t me like a

o

r. The bedroom where I wrote the songs that brou

words catching in my throat. "She said it was our future.

e thick with regret. "I should have told

le my personal affairs. But I' d trusted her. Implicitly. I' d

nto my mind. I didn' t say another word for the rest of the d

the familiar dirt track. But instead of my family' s old white farmhouse, there was

Aspen cabin, Cassidy was pouring Ca

lling through his phone. "The post has over a

smooth as silk. "We' re creating a narrative. You'

a flicker of unease in his eyes.

lk for a few days, write a few sad songs, and then he' ll come

"I wrote a new chorus this mor

n her face. For a fleeting moment, as Cal sang about finding his muse in the mountains, her smile ti

That was the past.

The air was crisp and clean, so different from the city sm

p behind us. A

iam

ook me a secon

? Harper

' t seen her in years. She was a real estate agent now, sharp and profe

ession softening with sympathy. "I' m so so

e state had strong-armed all the local families, but that the payout Cassidy accepted was criminal

ys, the shared memories that now lay buried under the mu

, a

he edge of the prop

by someone in town that a "Nashville

nd on my arm in a gesture of comfort. T

the truck, my phone was buz

n With Hometown Flame Ami