"Say ... aren't you Ansley Moore?" A thirty-something woman dressed for business leaned through two men and a woman to fix her gaze on the singer. "I saw you on the music awards. You were--"
"No, no, just a resemblance." Ansley stepped closer to Drew.
"What? You're carrying a guitar case." The woman motioned to Ansley's instrument.
"That's my guitar." Drew slipped his hand around the handle, his skin touching hers. What's a white lie when rescuing a distressed damsel? "Drew Callahan, singer, songwriter, troubadour. For five hundred bucks and a good meal, I'll sing at your next party."
The woman gaped at him. She wasn't buying it. "I never heard of Drew Callahan."
"Man!" Drew smacked the counter with a glance at Ansley. "Some publicity agent you turned out to be."
"Well, some talent you turned out to be." A smile tugged the edge of her lips.
The woman started to ask another question, but someone from within the throng called her and she left with a final glance at Ansley, frowning, calculating if she'd been made a fool.
"Publicity agent?" Ansley reached for her guitar and the brush of her hand against his was soft, smooth.
"A no talent?" He curled his fingers into his palm. This stranger awakened a desire he'd rather leave sleeping.
She laughed. "Thank you. For saving me. I owe you."
"You're not going to give me another hundred bucks, are you?"
"No." She made a face. "I didn't mean to insult you. I just wanted to show my appreciation."
"The common way is to say, 'Thank you.'"
"I did that. Perhaps I can text you a download link to my last record?"
"Thanks, but I don't have a cellphone."
She grimaced, eyes wide with disbelief. "You don't have a cellphone? Look, if you don't like my music, just say so. I won't be offended."
"I'd love a copy. But I'm serious; I don't have a cell." He patted his hip pants pockets to prove his point. Sometimes he traveled with his business cards, but not this time. He'd left Hawaii so quickly he barely had time to pack. Baby brother and his impulsive decisions had him in emergency mode. Drew held up his arm, pointing to his watch. "This is the most technical thing I own."
Her smile, white and even, was sweet and inviting. "How do you communicate?"
"Land line. Old fashioned letters. And yes, email. Well, my assistant reads the emails."
She pinched his arm. "I just wanted to see if you were for real."
"It's a surprisingly simple and easy life. You should try it."
Ansley took one step back, still smiling, her movements smooth and flirty. "I wouldn't even know where to begin."
Yeah, well, he'd been that guy. The one with his phone against his ear, iPad in his hand, and a million details flowing through his brain.
But life had pulled the rug out from under him. He'd learned a lot in the past four years. Most of all, he'd never go back to the old, technologically driven Drew Callahan.
Not if his life depended on it. Which it did.
NIGHT SETTLED OVER ATLANTA'S Hartsfield-Jackson Airport as Ansley took her seat in first class, putting on her Florida State ball cap, tugging it on low.
If she kept her head down, she'd minimize being recognized by boarding passengers.
An hour-and-ten-minute flight to Melbourne and she'd be home. Noel was supposed to pick her up this morning, but with all the delays, she was occupied with wedding prep.
So Mom would meet her.
Mom. She never approved of Ansley's choice. A singer? An entertainer? She wanted Ansley to be a nurse or a doctor. Because that's what she'd always dreamed of doing.
But in the quiet moments, when she wondered if Mom was right, Ansley felt God's pleasure in her choice.
"Guess we're seatmates."
Blue Eyes, a.k.a. Drew, dropped into the aisle seat. He carried nothing. No bag, no phone, no tablet. He glanced at her when he buckled in.
"Seriously, you don't even have a carry-on?" she said. "What kind of man are you?" In all of her travels, Ansley noted how burdened and bogged down passengers were with their carry-ons and their electronic accouterments.
He laughed, accepting a bottle of water from the flight attendant. "I checked my bag. Not that there was much to check. I like to travel light." Drew leaned toward her, motioning to the ball cap. "Nice touch. Why won't you tell anyone who you are?"
"Long story."
"Ah, okay, and we've only an hour flight."
She snorted a laugh. He was making her like him. Trust him.
