You're Still the One (24 page)

Authors: Rachel Harris

“
Arabella
.” The way Charlie stared into the camera, it was as if he could see her sitting there in her pajamas, and Ella’s heart stopped. “If you’re watching this today, I want to say thank you. I wish you were standing here with me, because you’re the reason I’m here.”

After a pause, he glanced at the crowd. “My friendship with Ms. Stone recently made headlines, and my band and label have already released statements, so I won’t be addressing those rumors today. However, I did want to clarify one small point.”

Okay, strike her earlier thought.
Now
Ella’s heart stopped.

“The defaming article claimed that I was Arabella Stone’s boss and that she was learning from me this summer. I’m here to say that that isn’t true. Trust me when I say, Arabella was the one who taught me.”

Charlie stared into the camera again for a long, silent moment, punctuated only by whispers from the crowd, and then he cleared his throat and offered the audience a small smile.

“Proceeds from all merchandise sales during Blue’s Steel Drum tour will benefit Life & Lyrics, and I hope everyone watching today will visit the foundation’s website to learn about the organization, download Abby’s single, and help spread the word. Silence does nothing. Let’s give these teens some hope. Thank you.”

The feed froze, the speech over, and a soft voice came from behind Arabella.

“Why didn’t you tell me he’s been calling you?”

Ella jumped in her seat and spun around with a guilty expression, feeling like a kid with her hand in the cookie jar. She hadn’t heard Lana come home. She also didn’t know how her best friend suddenly knew about Charlie’s calls, but there was no point in denying it. The girl’s cross-examination skills were legendary.

“Honestly? I guess because I knew you’d make me listen to what he had to say, and my heart wasn’t ready.”

Lana pursed her lips. “Yet you watched his speech.”

Arabella shrugged. “I never claimed to make any sense, prosecutor. Besides, I’m surrounded by pain-killers.” She gestured to the ice cream and booze, and Lana simply held her stare. Ella groaned.

“Fine. You want the truth? I wanted to see if Charlie would say anything about me today, even though I never thought he actually would. The fact that he
did
only confuses me more. I genuinely thought we were building something. To you, that probably sounds foolish, but it’s how I felt. So when those pictures were leaked, and my dad told me the truth, I was devastated. Crushed. I’d been lying to myself the whole time, and it makes me feel stupid.”

Lana walked across the room and sat on the edge of Ella’s desk. “Honey, you’re not stupid. You have the biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever known, and that doesn’t make you a fool or anything else. It makes you a romantic.”

Arabella narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Her jaded friend sounded almost optimistic.

Reaching across Ella’s body, Lana snatched the carton of ice cream and dug out a dollop of cookie dough. “I saw Charlie today.”

“Excuse me?”

Lana closed her lips around the spoon and shrugged. “I took your invite,” she said, mouth half full. She chewed and swallowed, as Ella pondered how she could’ve found the silly thing. She hadn’t seen it in days. Lana smiled. “You left it in the bathroom.”

“Okay, so you found an invitation, not addressed to you, sitting next to the toilet and what? You decided to party crash?”

“Not exactly. I knew you wouldn’t go, so I figured it was my job, as your bestie, to confront the man who broke your heart. Imagine my surprise when I see him looking as devastated as you and claiming he’s been calling you the whole time.”

Arabella winced. “I guess I should’ve mentioned that.”

“No,” Lana said, targeting her with the spoon. “You should’ve called him back.”

“What’s the point?” she asked. “What we had is over, and rehashing things won’t help.”

“Honey, I’m no expert, but a man who’s not in love would have stopped calling you by now.” Lana let that point linger before nodding toward the computer. “He certainly wouldn’t put his heart on the line for the whole world to see, either.”

Ella leaned her head back and closed her eyes. “I don’t know if I can trust him,” she whispered. “I thought I could do it—be daring and put myself out there. Risk public scrutiny for the man I loved. But it hurts, Lana. Rejection and ridicule hurt, and Charlie betrayed my trust. At the end of the day, I just don’t think I’m cut out for daring, after all.”

“You’re a whole lot closer than you think.”

Arabella opened her eyes, and Lana smiled. “Only someone daring would’ve gone for that internship when she had a cushy job waiting.” When Ella went to interrupt, her best friend did it for her. “Yeah, yeah, I know it wasn’t as independent as you’d thought, but that doesn’t change the fact that you went for it.”

Arabella gnawed on her lip. “I guess I did step out of my comfort zone. Moving to a new city wasn’t easy, and I did try something new.”

“Yup. And found your true passion while you were at it.” Lana reached into her purse and then slid one of the Life & Lyrics CDs onto the desk.

