*
Kyle tried to ignore Lourdes’s voice. She was whispering, so she wouldn’t be overheard, but her whisper was so loud it actually drew more attention to her conversation.
He was about to turn on the television. Whatever she had to say to Derrick Meade—there was no doubt it was him, since she’d said his name a number of times—was none of his business. But then he heard tears in her voice and couldn’t help pausing to listen.
“You must’ve been with her...Then where were you all day? You had to know I was trying to reach you...You always have your phone with you. You’d have it surgically implanted into your ear if you could...That’s what you constantly tell me, but that’s not what I’m feeling...Then why continue to put off the wedding? Before you met Crystal, you were in such a hurry...So it’s what’s happened to my career that’s made you back off? If I’m not the hottest singer in Nashville, you’re no longer interested?...I get that, but what else am I supposed to think?...So are you coming here or not?...Never mind. Go ahead and do whatever you have to do for Crystal...No, I’m not! You’re the one who’s acting weird...Forget it. I’ve got a lot to do, too. I’m fine here without you.”
The sudden silence led Kyle to believe she’d hung up. He also guessed she was crying. It sounded like it.
Should he knock on the door and attempt to console her? He’d always been someone who tried to fix whatever was broken, and that included the people in his life. But he couldn’t imagine something that intrusive going over very well for either one of them. They’d barely met.
Assuming she’d prefer her privacy, he put on Thursday night football. Hopefully, that would distract him and give her enough background noise to hide her sniffles.
But it was only fifteen minutes later that the door slammed against the inside wall and she charged out of the bedroom. “Kyle?”
He lowered the volume and looked over at her. Her red, swollen eyes left little doubt that there’d been tears. “Are you okay?” he asked.
She wiped her cheeks. “Not really, but I haven’t been okay in a while.”
“What’s the matter?”
“It’s my problem, and I’ll take care of it, but I was wondering if you’d do me a favor.”
He took his feet off the coffee table and sat up. “What kind of favor?”
“It’s sort of an odd request.”
This made him leery. Noelle always approached him with one odd request or another. “I’m listening.”
“I was hoping you’d call my manager and ask for Crystal Holtree.”
“Who’s Crystal Holtree?”
“If you don’t know yet, you will within the next year. She’s another singer—Nashville’s new darling. Derrick manages her career, too.”
“And you want to see if he’s managing a bit more than that.”
Her chest rose as she took a deep breath. “Yes.”
“Are you sure you should check up on him like this?”
“My heart is telling me he’d never be unfaithful, but my head is telling me something else. I’m going crazy, becoming so insecure. I have to know if it’s him—or me.”
He rubbed his chin as he thought about her request.
“It’s just one phone call,” she said.
“But he knows who I am.”
“Okay, it’s one phone call and you’ll have to claim to be someone else.”
“Like...”
She spread out her hands. “Robin Graham.”
“Who’s Robin Graham?”
“No one. I made up the name. You could say you’re Robin Graham with Country Weekly or CMT and you’d like to interview Crystal. That’s all you’d have to do. He wouldn’t want her to miss that call. If she’s with him, he’ll hand over the phone, and if he hands over the phone, he’s been lying to me.”
“But he has my cell number in his contacts. I put it in the rental ad.”
“You don’t have another phone?”
“Not here at home. I guess I could block my number...”