Ansley leaned against the side of the plane, the world beyond the oval window dark with a moonless night, and studied him.
"I was stalked." Her words were quick, low, more to herself than Drew.
"Stalked?" He shifted in his seat, the fragrance of soap and cologne rising from his skin.
"A crazy fan. Followed me everywhere. Wanted to marry me." She raised her gaze to his.
He was listening. No one but Noel ever really listened to her. Her manager, her booking agent, her record label execs talked at her, through her, around her, about her, always trying to persuade her, yet never hearing her.
"That had to be scary."
She liked the cut of his jaw and the way his full lips held his next thought in check.
"Beyond ... He started out as an enthusiastic fan of An American Singer but fixated on me more and more with each episode."
"So you took to lying about your identity and wearing a ball cap."
"I traveled with a bodyguard for a year after he was arrested, but things settled, and this trip home didn't seem to require the usual entourage."
"Why not this trip?"
She grinned. "My best friend is getting married."
"Really? Must be the weekend for weddings. My bro--"
The flight attendant leaned in. "Miss Moore, can I get a quick picture?"
Ansley glanced at Drew. He nodded. Go ahead. Rising and stepping past him, she posed with the beaming woman.
"I love your music."
Thanking her, Ansley signed the back of her iPhone and returned to her seat.
"See, that wasn't so bad," Drew said.
"Enough about me." She adjusted her cap, raising it enough to scoop her hair from her face. "What about you? What does a man without a use for technology do for a living?"
"I have a little business. A-Hoi-Hou. A line of beach wear. Just getting started. Selling to the locals and tourist. But, um, if you're ever in Honolulu, come by the shop. I'll give you a discount." He offered his hand.
"Such generosity." Ansley slipped her hand into his, her eyes meeting his, his grip feeling perfect. "If I'm ever in Honolulu ..."
Pulling her hand free, she settled in her seat and started to dream of Hawaii.
Drew stepped into the cool, dewy night outside baggage claim. His duffle bag came out first, so he waved goodbye to Ansley and headed out. Tempted to ask for her number, he restrained the impulse. Being engaged to a socialite taught him love and devotion were not enough for some women. How much more so with a rising country singer?
And he simply refused to put his heart through the ache.
Between the shadows, he caught sight of his brother, Tyler, leaning against a sporty rental car idling along the curb.
"You made it." Tyler gripped Drew in a bear hug.
"Barely. And I'm starved." Drew tossed his bag in the rear seat.
"Not to worry. Noel's dad is taking good care of us." Tyler slipped behind the wheel and steered toward the main road.
Drew cut a side glance, exhaling. Did he get into it now or wait until a decent meal took the edge off?
"You're going to love Noel, Drew."
"You realize I came to talk you out of this." Might as well get into it.
Ty chuckled, low, disbelieving. "You know, I'm grown up now. I know what I'm doing. I don't need my big brother looking out for me."
Five years younger, Tyler was the son of his mother's second husband. When the marriage went south,
Drew made sure Tyler ate his breakfast, did his homework, and took his nightly bath.
"You just met this girl. On a surfing trip to Costa Rica. How can you pledge your life to someone you've only known for three months? Need I remind you about the others?" The ones Ty fell head-over-heels for. "You were engaged to--"
"I knew you'd bring up Amanda."
"And Kayleigh. And Jodi."
"I wasn't engaged to Kayleigh or Jodi. Look, I'm not the same guy. This with Noel? It's real. I know it." He smacked his chest. "I feel it."
"That's what you said about all of them." What Drew had said about Louise.
"I was eighteen with Amanda." Tyler sighed, hammering the steering wheel as he pulled up to a red light. The sign on Drew's left indicated they were heading up US 1.
"I'm just pointing out your track record."
"I'm sorry about what happened with you and Louise, but don't rain on my happiness."
"There's no rain. Just sound advice. Losing Louise, and my career, was the best thing that ever happened to me."
"Oh, really? So why are you hiding in Hawaii? When are you going to give love another chance?"
"I'm busy, building the business. But you ... you're basing the next fifty-plus years of your life on a two-week dalliance in Costa Rica followed by three months of texting, FaceTime, and a couple of long weekends. There's been no testing of your relationship, of how you'll be together. You're not even out of giddy, butterflies stage."