Staring at the finished product, pride flooded Arabella’s chest. She’d helped make that possible. Thinking back to what Charlie told her before she’d left, she said, “I guess I did make a difference, huh?”

Lana smiled. “You heard the man. Without you, none of this would be possible, and I’ve never known Sexy Charlie to be humble.”

Arabella rolled her eyes, not correcting her friend. The Charlie behind the scenes was a lot different than the one Lana or anyone else thought they knew. He
was
humble…almost too much so. He never saw how incredible he truly was.

Opening the CD case, Ella decided Lana was right. Along with making some great friends and special memories, she had found her true passion. As it turned out, her anal-retentive lists and plans
were
good for something—and it was her dad who’d been the one to make the connection.

With the last item on her top-ten list in mind, Arabella raised her eyes. “Did he really look miserable?”

Lana winked. “Minimally hot at best.”

Ella laughed and wiped the last of the tears from her eyes. Then, drumming her nails on the cherrywood desk, she grabbed her phone.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Another dress, another Nashville gala. Unlike the launch that kicked off her stolen summer, however, Arabella’s dress tonight was all her. A strapless, fitted mermaid gown with black lace and satin piping that swished when she walked. As for her makeup, that was a bit heavier than the norm, but this time it was to counteract the residual zombie look from one too many sleepless nights. Those nights were over. Ella had a new bounce in her step, a new
passion
she was pursuing, and she was beyond excited for the next chapter.

Moving through the crowd, Arabella smiled and waved to the people she knew. She even played nice with the handful of journalists who approached her about Charlie’s speech that afternoon. Everyone wanted to know if she’d talked to him recently, if she had anything to add about their relationship, or if she wanted to address the cruel posts floating around in cyberspace.

Having learned from the best, she simply said, “No comment.”

Smiling at the small dose of power she’d reclaimed, she held her head high. That was another change from the launch at Country Roads a few months ago. Back then, when Ella had caught people staring, judging her based on hearsay, she’d shied away. Now the stares rolled off her back.

Tonight wasn’t about her, anyway. It was about raising money for an incredible cause. Anyone who wanted to detract from that and stare at her could suck it.

“Arabella.”

Just like that, her amused smile fell from her lips.

Hearing things, she was fairly confident, was an early indicator of insanity. The voice who’d said her name had clearly been Charlie’s, but she knew better than most how much he hated fancy parties. He despised dressing up. The only reason he’d gone to Eden’s launch in May was to kiss up to her dad.
And look how that turned out.

But when Ella turned, curiosity demanding a look, there he stood. In another itchy monkey suit, an almost manic look in his hazel eyes, with an ever-widening circle of onlookers enveloping them.

She shook her head in disbelief. “What on earth are you doing here?”

…

Christ, she was beautiful.

Arabella Stone put every other woman in the room to shame. Standing there in her classic gown, her dark hair piled on her head and showing off that gorgeous neck, the pretty words he’d rehearsed all afternoon flew straight out of his head. But she was standing in front of him, waiting along with a bunch of other nosy people to hear what he had to say, and he couldn’t waste this opportunity. He’d just have to improvise.

“Your father told me where to find you.” He took a couple steps toward her, not wanting to cage her in or make her nervous, but physically unable to stay away. “You haven’t been taking my calls, and after an enlightening chat with my niece this afternoon, there’s something I have to say.”

Arabella glanced at the people openly eavesdropping but nodded. “Okay, Charlie. I’m listening. Whatever it is you have to tell me, I’m ready to hear it.”

Holy shit, he was nervous. His mouth was suddenly dry and his heart was playing kickboxer on his chest bone. He should’ve written this speech down, too.

“You know I’m no good with fancy words,” he began, rubbing his hands along his pant legs. The last time he’d worn them had been the night of their first kiss. He could only hope they brought him luck now. “I can’t write romantic lyrics to save my life. But after you left Magnolia Springs, I realized I suddenly understood their meaning.”

Her brown eyes widened, and he took another step. “Standing up at that podium today, I had everything I thought I wanted. A purpose, a sense of accomplishment, respect from my peers. A chance to make things right for Abby. But it wasn’t complete without you standing there beside me.”

Arabella held his gaze and asked quietly, “What are you trying to say, Tucker?”

The use of his last name made him smile, and a few of his nerves eased. Charlie took her hands in his, fully aware that everyone around them was watching, listening, and most likely recording this moment for YouTube. Let them. As long as
she
listened, too, he didn’t care who else heard.

“I’m in love with you, Arabella.” Charlie’s voice rang loud and clear above the music. “I’m here tonight prepared to grovel on hands and knees in front of everyone if I have to, until you give me another chance. I made the mistake of letting you go once before, and I won’t do it again.”

