Authors: Wynonna Judd

Restless Heart (29 page)

BOOK: Restless Heart

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Seth stood by in silence. She couldn’t even look at him, burying her face in Mike’s soft fur for a long time.

“See you, Mike,” she said at last, straightening and turning away, a painful ache in her throat.

She hated that this was happening, and yet she couldn’t figure out how to stop it.

“C’mon, Mike,” Seth said, and the dog obediently trotted toward him, tags jangling.

“Good night,” Seth told Destiny’s back.

“Good night.”

Who were they kidding? This wasn’t good night; it was good-bye.

Seth went into his room.

Destiny locked the adjoining door behind him and went into her bedroom.

Numb, she sat shakily on the edge of the bed.

How could things have gone so wrong, so fast?

Just minutes ago, their relationship had seemed so full of promise, and now . . .

Haunted by Tammy’s earlier warning, Destiny let the tears fall at last.

FOURTEEN

“
D
estiny? They’re ready for you in hair and makeup,” Grace said, sticking her blond head into the dressing room two days later.

“Tell them I’ll be there in a second,” Destiny said glumly. “I have a phone call to make.”

“Seth again?” Grace, who knew the whole story, shook her head.

She nodded, pulling out her cell phone and hitting redial.

After a restless sleep on Christmas Eve, her first thought upon waking was that the falling-out with Seth must have been a bad dream. But the skin around her eyes was so tender from salty tears that she realized it had really happened.

Hurrying to the door that connected Seth’s room to her suite, she knocked. She had a fleeting moment of hope when it opened, but found herself face-to-face with a hotel maid who informed her that the guest had checked out first thing.

She’d been trying to reach him for more than twenty-four hours, to no avail. Now, as her call went straight to voice mail, her heart sank all over again. “Hey, Seth, give me a call. Please . . . I need to talk to you.”

She hung up and turned to Grace. “I think he turned off his phone.”

“Maybe he just didn’t hear it ring.”

“He always has his phone on him, Grace.”

“Well, maybe—”

“He left yesterday without so much as a good-bye. He obviously doesn’t want to talk to me.”

“Tell him he doesn’t have to talk. He just has to listen.”

“How am I going to do that if he won’t even return my calls?”

Grace fisted her hands in the pockets of her low-cut jeans. “You’re not going to like what I have to say.”

“Since when has that stopped you?” Destiny tried to laugh, but it sounded more like a sob.

“Never,” Grace answered with a small smile, and patted her arm. “Destiny, you know how I love Seth like a brother . . .”

“I know.”

“And I want nothing more than to see the two of you live happily ever after. But maybe you were right, after all.”

“About . . . ?”

“I hate to admit this, but maybe it really was pretty significant that he went and bought a house just as you’re this close to releasing ‘Restless Heart.’ ” She put her thumb and index finger an inch apart.

“Maybe?” Destiny echoed, shaking her head. “I got the message, Grace. Loud and clear.”

“The thing is, I know you don’t want to lose him, but—”

“It’s pretty tough to lose something you don’t have.”

Grace angled her head. “But you
could
have him. You just aren’t willing to do what it takes.”

“You mean give up my career right now, just when it’s starting to take off?” Destiny asked incredulously. “Because there’s no way I’m going to—”

“Wow, maybe you’ve got more in common with Daddy than you knew,” Grace cut in. “That stubborn Hart pride—”

“Bull!” Destiny responded fiercely, but a tear slipped out of the corner of her eye.

“Destiny, you don’t have to give up your career. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing, you know.”

“In this industry, you have to give a hundred percent, and you know it as well as I do.”

“Still . . . maybe you can compromise a little and admit to Seth—and to yourself—that you might just need more than music in your life once you’ve established your career and have some breathing room.”

“But that wouldn’t change anything
now
. And it wouldn’t be fair to ask him to put his own life on hold and wait for me while I go off to do my thing. That’s what Mother did for Daddy, and look how that turned out.”

“So what are you saying?”

“That you have to love yourself before you can love somebody else,” Destiny told her with a bit of a sad smile. “And that Seth deserves to have someone to come home to.”

“Like Daddy did?”

Destiny sucked her bottom lip between her teeth. “How can I do to Seth what Daddy did to Mom?”

“I get it. And if you don’t pursue this with all you’ve got, then you’ll regret it someday, and you might blame Seth.”

“But will I regret losing a chance with Seth even more?”

S
tanding on the familiar doorstep of the Harts’ home with Mike in one arm and a bagful of toys and dog food in the other, Seth fought the urge to do an about-face.

Losing Mike meant losing another part of Destiny. But he knew it had to be done. He’d received an e-mail from Destiny this morning.

It said only:
You can drop off Mike with my mom this afternoon. She knows and she’ll be home. Let me know that you got this e-mail. Destiny.

That was it. Not a word about what had happened between them, nor an acknowledgment of the messages she’d left on his voice mail.

Yesterday, Christmas Day, as he drove home through mountain snow with Mike restless in the backseat and tears blurring his vision the whole way, his cell phone rang regularly.

