Free Zoe & Dylan: The Sons of Dusty Walker by Jodi Redford

need to talk to you about.”
    The pensiveness radiating from him stirred the jittery brew in her belly. “What is it?”
    “Well, the band was offered a huge opportunity. We’ve been invited to open up for County Limits.”
    She stared at him. The news took a second to penetrate her befuddled brain. Once it did she let out an excited squeal and tossed her arms around him. Laughing, he hugged her back. “I take it you’re okay with it?”
    “Why wouldn’t I be?”
    He took a deep breath and peered into her eyes. “Okay, here’s the bad news. It’s Sunday.”
    “So?”
    “Well, that’s the day of your chorale concert.”
    She stroked his cheek. “I think County Limits takes precedence over my little concert.” She shook her head. “Guess this lets my dad off the hook.”
    “See, that’s kinda the other thing.” He set her down on her feet. “Luke doesn’t want me to go to Vegas.”
    She frowned. “Why?”
    “It’s sorta breakin’ the arrangement I made with him.”
    “Arrangement? You mean the band camp? But they don’t even need you on the weekend.”
    He averted his gaze. That alone was enough to set off warning bells. She swallowed past the thick ball of unease stuck in her throat. “There’s something you’re not telling me.”
    He scraped his hand over his mouth before meeting her eyes again. “Yeah, the band camp is part of the arrangement. But it’s also a means of keeping me off the road. At least for a while.”
    “I don’t understand.”
    “Luke didn’t want me to leave you and Hunter here by yourselves.”
    His words were like a punch to her gut. “What? Why would you agree to that?”
    He didn’t immediately answer, and she took a halting step back. “It’s because of me, isn’t it? Because of my stupid issues.”
    “Zoe, they’re not stupid.”
    If she’d needed confirmation, there it was. “Oh my God.”
    He reached for her but she pushed him away. “I-I can’t deal with this right now.”
    “Angel, don’t shut me out.”
    “I’m not.” Chaffing her arms, she peered at him, the misery once again homesteading her gut. “I told you I didn’t want my issues to come between us.”
    “They’re not.” He cupped her face. “Zoe, I love you. You’re a million times more important to me than the band.”
    “I never asked you to give it up for me.”
    “I know that.”
    “But that’s exactly what you did. What you’ve been doing for the last three and a half months.” She closed her eyes, fighting to quell the tide of queasiness rising in her stomach. “Because you didn’t trust that I could handle you being gone.”
    “Baby, I do trust you.”
    “Maybe you shouldn’t.” Her heart a tattered mess, she blinked her eyes open and met his soft gaze. “Maybe I would have completely flipped out. Who knows, maybe I woulda packed up my bags and ran for the hills just like I did with my father.”
    “Don’t say that.”
    “It might be true, Dylan. Sometimes I don’t even trust myself.”
    “I won’t go to Vegas.”
    A tear slipped down her cheek. “You have to go. I need you to go. If you don’t, I’ll always think I’m holding you back.”
    “Baby, you’re not.”
    She took his hands in hers. Beneath his strength she detected a slight tremor. She hated that she’d brought that out of him. “Please, do this for me. I have to face my demons. It’s the only way to conquer them completely.”
    Agonized indecision rode her beloved’s features. “It’ll kill me if you leave me, Zoe. I’m tellin’ ya that now.”
    “I won’t.”
    He pulled her to him. Bracketing her face with his hands, he claimed her mouth. There was desperation in the kiss, along with an edgy hunger that sent sparks whipping through her. His eyes burning with fire, he lifted her into his arms. “Hunter, keep your fanny parked on that couch for the next fifteen minutes or you’re gettin’ that whupin’ you got outta earlier.”
    “Okay, Lan.”
    Without another word, Dylan