The Girl He Used To Love

“Also true. I’ll pay half. Can you unlock the doors now?”

They were both so dirty they’d be finding mud in places they usually never thought to check for days. Getting in meant transferring all that sludge to the light gray interior of the car. Faith let out a heavy sigh and unlocked the doors. Dean quickly called dibs on the shower when they got back to the farm.

“Nice try. I’m going to have Sawyer hose you off before you step foot in my house.”

Dean turned up the heat, smudging the button. “Oh, come on. You work on a horse farm. You’ve walked through that house dirty before.”

“Not this dirty.”

Dean tried not to lean back. Faith had scooped up a handful of mud and shoved it down the back of his shirt. It was cold and wet, and he wanted to keep the cleaning costs down. “Has anyone ever been this dirty? I don’t think so.”

One side of Faith’s mouth quirked up. “Do you remember when Addison heard about that spa in Belle Meade where they charge people outrageous amounts of money for fancy mud baths, and she thought she could get the same effect by lying in a mud puddle in one of our flooded paddocks?”

The memory of Mr. Stratton calling Dean’s parents to warn them that their daughter might smell like horse manure for a few days popped up and punched Dean in the gut. He could picture a thirteen-year-old Addison returning home wearing Faith’s clothes, which were at least two sizes too small. Faith had always been the Laurel to Addison’s Hardy. She had looked ridiculous and smelled even worse. Dean had teased her relentlessly for days after.

Faith laughed and the drying mud by her eyes cracked as the skin underneath it crinkled. “She told everyone at school that people in Europe bathed in the same stuff all the time because it detoxified the body of impurities. Jill and Veronica believed every word and asked when they could come over for a treatment.”

That was a perfect example of who Addison had been. She could sell ice to a polar bear. She would have grown up to be someone amazing. The pain in Dean’s chest made it hard to breathe.

“You probably don’t remember,” Faith said, mistaking his silence for a lapse of memory.

“I remember everything. Maybe I don’t want to talk about it. Did you ever think of that?” he asked, his voice a bit harsher than intended.

Faith stiffened in the driver’s seat. Her eyes stayed trained on the road. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have brought her up. I won’t do it again.”

Dean doubted that was possible. Everything in this town reminded him of his sister. It surely did the same for Faith. Maybe it was a bad idea to stay at the farm. He couldn’t go to his parents’, but he could see if there was a room open at Tanner’s. Of course, there was a greater chance he might run into his mother if he was in the middle of town. The farm was a safe distance from all the small-town eyes and ears.

A heavy silence fell between them as they made their way back. Sawyer waved from inside one of the paddocks when they pulled up. Keep your eye on the prize. Sawyer was the real reason for staying at the farm, the only reason Dean wasn’t going to call Landon and ask him to come get him out of here.

Sawyer pushed back his cowboy hat and stared wide-eyed at the two of them as they got out of the car. His dog barked, probably thinking they were creatures of some sort. “What in the world...?”

“It’s just me, Scout,” Faith told the dog. She tossed her keys to Sawyer. “Highway 14 is shut down thanks to the rain and Dean’s car is under water. I’m going to take a shower and then we can go over what you’ve gotten finished this morning. Jason’s bringing Freddy by at eleven for his session.”

She barely spared Dean a sideways glance before heading into the house. He had obviously hurt her feelings. He tried to not feel bad about it, but that wasn’t working too well.

“Care to fill in the giant blanks?” Sawyer asked Dean.

“She slipped in some mud and dragged me down with her.” Just like she’d done with her memories of Addison. “Do you think I could borrow some more clothes?”

“This relationship is becoming very one-sided, Music Man.”

“I promise, it won’t be like that for much longer.” If Sawyer proved to be the performer Dean hoped he could be, the two of them would both be reaping the benefits of this relationship.

“There you go with those promises again. You said you don’t make those.”

This promise was different. This was one Dean was making to himself.