"We've had plenty of reality checks." The light flashed green, and Tyler hit the gas.
"Okay, like what?" Drew powered down his window letting the wintery breeze of Florida's east coast cool his jet-lagged, hot skin, listening as Tyler rattled off a bunch of stupid "challenges" he and Noel had faced.
Like where to have the wedding. If he should wear a tux or not. If they should have a vanilla or chocolate cake.
Drew laughed, and even he heard the sardonic note. "Vanilla or chocolate cake? You think cake flavors are a test of your relationship?"
"Okay ... we had a tough time deciding if we'd have joint or separate checking accounts."
Drew slapped his chest. "You're killing me."
"What? Money is the one thing couples fight over more than anything. We decided if we keep separate accounts, then we won't fight."
"Until you realize she spent three hundred dollars on a pair of shoes while you paid five hundred for the electric, water, and garbage bill."
"That's not fair, Drew. Don't make Noel out to be like Louise."
"My past doesn't change the truth, Ty. You're a dreamer, and this marriage is in haste. I aim to take you to Honolulu as a single man."
In the light of the dash, Drew caught the tense knot in his brother's jaw. "I'm not abandoning my fiancee three nights before our wedding."
"Then I can't be your best man." He threw down the gauntlet. It was harder to say than Drew imagined.
Tyler swore under his breath. "You beat all, man. My own brother ..."
"I'm trying to save you from yourself."
"No, you're trying to save me from you. But you have us confused. It's my life, Drew. My choice. You can't always be bossing me around, playing the big brother. You haven't even met her yet."
"I'd love to meet her. Tell her exactly what I'm telling you." A sad dread twisted in his chest. The burn and burden of being both brother and parent. The fear of Ty's heart breaking like Drew's. He couldn't bear it. He couldn't.
One day before New Year's Eve
ANSLEY RODE WITH HER mother to the hotel on the beach. She and Noel were staying in the honeymoon suite for Noel's last night as a single woman. Tomorrow night, Tyler would take Ansley's place.
"You slept well," Mom said, her reddish-brown hair whipping in the breeze. She'd insisted on dropping the top to her new convertible Mustang despite the cold late December morning. The woman who'd wanted Ansley to be a doctor recently started independently publishing sweet romance novels and apparently earned herself a new car.
And Dad had joined a golf club.
"Thanks for breakfast. It was good." Eggs, bacon, toast, a chilled Diet Coke. Mom carried it up to Ansley's room, the same one she'd slept in from eight to eighteen.
The home touches surprised her. She missed her family and the pieces of herself she lost while on the road.
Ten years ago, Ansley couldn't wait to leave. She bolted the day after she graduated from high school--a backpack trip through Europe with girlfriends, then off to Florida State to major in music--and never looked back.
She wanted to be a star. Away from the goody-goody life her parents espoused. But lately, she'd started to remember the sweet moments she had with Jesus and her guitar.
From her jean's pocket, her phone vibrated. Noel. Ansley answered with, "I'm about five minutes away."
"His brother ... he... he's trying to convince ... Tyler... too soon. He ... doesn't... know... me..." Noel's sobs echoed through to Ansley. "... not get married."
Ansley sat forward with a glance at her mother. "Noel, slow down. What are you saying?"
"His brother ..." Noel's sob echoed through Ansley. "Doesn't want us to get married. He said it's too soon ... we don't know each other well enough."
Who was this overreaching, evil brother? "Noel, we're almost there."
"What's going on?" Mom said, a side glance at Ansley.
"Tyler's brother is fighting the wedding. Told him it was too soon."
Mom clucked her tongue while Ansley promised to find the brother and give him a piece of her mind.
No one hurt her best friend.
Minutes later, Noel collapsed against Ansley as she crossed the honeymoon suite's threshold.
"Ans, what am I going to do? He's going to leave me. The love of my life ... What will I do without the love of my life?"
"Hush, hush, Ty is not going to leave you."
"We were fine ... doing great. So in love. So sure. Until his stupid brother showed up." Anger flashed over Noel's sorrow.
