Nashville by Heart: A Novel (16 page)

“Would
you like to see my house in Brentwood?”

Her
heart gave a little flutter. Last time he’d asked her to see his house, it was
to move in, and she’d made it perfectly clear she didn’t want to live casually
with a man. Since then, she might not have changed her mind about the living
together part, but she wouldn’t turn down a visit.

“I
want you to see it,” he added.

“Today?”

“Right
now.” If Will was willing to skip out on work for the day, she knew he was
serious. And truth be told, she was dying to see his house.

“Let’s
do it,” Gillian said. “Besides, if we are all the way over in Brentwood, it’s
easier to ignore the world, right?”

“Right,
because you’re about to see my world, sweetheart.”

“Do
you realize how conceited that sounds?”

He
shrugged. “You don’t want to see my world?”

“I
do,” she said with a smile. “I really, really do.”

~~~~

She
tried not to gasp as they drove up the long drive through a yard as big as her
momma’s back pasture. It rambled and wound all the way up to a beautiful
antebellum-style home with majestic columns, a huge front porch, and more
windows than she could count. Around the house stood the most magnificent
magnolia trees she’d ever seen, with huge gorgeous blossoms. Her favorites.

“You
live
here
?”

“When
I’m not sleeping at my office, yes.”

“You
sleep at your office when you could be sleeping here?”

He
laughed. “Not every night. It’s beautiful here, but there’s never anyone
around. It’s kind of lonely sometimes.”

It
made Gillian sad to think of Will living there all by himself.

“This
is stunning.” She was amazed he’d been so humble about his house. All this time
she’d thought he was only joking when he said it was mansion-like. It actually
was a mansion.

“Why
would you buy a big house like this for one person?”

He
led her up the front steps, across the painted white porch, and to the big
yellow door. “I guess I always thought that by now I’d have a wife and kids to
share it with.”

She
couldn’t help the little flip-flop in her stomach. She’d never been a gold
digger, but she couldn’t help it if the man she was falling deeper in love with
had a house like this. Was this why he was showing it to her? Was he trying to
tell her something?

“You
want kids?”

“I
used to,” he said. “That’s what I thought a long time ago, but the right girl
never came along.” He turned away to unlock the door.

Her
heart dropped a little. Of course. It was silly of her to think she was the
right girl or that he was bringing her here to tell her something. Will
wouldn’t be thinking about marrying a little ol’ small town girl like her. She
would never fit in a big house like this anyway.

“Do
you want to go inside?”

“Yes.”
Despite what he’d said about the right girl not coming along to share it, she
felt giddy about seeing the inside. Was it silly of her to pretend? She
supposed so, but she couldn’t help it. She was only human, after all.

He
swung the door open. She gingerly stepped over the threshold and into a wide
space filled with plush sofas, crisp white curtains and heavy dark furniture.
It was a nice home, dearly in need of some feminine attention. Sweeping her
eyes over the stark furnishings, she imagined it being her feminine touch that
could liven up the place. Floral curtains, colorful cushions and vases of fresh
flowers would brighten it up, give it a homey feel.

Will
caught her arm and whispered in her ear, as if the house was filled with people
who might hear.

“So
you like horses?”

“I
love them. My dad and I used to ride before, well, you know.”

“Then
let me show you the barn.”

He
walked her through the house, past closed doors she wanted so badly to peek
into, and through the kitchen that made her want to hang some lacy curtains and
whip up a batch of her momma’s macaroni and cheese.

They
walked out a back door and across a perfectly manicured yard filled with
gardenias, lilacs and, holy cow, wisteria climbing across trellises.

“How
do you take care of this?” she asked, curious about who had the green thumb.

“My
mom designed it, and she planted a lot of it herself, but I have a service take
care of it for me.”

What
a waste, she thought. “If this were my yard, I’d want to be in it every day.
I’d have coffee on the deck every single morning before going to work.”

“Would
you?” he asked, without looking back.

“I
would.”

The
barn came into view, and her eyes widened. It was bright red and big enough to
live in. The corrals were empty.

“I
don’t see any horses,” she said, disappointed. “I thought you wanted to show me
horses.”

“I
said the barn. There’s nobody here to take care of horses,” he said. “I could
hire someone, but horses need love and attention, don’t you think?”

She
nodded. “Gotcha. I agree, they do.” But it was still sad.

“Too
bad, though,” he said. “Big ol’ barn and big ol’ house going to waste. Big ol’
bedroom too.”

She
punched him in the arm. “Men will do anything to get a woman to go to bed with
them, won’t they?”

“That
depends on what anything is, darlin’. I already asked you to move in with me.”
He was leaning on the fence rail dressed casually in jeans, boots, an old
T-shirt and baseball cap. She liked when he dressed like that. It was as if
shedding his cowboy hat and western shirt somehow shed some of the clout that
surrounded him as a music manager. This would be the Will Adams that a wife
would see at home, out of the watchdog eyes of the industry.

Her
voice rose over the breeze that swept through the corral and lifted her hair
around her face. “I told you, living together isn’t for me.”

“Yes,
you did,” he said.

She
stood there, staring at him, her heart confused, wishing he’d say something to
put her mind at ease. Something that would explain why he wanted to bring her
to this house, and then act all nonchalant like they weren’t both burning to
rip each other’s clothes off right there in the barn. Was he that upset that
she’d declined his offer to move in?