Destiny, he knew. He saw her number on the Missed Calls file.

As soon as he got home, he turned off the phone, and hadn’t turned it on yet.

He had no idea what she wanted to tell him, and it was better that way.

Nothing either of them could possibly say—or do—would change the reality that they were headed in opposite directions.

In response to her e-mail this morning, he’d typed out a three-word reply:
Got it. Done.

He wondered if she’d even received it, after what she’d said about her in-box being overrun with fan mail from strangers.

Staring glumly at the Harts’ front door, with its festive boxwood wreath, Seth pressed the bell and waited.

“This isn’t my idea,” he told Mike bleakly. “Just so you know. I’d be happy to have you live with me, but . . .”

The door opened and Sara Hart stood there.

He’d seen Destiny’s mother a few times in the last month, but he still wasn’t accustomed to her transformation.

He could tell by the nervous look on her face that she wasn’t quite comfortable in her new skin, so he carefully kept too much surprise from showing in his expression.

She wore a frothy green dress that flared out just above her knees and shoes with a little heel. Instead of conservative pearls or something gold or silver, she had on a chunky beaded bracelet and necklace that added a funky vibe to her outfit. Shiny green hoop earrings peeked out from the feathered haircut that framed her face.

She looked fresh and vibrant and ready to take on the world.

“You look real pretty, Mrs. Hart,” Seth said, causing her to blush.

“Why, thank you, Seth. You are ever the gentleman.”

“I’m only speaking the truth.” John Hart, Seth thought to himself, was totally missing the boat.

And so am I, with his daughter—but it’s not my choice
.

“I know Destiny told you I’d be bringing Mike over, so . . .”

“She did.” Sara shook her head. “What happened between the two of you, Seth?”

“She didn’t say?”

“No. But I could hear in her voice that something was wrong. When I asked, she said she was in a hurry and didn’t have time to talk.”

“That was probably the truth.” He tried to keep the hint of bitterness from his tone, but wasn’t entirely successful.

“If I’ve learned anything from my daughter, it’s that you get one shot at this life,” Sara said, “and you’d better make the most of it. She’s doing what she has to do.”

“I know that. And so am I.”

“As you should. Congratulations on the new house. Destiny told me.”

“Thank you.”

“When are you moving in?”

“As soon as possible. In fact, I’m headed over there right now to take some measurements.” He cleared his throat and looked down at Mike. “Listen, if the dog is too much trouble for you, or if Colonel Hart isn’t happy about having him in the house—”

“It’s not too much trouble, and Colonel Hart doesn’t know about it because Colonel Hart isn’t here. He left last night to go fishing.”

“He left on Christmas?”

She shrugged. “It was quiet around here without the girls—not much of a holiday this year.”

“Yeah . . . I know what you mean.”

Seth gave Mike one last pat and handed him over, along with his belongings. “I’ve got a crate in the car for him, too. I’ll get it.”

“Seth?” Mrs. Hart called, as he started away.

He turned.

“Don’t think that just because the timing isn’t right now, it won’t be right someday.”

“A lot can happen between now and someday, Mrs. Hart.”

D
estiny sat gloomily staring at herself in the mirror as a makeup artist scrambled to find something to cover the circles and raw, red skin around her eyes.

“My goodness, what’s wrong?”

She looked up to see that Tammy had settled into the chair beside hers. “Oh . . . nothing. I’m great.”

“I’m not buying what you’re selling, girlfriend.” Tammy lifted her chin as a stylist draped a protective sheet beneath it. “You look like you’ve been crying your heart out.”

“Maybe that’s because . . . I have.”

“Let me guess—it’s about Seth?”

Destiny nodded.

“So tell me, sugar, what’s going on?”

“I realized on Christmas Eve that it would be better to just . . .” She stopped and put her hand over her mouth.

“Let him go?”

“He’s a high school teacher . . . and I’m doing this!” Destiny waved her hand in an arc. “How in the world can this possibly work?”

“Your love for each other has to rise above it. Instead of being together every day, you have to treasure the time you do have together.”

“That’s so much easier said than done.”

“Ah, sweetie. Like I said, it isn’t easy, but as long as he’s supportive—”

“You mean
was
.”

“Uh-oh.”

“We had an argument, and he left, and I’ve been calling, but I can’t get through to him.”

“You left him a message?”

“Yes.”

“Then the ball’s in his court.”

Destiny sighed. “I keep thinking about how hectic things were when he got here, and after the show—I was pulled in every direction . . .”

“So what else is new?”

“But with Seth here, I felt so guilty every time something took me away from him.”

“Erase that word from your vocabulary. Guilt is toxic.”

“I’ll try.” She sighed. “I think he’s realizing this might be too much to handle.”

“Well, if he can’t deal with it early on, then he surely won’t be able to later in the game.” Tammy put her hand on Destiny’s shoulder and squeezed. “I told you I’m a straight shooter. I know it’s not what you wanted to hear, but . . .”

Destiny swallowed hard. “But maybe I needed to hear it.”