Hideaway Heart (Cherry Tree Harbor Book 2)

BEFORE THE LAST song of the night, I paused to take it all in.

The hot glow of the stage lights. The electric hum of the equipment. The sea of faces filling the open-air amphitheater. The thousands of phones held high, waving like stalks of wheat in a field. The starry late summer sky beyond them.

It was the final show on my tour—my first as Kelly Jo Sullivan. And despite the label’s dire warnings about the name change, the different sound on my new album, and my insistence on working with mainly up-and-coming female producers instead of their usual stable of aging good old boys, my professional renaissance had been successful beyond my wildest dreams.

I adjusted the strap on my guitar and moved closer to the mic. As always, I tapped my chest three times before beginning my closing song—my biggest hit yet—which I’d written for Xander. It was called “Lightning Bolt Love,” and it was about meeting your soul mate when you least expected it. About realizing there was someone alive who could bring you to your knees. About how no matter how hard you fought it, love would always win.

He wasn’t here, and the show wasn’t being televised, but he often saw videos people posted on social media, so I sent him our sign every single night. Despite the distance and time we were forced to spend apart, we’d only grown closer over the last year. There was no doubt in my mind he was the one for me. We hadn’t talked much about the future in concrete terms—mostly we just tried to be together as often as we could and made the most of every single minute we had. We never took a single moment for granted.

When I strummed the opening bars, a tsunami of cheers rushed toward me from the audience—they knew every single word, and they’d sing it along with me, just like fans had done at every show all over the country.

My eyes teared up as I began the song. Tonight was bittersweet for me. I was saying goodbye to a phase of my life, but I was also eager to take a break. I’d been working nonstop for the last ten months, and slowing down for a while was going to feel so good.

So would waking up next to Xander every morning.

Last fall, we’d agreed that we’d try not to go more than three weeks without seeing each other, and so far, we hadn’t gone more than two. Within a few days of the Buckley’s Pub opening, I’d rented a small, fully furnished home on a quiet street within walking distance of downtown Cherry Tree Harbor and the waterfront. The owners only used it during the warmer months, so it would be mine until the end of April.

Xander moved in the following week, and we agreed that he’d stay there full-time while I went back and forth from Nashville as needed. He started looking for houses, and in February, he found one he loved and made an offer. It needed work, but with his dad and his brother’s help, he completed enough of it that we were able to move in when my lease was up. My brother had some leave time, and he flew in and helped us move. We’d told him about us as soon as he was back on the grid. Xander had been a little nervous, but not only was Kevin happy to hear the news, he wanted credit for introducing us!

Between the bar and the home renovations, Xander’s free time was scarce, but he came to Nashville with me as often as he could, and he always made the trip if something important was happening. Like the day last October when I had the meeting with PMG. He didn’t even tell me he was coming—he just surprised me by showing up at my house the night before. “I know you can handle this on your own,” he said as I hugged him tight, “but I want to be there in your corner.”

While I was recording my new album, he visited often, and when my tour began, he tried hard to make it to a few shows each month. But I never felt like we had enough time together, and I couldn’t wait to have days on end to spend with him. He was anxious to have me all to himself too—he worried about me every day when we weren’t together. But Marius was still with me, and his team had been amazing during my tour. I always felt safe in their keeping, and we hadn’t had a single security mishap.

Which was why it was odd, as the last note of the song was drowned out by cheering, that I sensed someone walking onto the stage from the wings. I glanced to my left and noticed a tall, muscular man moving toward me. He wore jeans and a fitted black T-shirt, impressive biceps testing the sleeves.

I blinked. It couldn’t be. Xander wasn’t in California—he was back in Cherry Tree Harbor. And he usually stayed out of the spotlight, unless he was escorting me to an event. Even then, he’d take a couple photos with me and then move off to the side.

Yet there was no doubt in my mind who it was walking across that stage—I knew that body like I knew my own. I dreamed about it every night we were apart and lost myself to it every night we were together. He was my safest place in the world.

I squealed with joy as he got closer, then I lifted the guitar strap over my head and set my instrument aside. “Y’all,” I said in the mic, my eyes locked on Xander’s, “I want you to meet my person. This is Xander.”

The crowd had been going crazy already, their screams and whistles ringing in my ears, echoing in the night, but somehow the noise level rose when Xander reached my side.

“Hey,” he said, a sexy, mischievous grin on his face.

Laughing, I shook my head. “What on earth are you doing here?”

He dropped to one knee. “I’m looking for a wife.”

My jaw dropped, and the fans lost their minds as Xander uncurled his fist to reveal a ring box hidden in his huge palm. I slapped my palms over my cheeks as the gorgeous diamond solitaire sparkled in the lights. It wasn’t fancy or fussy like the luxury pieces loaned to me for big events, but I’d never loved anything more.

“Kelly Jo Sullivan,” he said loudly, so I could hear him. “I’m crazy in love with you. And my dad says that only happens once. So what do you say? Will you marry me?”

I nodded, because my throat was too tight to speak. Tears ran down my face as Xander slipped the ring on my finger—it fit perfectly. Then he stood up and took me in his arms—we fit perfectly. Lifting me right off my feet, my red boots dangling as he crushed me to his chest, our lips and hearts melded together.

He set me down and rested his forehead against mine. “For the rest of my life, all I want to do is make you happy. You and our five rowdy kids.”

“Five?” I laughed as happiness flowed through my veins.

“We’ll talk,” he said with that grin I never could resist.

Later, as we lay next to each other, skin to skin, my head on his chest, I held my hand up in the dark of my hotel room. “I love my ring so much.”

“You can’t even see it,” he teased.

“But I know it’s there, and I love it. Not just because it’s beautiful, but because of what it means.”

He kissed my head. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” I wrapped my arm around him again. “When do you want to get married?”

“I don’t know. Tomorrow? We could go straight to Vegas from here.”

I laughed. “I’d like a church wedding, please. And a big party with all our friends and family there.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do.”

Sighing, I let my eyes drift closed so I could dream about the future. “Xander?”

“Hmm?”

“We won’t really have five rowdy kids, will we?”

He chuckled softly. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”