Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 57804 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 231(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57804 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 231(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Another phone call.
With a sigh, I answered and pressed the phone against my ear.
“Sorry, I’ve been… running errands,” I told Mark, not wanting him to know that I had been actively avoiding him. He lived and breathed my music career, so that probably wasn’t the best idea. Something about Ryder made my brain melt, though.
How could I keep myself together around him?
Part of me wanted to see if I could. I wanted to see if he had changed, if he regretted his past decision to leave me behind without an explanation or even a word. I had so many questions for him, but there was only one of them that was number one.
Did he miss me?
Because I missed him. I sure as hell didn’t want to, but it was hard to erase the person I loved from my mind, especially after he’d hurt me like that. I wondered if I did anything wrong, or if he just didn’t like me in that way. Being without answers for so many years tortured me, and I couldn’t help but want to go back home and see what he had to say for himself.
But I knew that if I accepted this offer, it was for the best if I just focused on the music. At the end of the day, this was business. If he wanted me to come back to Chalice Falls to reunite, he would’ve just contacted me directly instead of going through my record label representative. He probably just saw an opportunity to help his band.
“So, did you listen to them? What do you think?” Mark asked with an eager tone to his voice.
I ground my teeth in thought, trying to figure out what to say. He had no idea that I had so much complicated history with the lead guitarist.
“They’re good. I didn’t think a band from my little hometown could get as popular as they have,” I admitted. They had hundreds of thousands of views online, and they had a decent number of followers too. Somehow, they managed to catch the attention of people outside of Chalice Falls.
“Right! A hometown collaboration. It’ll be sentimental for you,” Mark pointed out.
I grimaced as I sat down on my couch, sinking into the polyester cushions.
“The label really thinks this will be a good project to work on?” I asked.
“Absolutely! Your voice paired with a talented band like that will make waves,” Mark assured me. “It’s something new and exciting.”
I rubbed a strand of my hair between my fingertips, wondering why it couldn’t be literally any other band on the planet. It just had to be Ryder’s. As much as I believed backing out was the best option so that there wouldn’t be any complications brought up by the past, I didn’t want to say no to my label after everything they did for me.
“Alright, let’s do it,” I replied, withholding a defeated sigh.
“Amazing! We’re thinking about sending you to Chalice Falls for a few weeks to get the song written and recorded,” Mark told me.
A few weeks. I lowered my head and shook it. I hadn’t been back to my hometown in years, and now I had to spend a few weeks there. That just sounded like trouble.
“Sounds good. When am I going?” I asked him, hoping that I had some time to prepare. However, my label was always go, go, go.
“We’ll fly you out tomorrow! I’ll send you all the details within the hour,” Mark said, sounding completely satisfied.
My eyes shot wide open.
“Tomorrow?” I questioned him. I thought I would have at least a week to get myself together.
“Yeah. Get your bags packed. You’re going home, Delilah!” Mark quipped before hanging up the phone.
All I could do was stare ahead with a gaping mouth. The fact that I would be back in Chalice Falls by the end of tomorrow made my chest tighten so much that it was harder to breathe. New York had become my home… or at least my place of work. I hadn’t explored it as much as I should’ve because I had sunk myself into my career.
With a sigh, I hauled myself to my feet and dragged my suitcase out of my closet, tearing clothes off hangers and tucking them inside. Truthfully, I didn’t know what to expect, but that wasn’t the most nerve wracking part of this trip.
What scared me the most was getting there and Ryder acting like he didn’t know me or that he didn’t care about our past. I’d spent years with him in my thoughts, and I didn’t want to find out that I hadn’t crossed his mind since he left.
I risked being heartbroken all over again.
Chapter 4
Delilah
Old buildings and back roads flickered past as I stared out of the car window, taking in the sight of my hometown.
It all looked the same.