry’s eyebrows went up. He did not want to go back to Nashville, back to his old apartment, for a week.

“Yeah,” she said. “I figured we could stay there too. It kills a whole bunch of birds with one stone.”

“Does it?” He looked at her, incredulous that she believed for even a moment that he’d want to go back there. Kind of like how his mother still didn’t understand why Harry had quit his country music career.

“Belle, honey, it’s not a furnished apartment. There’s one bedroom and a half-room that I used as a studio. The living room is tiny. This is not a good idea.”

She searched his face, and Harry wasn’t sure what she saw, but he couldn’t hide anything from her fast enough, and then he realized he didn’t want to. “I don’t want to go back to my old apartment.”

“Okay,” she said plainly. “I think the Motown building is the best choice.”

“The Motown building is definitely it,” Adam said, and he flipped over the other two pictures and slid them underneath the one of the Motown building. It was dressed up in Nashville with over a dozen stories, and the lobby did have an open bar with a casual restaurant.

“It’s going to cost a lot,” she said. “I have a little bit of money left from the sale of my house, and I’m going to use that.”

“I can help,” Harry said quietly.

“No,” she said quickly. “I told you I’m not taking any money from you on this.”

He turned his back on Adam and took Belle into his arms. “Baby, we’re in this together, remember?” He leaned closer and took in a deep breath of the scent of her skin, her hair. Everything about her intoxicated him.

“I’m going with you. I’m going to be at the meet-and-greet too. I want to sell songs for a living too. I can pay for the food.”

She looked down to where she twisted her hands in his collar. “I know you can.”

“Will you let me?” He bent his head and skated his lips along the soft skin of her neck.

He was used to doing a lot of personal things in front of Adam and telling him extremely intimate details of his life. He had not told anyone how he felt about Belle, but he knew his parents could see it, and his aunts and uncles, his grandparents, Bryce and Codi, anyone who looked at them, could see how he felt about Belle.

Adam surely knew already. With his lips catching against her earlobe, he said, “When you turned and looked at me when I just walked in….”

“Yeah?” she asked.

“I thought, ‘I love her.’” He cleared his throat quietly and kept his face buried in the softness of neck. “I’m in love with you.”

He backed up and looked at her. “So I can pay for the food. I just need you to let me.”

Tears filled her eyes, and she pressed her lips together and nodded quickly. “Okay.”

“Okay,” he said, then he released her and bounced back to Adam’s side .

“Excuse me,” she said, and she hurried out of the room.

Harry sighed and peered down at the table at what Adam had glued his gaze to. “Is this the menu?”

“You’re remarkably composed,” Adam said. “For a man who just told the woman he loves that he loved her, and she didn’t say it back.”

“She will,” Harry said with as much confidence as he could. “I know she will. She’s been really nervous about this meet-and-greet.”

“She wants you to be so happy,” Adam said.

“I know that,” Harry said. “I’m working on it.”

“A trip to Nashville doesn’t mean you’re going back permanently, sir,” Adam said, and Harry hated the reversion to ‘sir’ instead of his name. He cleared his throat then and said, “I’ve got to be real honest. I don’t think you or Belle is going to need me in the current capacity in which I work now that the tour is done.”

“Maybe not,” Harry murmured though he didn’t want to admit it.

“I’m going to work on this meet-and-greet with Belle for the next several weeks,” he said. “And I’m thinking about setting up some appointments in Nashville while I’m there.”

“No way,” Harry said.

“No way?” Adam asked, turning toward him in his crisp polo and his khakis, his eyebrows raised toward the ceiling.

“No way. I don’t want you to go,” Harry said, his chest suddenly vibrating and about to collapse in on itself. “You’re my best friend.”

“Your daddy is your best friend. Bryce, Kassie, Reggie, and now Belle.” Adam searched Harry’s face, his dark blue eyes so intense. “You can let me go, sir.”

“But I don’t want to,” Harry said. “You’re going to fall madly in love with Joey, and you’re going to marry her. And you’re going to live here in Coral Canyon. You’re going to be part of the family. Just like you have been for the past year.”

Something inside Harry really wanted that. He craved it. But even as Adam shook his head, Harry knew he couldn’t keep the man in Coral Canyon.

“You said it yourself,” Adam said in a crisp voice as he turned back to the next item on the table. “I’m too old for Joey.”

“You haven’t even tried,” Harry said.

“No,” Adam said. “And I’m not going to.” He cut Harry a look. “Just because you think someone is beautiful doesn’t mean you’re going to marry them. Doesn’t make it right.”

“Aunt Hilde and Uncle Gabe are really far apart,” Harry said. “Heck, my daddy and Everly are eight or nine years apart.”

“The difference is,” Adam said, “Everly was not twenty when she met your daddy.”

“Well, Joey’s twenty-two.”

“Harry.” He sighed extensively. “I don’t want your uncle to kill me.”

Harry opened his mouth to argue again, and Adam cut him a look that silenced him. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore, sir. Please.”

“All right,” Belle said as she walked back into the room, and Harry turned toward her .

He met her halfway and took her into his arms again. “I’m sorry I’m such a grump,” he whispered, his mouth right at her ear.

“You’re fine,” she said. “I know this is hard for you to talk about.”

“Yeah,” he said. “Like I know you didn’t tell me you loved me too. But you will when it’s easier for you to say.” He raised his eyebrows at her, and Belle simply nodded. That was good enough for Harry for now.

Then he too returned his attention to the tables to go over the last of the details for the event so that they could get the invitations out in the next week.

He couldn’t help being a little grumpy about going to Nashville, even if he did get to go with the woman he loved. He felt like he’d gained so much, but that only meant he had a lot to lose now too.

Starting with Adam , he thought, and his heart wailed, and he willed God to slow down time so Harry could keep his assistant and best friend for as long as possible.