She let out her breath slowly and forced herself to stand up. She’d made a mistake, but she didn’t have it in her to take the easy way out and run. She’d picked New Orleans to make a stand. She loved everything about her home city. The people and the music. The bayous and swamps called to her. She loved the food and the fishing boats. The laughter and hard work. She loved the sunsets and the birds. She even enjoyed the alligators. New Orleans was the only place that felt like home. Her own stupidity wasn’t going to run her out of town.

She dressed slowly, taking her time with her makeup and hair. If she had to face Saria and confess her sins, whatever they might be, she needed a little armor. She was feeling extremely vulnerable and she had the feeling if she lost Saria, it would be a blow she might not readily recover from.

She could hear the cell phone she’d left on the nightstand playing the song her manager loved the most. It was a good five years old, one of the first that had been truly a big hit, rising to number one on the charts almost immediately. She hesitated answering. Lately they’d argued. Well, he argued. She’d made up her mind. No more touring. No more huge venues.

She hadn’t talked to Remy about her manager being so angry with her. When she’d made the decision to stop the circus, a lot of people were very upset, and she couldn’t blame them—she’d made them a lot of money. She let the phone pick up another message from him—as she’d been doing for the last few days. She was ashamed of herself for ducking his calls, but she couldn’t face him yelling at her again over the same thing, not after waking up a total, absolute wreck.

She shoved the cell in her pocket, sighing, trying to ignore the way her skin itched in waves, as if something alive ran beneath the surface, settled and then repeated the movement. She had the sudden urge to grab the handrail and leap over the railing to the floor below. Her fingers curled, her knuckles throbbing, her fingertips feeling as though they might burst any moment. Every muscle ached and her skin felt too tight as if it was stretched over a larger frame and didn’t quite fit.

She found, once she went downstairs to make herself coffee, that the Inn was empty. Saria was gone as well as Drake and she was the only guest, which allowed her a little extra time to think things through. It was very weird, but she swore her sense of smell was heightened. She could almost track Remy’s every move throughout the house after he’d left her bedroom.