“Here goes nothin’…” I glance back at my husband, who’s barely got his ass propped on the edge of the couch. That man is ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice. God bless him.

“It’s not too late to do the right thing.” His eyes pan from Anika’s closed door to the stairway leading to his room.

I shake my head. “I know. And I have every intention of doing it.”

“Woo.” I rotate my head and roll my shoulders, taking a deep inhale before lightly rapping my knuckles against the door.

When she doesn’t answer, I knock a little harder. “I know you’re in there, Anika, the door’s locked.”

Nothing.

“I just want to apologize.”

Still nothing.

“Fine. I’ll talk through the door.” I sigh. “The reason Lyle stepped in and proposed when my fiancé left me on our wedding day is because my father is dying…” I groan. “Well, he was dying. It seems like an experimental drug—”

“Just get in here,” she says, pulling the door open.

I shoot my husband a thumbs up on my way in, to which he simply shakes his head.

“You have a really nice room.” I’m not just making small talk. It’s gorgeous. Everything is white and pink and trimmed in gold. It looks like a Pottery Barn catalog.

She nods, motioning for me to have a seat on the tufted pink couch while she takes a white leather armchair.

“Listen…” She sighs. “You don’t need to bare your soul to me. I was—” She shakes her head. “—still am extremely angry, but Lyle’s right. This band is my life, and I’m not leaving. So whatever messes you two make, I’ll be here doing my best to clean it up.”

I nod. “I’m really glad to hear you’ve decided to stay.”

She pokes her tongue around on the inside of her cheek.

“I’d still like to apologize and fill you in on every sordid detail of the mess I’ve made of my life, because we’re family now…” I smile, but she doesn’t return it. “And because you deserve to know. No more surprises.”

“Fair enough.”

And boy do I ever fill her in. Starting with Lyle and me sneaking around as kids and the promise he made when he left to join the band. I tell her about my relationship with Trent, and the day he broke up with me. I divulge as much as I can remember about that night in the Bahamas, which isn’t much. I sob through the retelling of my father’s illness, and how I shamelessly begged Trent to marry me so he could walk me down that aisle.