~~~~

Will
stared at her, framed by the house in the background and the lush landscape of
flowers and greenery. She looked perfect standing there, like she was already a
part of it, and she would look perfect in his bed, although maybe not the bed
he currently slept in. Maybe one of the beds down the hall in the rooms his mom
had decorated. The ones nobody ever slept in unless his family came to visit,
and even then, many of them had never been slept in at all.

“I
can’t believe you sleep in your office when you have this beautiful place,” she
said.

“It
gets lonesome.” He smiled, hoping she might take a hint that he was trying to
introduce a bigger idea.

“Then
bring someone with you.”

“I
am,” he said. “I did.”

She
smiled softly, and he wondered if maybe she knew what he meant. It gave him
hope, and he thought maybe he wouldn’t wait to ask her what he wanted after
all. Why not do it right now? He took off his cap and was trying to work up the
courage to say it, his heart pounding like a steam engine, when she spun around
and walked away. He stared after her with his mouth gaping.

She
called back over her shoulder. “Anything to eat around here?”

He
shook his head, placed his cap back on it, and followed her, his eyes on that
cute little rear all the way back to the house. He felt like an idiot as he
hurried to catch up.

Back
in the kitchen, she swung open the oversized stainless steel fridge door, and
he wondered if she liked it. His mom had told him women like that sort of
thing, but Gillian didn’t comment on the fridge itself.

~~~~

“Oh,
my gosh!” she exclaimed. The odor that assailed her nostrils was far worse than
any of Tasha’s forgotten concoctions in their apartment’s refrigerator.

He
reached over her, grabbed the offending container of unrecognizable food, and
rushed outside. Through the window, she watched him jog over to a garbage can
while holding his nose. She erupted into a giggling fit, which she was still
doing when he came in. Watching her with narrowed eyes, he washed his hands and
leaned back on the counter while she caught her breath.

“What’s
so funny?” The corners of his mouth twitched.

“Oh
heavens. You just looked so silly. Who knew anything could ruffle your feathers
like that?”

He
shrugged. “You found my weakness. Bad smells.”

“I’ll
remember that.”

“So,
the bad news is, no food. But believe it or not, they do deliver pizza out
here. Asian, too. How about some sushi?” He picked up the phone, his face void
of expression.

“Nice
try,” she said.

He
grinned. “You should try it.”

“I
will try sushi someday, for you.”

“You
will?”

“Yes,
but I’m craving pepperoni tonight.”

“Your
wish is my command.”

While
they waited for it to be delivered, he gave her a tour of the rest of the
house. She was quick to notice that all the rooms downstairs were stark and
undecorated, while the rooms upstairs were all gorgeously furnished and homey.

“Wow,”
she said. “These bedrooms are so pretty.” To herself she said, they only need
to be filled up with family.

“I
don’t spend any time in these rooms,” he said. “But I let my mom go wild
decorating them.” He flipped on a light. “This one has its own bathroom, and
it’s the biggest bedroom in the house.”

It
was decorated in cool blues and greens with a plush king-sized bed, a mahogany
Chippendale dresser, and sheer white curtains on a large bay window overlooking
the barn and the corral.

“I
think I like your mom already. We love the same colors.”

“Good,”
he said. “Because I’d like for you to meet her.”

She
snapped her head up. Did he mean what she thought he meant? There was only one
reason a man introduced a woman to his mother, and that was if he was planning
to be with her for a long time.

Gillian
grinned. “I would love to meet her. I take it she didn’t decorate the
downstairs.”

“No,”
he said, guiding her down the hallway. “Not yet. Here’s my room.”

She
peeked into a manly-looking but surprisingly clean room, everything in dark
woods, black and very cowboy. The bathroom looked small, but she supposed a man
wouldn’t care about that. The window also overlooked the barn, and she could
easily imagine Will falling asleep there after a long hard day. Sad he didn’t
have a woman to cuddle up to in that big ol’ bed.

She’d
like to be that woman, she thought, but not as a girlfriend. She wanted
forever, and as much as he flirted, he was probably just teasing her. He wasn’t
a forever kind of guy—he’d made that clear in his dealings with women in the
past, right? He said so himself.

“I
see.”

“But
that’s not what I want to show you,” he said, grabbing her hand. She followed
him back downstairs and to the back of the house. He flipped on the lights of a
large open room, revealing a studio.

“Oh
wow!” She could barely take it all in. It was a gleaming room, obviously built
with musical acoustics in mind, and was furnished with a host of sound and
recording equipment. She touched a shining fifties-style microphone with one
finger as she passed.

“This
is spectacular. Did you design it?”

He
nodded, looking proud as a new daddy, but when she moved to study some pictures
on the wall, he reached in front of her and snatched one off.

“That
one’s a terrible picture. I don’t even know why it’s there.” He walked over to
a slim desk near the door and put it in a drawer.

“Will
Adams, what is that?”

She
gently shoved him out of the way and grabbed the picture from the drawer.
Holding it up, she wasn’t surprised to see a picture of a young Will accepting
a Grammy award for songwriting with her dad, Cooper Heart.

He
rubbed the stubble on his cheek, his muscular arms working in agitation. “I
forgot that was up there.”

She
put the picture back and adjusted it on its nail. Stepping back, she gazed at
it, wondering for a moment about her dad. What would he think of her and Will?
She wondered if she’d hear from him, now that Aunt Cher had called him.

She
felt Will’s hands on her shoulders. “He’s an idiot, Gillian.”