Page 31 of Love Loathe Devotion (Tightrope #3)

The house is too quiet. The kind of quiet that makes you want to turn on music, a fan—something to distract you from the heaviness sitting behind your ribs.

Eddie’s duffel is by the door, his travel hoodie slung over the back of the kitchen chair. He’s double-checking his phone, tapping through boarding passes and schedules and messages from his tour manager.

I’m watching from the island, gripping my coffee mug like it might anchor me in place.

He glances up at me. Our eyes meet.

And just like that, it’s real.

He’s leaving.

I set my cup down and cross the room to him. He meets me halfway, arms sliding around my waist like they always do, pulling me close. My forehead rests against his chest, and I feel his heartbeat thudding through his t-shirt.

He kisses the top of my head, breath shaky. “I’m not letting you come to the airport,” he says quietly.

I knew this was coming, but it still feels like a small punch to the heart.

He pulls back slightly to look at me. “It’s going to be chaos. Cameras. Crew. Label people. I don’t want that to be our goodbye.”

I nod, though part of me aches to be near him until the very last possible second.

He presses his hand to my cheek, thumb brushing lightly beneath my eye. “Promise me you’ll stay here. In the house.”

I blink up at him. “I feel weird just… being in your space while you’re gone.”

“I want you here, Laney. Knowing you’re in this house, in our bed, waiting for me to come back, that’s the only thing making this bearable.”

My chest cracks.

He leans in, pressing kiss after kiss along my jaw, my lips, my cheeks. “I love you,” he murmurs between each one. “I love you. I love you.”

The tears finally come, warm and slow. “I love you, too.”

He wraps me up again, holding me so tight it feels like maybe I won’t fall apart. “I’ll call every day. Or FaceTime. Whatever you need.”

I nod against him, wiping at my cheeks. “I’ll be okay. I’ve got the kidney donor event to finish organizing, and… I told Sam I’d go back to the hospital. The peds ward asked for help.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah,” I say, forcing a smile. “I need to be useful. Busy. It helps.”

It’ll keep me from falling apart every time I walk into a room and you’re not there.

He pulls back, eyes searching mine. “Come with me real quick. Before I go.”

He takes my hand and leads me down the back porch steps, across the lawn toward the horse barn. The sky is overcast, clouds soft and gray like the morning is holding its breath right along with me.

Inside, the barn smells of hay and cedar and memories. Eddie guides me past the tack room, toward one of the end stalls that’s always been empty.

Only now, it’s not.

There, sitting right in the middle of a pile of fresh hay, is a tiny German Shepherd puppy. Big ears, oversized paws, and a soft pink bow tied around her neck.

My breath catches.

“Oh my God,” I whisper, stepping into the stall like I’ve forgotten how to walk.

The puppy scrambles to her feet and runs straight for me, tail wagging furiously.

I drop to my knees, arms wide, and she leaps right into them.

I’m crying before I even realize it, holding her against my chest as she wriggles and licks at my face.

“I remembered you said you always wanted a dog,” Eddie says quietly from behind me. “Now you’ve got company while I’m gone.”

I turn, still on my knees, pup in my arms, and look up at him. “Eddie…”

His face is soft, full of so much love I feel like I might drown in it.

“What’s her name?” I ask, voice shaking.

“That’s up to you.”

I look down at the sweet, squirmy little thing in my lap. “Thank you,” I whisper. “I love her.”

He kneels beside me, pulls me in—puppy and all—and holds me close, his lips brushing my temple.

“I just wanted you to have someone here who can make you smile.”

“You already gave me that,” I whisper into his shirt.

He kisses me again—slow, lingering, desperate. We stay like that until he finally pulls back, brushing the last of the tears from my cheeks. “Time to go.”

I nod, but my heart feels like it’s breaking in a thousand places.

Slowly, as if on leaden feet, we walk back to the house and I hold my new pup in my arms as he gathers his stuff.

Most of it is already with the tour manager but these are the things he wants close to him personally, including one of my t-shirts, which I covered in my perfume after he requested it.

I know this is only a six-month tour, that he’ll be back and at least he isn’t headed into danger like a military spouse or partner, but I can’t escape the sense of doom.

It feels like our bubble is bursting and it frightens me that we won’t survive outside it.

I trust Eddie. I know he loves me, but am I enough?

We share one final kiss filled with so many unsaid words, but then maybe everything has already been said.

“I love you.” He swipes his thumb over my bottom lip, and I feel his words in my soul.

“I love you too, Eddie. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me. I can never repay you.”

He shakes his head. “Don’t need repaying darlin’, just need you with me.”

“You got it.”

With one final, hard brief kiss he picks up his bags. He walks back across the yard toward the driveway, duffel slung over his shoulder, moving slowly like he doesn’t want to reach the car.

I stand at the edge of the porch, the puppy nestled in my arms, blinking fast.

Right before he gets to the door, he stops. Turns.

And blows me a kiss.

I blow one back, tears slipping down my cheeks again.

He smiles.

Then turns and disappears behind the driver’s side door.

The moment I hear the engine start, I bury my face in the puppy’s fur. “Oh, sweetheart,” I whisper, “what are we going to do without him?”

She lets out a tiny bark and starts licking my tears. I laugh—really laugh—and she wriggles closer.

“Okay. You’re magic.”

I carry her inside, closing the door gently behind us, the silence of the house now heavier, but somehow less lonely.

We settle on the couch, her little head resting on my thigh as I stroke her ears. “What should we call you?” I murmur. “Hmm?”

She yawns, then blinks at me like she already knows.

I smile. “Merlyn. That’s it. My favorite show. And you’re going to be my sidekick while your dad’s off being famous.”

I snap a quick photo and send it to Eddie.

Laney: Her name is Merlyn ??

His reply comes just moments later.

Eddie: It’s perfect. Just like you.

I clutch the phone to my chest, wipe my eyes again, and look down at the little pup curled up against me.

“I miss him already,” I whisper.

Merlyn just snuggles in closer.

And in that quiet moment, I know I’ll be okay.

Because he gave me a piece of himself to hold on to.

Until he comes home.