He blew out a breath. “I believed I wasn’t worthy of you, that I had nothing to offer, but that’s not true. I have
everything
to offer because everything I have is yours. Long distance, side by side, it doesn’t matter. The only thing that does is that I’m crazy about you. I convinced myself that you deserved better than a life spent with me dragging you down, but if you give me another chance, baby, I swear from here on out, I’ll only ever lift you up. I
need
you, Ella.”

She slapped a hand across her mouth, which he prayed to God was a good sign, and he swallowed what was left of his pride. “You told me once, before I hurt you, that you loved me. Do you think you could find it in you to love me again?”

Time stood still, and the music seemed to stop as he waited for her answer. When she slowly nodded and removed her hand, a tremulous smile was on her beautiful face. It was as if the sky opened, and those glimpses of heaven she loved so much were shining down on him.

“I never stopped.”

Charlie let loose a loud
whoop
, and the crowd around them broke into cheers as he bent his head and claimed her mouth, wrapping her up in his arms. This was where she belonged, with her heart beating against his, her happy noises filling his ears, and that addictive, sugar scent flooding his head.

He loved this woman. Damn, he loved her. He’d come way too close to losing her, to missing out on true happiness, but he wouldn’t make that mistake again. From now on, Arabella would know what she meant to him. He’d remind her every day through phone calls, video chats, surprise visits, hell, even via text. She’d never doubt his love for her again.

Giggles and a few people clearing their throats reminded him of their audience and of the dozens of camera phones no doubt trained on them in that very moment. Although he didn’t want to stop, he
never
wanted to stop, Charlie refused to endanger Arabella again with another scandal. Declarations of love and make-up kisses were okay. Mauling her on the dance floor, not so much.

Charlie reluctantly pulled back and rested his forehead on hers. “I’m the luckiest man alive.”

Arabella grinned as her adoring gaze met his eyes. “Oh yeah? Well, I have a secret for you, lucky man.”

Now that sounded promising. Leaning down, he whispered in her ear, “Does it involve losing these ridiculous clothes and finding your apartment as soon as possible?”

She laughed, and the sound was music to his ears. “No, but let’s put a pin in that.” He growled low in his throat and she said, “My secret actually involves my top-ten list.”

When he leaned back, she almost looked nervous.

“I finally finished it.”

“Oh, yeah?” He smiled to show his support, wanting her to lose the anxious lines around her mouth even as disappointment sliced through his chest. Somewhere along the way, it had become
their
top-ten list, and Charlie hated that he’d missed out on yet another adventure. But then, he was a greedy bastard when it came to Arabella.

Scratching his jaw, he thought for a second. “If I remember right, the only one left was discovering your passion.”

Her smile widened, and a touch of the anxiety faded. “Yep. I’ve finally figured out what I want to do with my life.” Energy, raw and electric, sparkled in her eyes. “It means me having to leave business affairs, but I think my new job is a much better fit.”

“That’s great, sweet girl.”

Charlie kissed her lips, trying his best to be happy for her. The thing was, he
was
happy. Arabella’s enthusiasm was palpable, and he wanted that for her. She deserved it. But it was hard to be thrilled knowing she’d be off chasing her dream while he traveled the world living his.

“I’m glad you think so,” she murmured. “I told Tyler you’d feel that way.”

He was nodding along and listening, trying to squash his jealousy, when that last part caught up with him. “Wait, Tyler? What does he have to do with anything?”

Playfulness and love shone in her eyes, and hope replaced the dread tightening his stomach. Although his gut had proven him wrong in the past when it came to Arabella, Charlie couldn’t keep the cautious excitement from his voice. “Baby, tell me this is good news.”

“I certainly hope it is.” Arabella took a deep breath and then bounced on her toes. “You’re looking at your new band manager!”

Charlie’s jaw hit the floor.

“Well, manager on a trial basis,” she quickly corrected. “My stipulation. I told Tyler I wanted to prove to you and the rest of the guys that I can do this job, and do it well, before we made anything official. But…” Her face lit with a delighted grin. “I know that I can.”

His smile couldn’t be contained. Not only because this meant no more good-byes were in their future, but because Arabella had come up with this plan and accepted the position
before
he told her how he truly felt. She’d had faith in him. How did he get so lucky?

“Hell, yeah, you can do it,” he declared. “Baby, you’re a freaking beast!”

Swooping down, he kissed her again, unable to control himself. He licked the seam of her lips, asking for entrance, and her mouth parted on a sigh.

This was what heaven felt like. Happiness, the woman he loved in his arms, forever stretched before him. He’d never get tired of the way she looked at him with adoration in her eyes, and the best part was, he didn’t have to. Arabella was his, he was hers, and thanks to the large crowd surrounding them tonight, the entire world would know it by the morning.

Good Time Charlie was officially off the market. Thank God.