"What does Tyler want? What does he say?"
"H-he's thinking of ... postponing." Sadness rimmed her friend's blue eyes with red, tears welling and spilling over. "Going to Hawaii without me."
"Where's his room?" Ansley started for the door. Noel had been her rock when Ansley dropped out of Florida State to pursue music. She'd run interference with Ansley's parents, remind her of her dream when she faltered, and kept her life straight when she shot to stardom.
"What?" Noel dried her eyes. Blew her nose. "Are you going up there?"
"You bet."
"Ansley, now wait a minute." Mom, all sober and earth grounding. "If he can be that manipulated by his brother, maybe Noel is dodging a bullet here."
"Or, maybe he needs to be reminded how amazing she is and why he fell in love with her in the first place."
"Mrs. Moore, do you think we should wait?" Now Noel was caving. "I asked my mom, but she's as upset as I am."
"I think you two have to work this out for yourselves."
"They're getting married." Ansley jerked open the door. "Noel, I wrote you and Tyler a wedding song and I'm singing it tomorrow night. Now, what room is he in?"
"Nine twenty-one."
Up the elevator and down the hall, Ansley rapped on Tyler's door, rehearsing a short speech, her heart thumping, as she waited for him to answer, the clank of dishes reverberating through the door.
When the door swung open, she launched her speech. "Listen, Tyler--"
But it wasn't Tyler on the other side, it was Drew Callahan from Honolulu, from Atlanta, from first class. A thick anticipation surged through her.
He leaned against the door in nothing but a pair of board shorts, his T-shirt fitted to his tan, muscled frame. His blue gaze bore through her until she felt every secret she possessed about to be exposed.
"Ansley Moore's doppelganger. What a pleasant surprise."
"Wh-what are you doing here?" Her words tripped over her lips. Drew's presence set the edge of her heart on fire.
"I was about to ask you the same thing." He eyed her, still with that enticing gaze and stood aside for her to enter. "Want to come in?" He gestured to the open balcony doors. "The Atlantic is perfect this morning. Calm, blue, beautiful."
The word beautiful lingered on her.
"No, no, I can't. I'm on a mission." She backed away. "I must have the wrong room." Ansley glanced at the number on the door. 921. "I was looking for Tyler Houston."
He tipped his head, beckoning her to enter. "You're in the right place. He's my brother."
"You're Tyler's brother?"
He watched her as she entered, making her conscious of her movements, of her bare face, of her hair in a sloppy ponytail.
"He'd like to deny it from time to time, but yeah."
Drawing a deep breath, Ansley faced him. "Well, my best friend is a broken, scared, sobbing bride because of you." She tapped him on the chest.
His eyes widened. "Your wedding is this wedding?"
"Yes. And you're messing things up." She sat in the nearest chair, then shot to her feet again, hands on her hips, her jaw set. "You're really Tyler's brother? Where is he by the way?"
"Out running errands. Look, Ansley, I'm sorry for your friend, but Tyler has no business getting married to someone he's only known three months. Most of those long distance."
She regarded him for a second, trying to dislike him, trying to be angry. But compassion rimmed his eyes, and she knew he loved his brother.
"That's not your decision, Drew. It's theirs. Do you have a vendetta against happily ever after?"
"Ha! There is no such thing as happily ever after. My brother knows it. I know it. Our mom married four times trying to find that elusive land of happily ever after."
"Ah, I see. A cynic." She took a step toward him. "Did you know Noel's parents have been happily married for thirty-two years? My parents are going on thirty-five. Happy, lasting marriages do happen ... despite the cynics and naysayers."
"Do you know Tyler has been engaged twice before?" He moved around the chair, his attention set on her. "He falls in love at the drop of a hat."
"I don't know about dropping hats, but what he has with Noel is real." Ansley stepped closer, into his space. A fragrant, clean space.
"How do you know?" He mirrored her step with his own. "How much time have you spent with them? And when were you last in love?"
"Besides not being any of your business, my love life has no bearing on theirs." She jutted out her chin and moved nearer. "But I know true love when I see it."