* * *

“GREAT, I’LL HAVE the tow truck drop the car off there as soon as they can get to it. Thanks again.” Dean hung up with the auto mechanic who’d agreed to assess the damage to his car once it was rescued from its watery jail. He was praying he didn’t have to trash it and get a new one.

Having done nothing but make call after call since getting out of the shower, he wandered down to the kitchen, hoping there were some cookies hiding somewhere. Faith had made herself scarce and maybe that was for the best.

He didn’t find any cookies, so he settled for a Coke to satisfy his sugar craving. There was only one more call to make and Dean dreaded it, hence the reason he had saved it for last. Scrolling through his contacts, he stopped when his thumb hovered over Boone’s name. He needed this man to cooperate. That usually meant Boone would try to be as uncooperative as possible. It was inevitable.

He pressed Call anyway. With each unanswered ring, Dean’s desire to drop Boone, regardless of the financial loss Grace Note would incur, increased tenfold. Boone finally answered on the fifth ring.

“Save your breath, Dean. I don’t have time to babysit your little princess. Find someone else.”

“Boone...” Dean tried turning on the charm even though he wanted to wring the guy’s neck through the phone. “Have I told you lately how much I respect your honesty?”

“I’m not collaborating with anyone right now. I’ve got nothing, absolutely nothing, to give. It’s like the music disappeared from my soul.”

Dean was thankful they weren’t having this conversation face-to-face. His eye roll would not have gone over well. “I hear you, buddy. I’m taking this seriously. I talked to someone who heard that there’s this place in California where Johnny Wilmett went to clear his head a few years ago when he was having similar issues. I’m still looking into it, but I think a retreat is exactly the kind of thing you need. Somewhere your soul can reconnect with the music. Know what I mean?”

A retreat that would include Piper Starling whether Boone liked it or not. He didn’t need to know that right now, though.

“I’m not so sure. I’m trying to get my visitation rights back and Sara is being such a...”

Divorce was a killer. Fear of ending up like Boone was one thing that kept Dean cynical about love. Better to choose to be alone than to be left that way.

“We don’t have to decide today. It doesn’t have to be California. Maybe I can find somewhere closer to Nashville. We’ll figure it out. I just need you to trust me. Can you do that? Can you trust that I’m on your side?”

“I’ll trust you when you get me invited back to the CAAs. But they better not seat me anywhere near Blake Keller.”

Dean didn’t want to know what Boone’s gripe was with Blake. That was his agent’s headache, not the label’s. The good news was that Boone had a goal Dean could help him move toward.

“I’ll work on it,” he said before adding, “Having a new album to promote would be a big help.”

Boone responded by hanging up.

Dean took a deep breath and let it go. Boone hadn’t agreed to anything, but he’d given Dean the right leverage. If being at the Country Artist Awards was important to Boone, he’d need new material for them to be interested in having him back after a less-than-stellar performance, an even more embarrassing attempt at presenting an award while intoxicated and a shoving match with an assistant producer a couple years ago. He’d have to cooperate and work with Piper. Maybe Dean could even get them a shot at performing a duet on the show.

A teenage girl waltzed through the back door like she owned the place. “Oh, my gosh! You scared me.” She held a hand against her chest. “Are you a volunteer? I told Faith I would be here. Did she not believe me?”

“I’m not—”

“I missed once. It’s not fair of her to act like I’m going to blow it off every time. She’s just like my mom,” the girl said with a groan.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Dean said, trying again to minimize the teenage angst. “I’m a family friend. I’m not volunteering for anything.”

“Oh.” Her cheeks pinked up. “Good. I knew Faith was cooler than my mom. Is she in here?”

“I think she’s outside with Sawyer.”

“Dean, could you—?” Faith came in from the front room and stopped short. “Lily, you’re here. I was starting to worry. Freddy will be here any minute.”

The teenager started rambling on about how she had slept over at a friend’s and how they had stayed up all night because the other girl cried about how this girl’s boyfriend was ruining their friendship. Then, when she got home this morning, she and her mom had fought.