After several more buzzes, the call transferred to voice mail.
“I have to go,” Kyle said. “I’ve got that dinner at my parents’, remember?”
“Have fun.”
He pushed her phone to one side so he could put the plate down, and sat on the edge of her bed. “Listen, I’m sorry about Derrick.”
“Better to find out now than later,” she said. At least, that was what he thought she said. Her response was muffled by the blankets.
“There you go. Fortunately, you haven’t married him yet—and you don’t have any kids.”
“Don’t say that,” she muttered. “Don’t mention kids.”
He’d meant to encourage her, without minimizing the situation. “Maybe that’s being too practical, but it’s true.”
Suddenly, she threw back the covers and looked at him. “What am I going to do?”
“You’re going to get up and dust yourself off,” he said.
“How?”
“You could start by eating.” He slid her breakfast closer. “What do you say? As far as first steps go, it’s not a hard one, is it?”
Glumly, she took the fork and stuck a bite of egg in her mouth. “Two years ago I was in Paris for Christmas. Derrick had four dozen long-stem red roses delivered to our penthouse suite and a box of the best chocolates I’ve ever tasted.”
Kyle grinned. “I can bring home some flowers and chocolates, if that’s all it’ll take to cheer you up.”
She huffed as she dropped her fork. “I’m not hinting for flowers and chocolates. The point is...I was riding high. I was hitting the top of the country music charts. Do you understand how few people—how few women—get that far? I won CMA’s Best New Artist Award that year. I was the only female nominated.”
“That’s incredible.”
“And this is how it ends? I come tumbling from my lofty perch to land on my ass—without even my manager to give me a hand up?”
“What went wrong with your career?”
“I insisted on releasing a pop album, and I left my label to do it—over Derrick’s objections, by the way, which of course makes it worse. He wanted me to play it safe, while I insisted it was time to take a risk. And, bottom line, that risk didn’t pan out. Most people in the music industry thought the album was good, but it wasn’t embraced by my fans. I saw how quickly the people who claimed to love me and my work could turn into my toughest critics.”
He could tell that had taken a heavy toll. “Did it cause problems between you and Derrick?”
“A few. We certainly had arguments over it.”
“But you still have the songs that were so popular before. No one can take that away from you. Go back to what your core fans like about your earlier work and rebuild.”
“That was my plan. But now my confidence is so badly shaken, and my personal life is in such turmoil, I’m not sure I can pull it off. Like I said, I don’t even have Derrick.”
“He’s been calling and texting. You could forgive him and take him back.”
She handed him the plate and drew up her knees so she could rest her chin on them. “Yes, I could, but it wouldn’t change anything.”
“Because...”
“This isn’t about forgiveness. It’s about character. He had a chance to reform, and he didn’t respect it. He hasn’t changed at all from when he cheated on his wife. And now he’s abused my trust, too.” She dropped her head lightly against the headboard to stare up at the ceiling. “On top of everything else, I feel like the biggest fool in the world.”
“For giving someone a second chance?”
“For turning a blind eye.”
Kyle frowned at the barely touched eggs. “Why don’t you come to my folks’ place for dinner? Derrick and your problems with him have gone around in your head enough. I’m not convinced that analyzing your relationship over and over will do you any good.”
“You mean I should forget my troubles and move on.”