“Most of the furniture is staying.” I said, looking around the living room. “Any boxes you see can go, as well as all of the bedroom furniture from the room on the right.”
Soon, the two men got to work on the boxes from the living room and after a minute or two Owen joined them. Little by little I watched as all of my belongings left my brand new apartment. An apartment that never really felt like home.
Thankfully, Owen and I had the same vision for what our future home would look like. We wanted a small ranch on a chunk of land. Somewhere we could raise a family, and he could have the peace and quiet he needed to work on his music. For now, we'd be moving into his studio apartment. He still had six months left on his lease, and it would give us time to find something we both loved.
Since the drive to Nashville was over thirteen hours, we decided to fly. The old truck had done me well on my journey, but my dad offered to take it back with him to Raleigh. I needed something a little more family oriented now, so Morgan took care of the rental car return. Owen's motorcycle had been strapped to a dolly behind the Penske truck, and all that was left to do was catch our flight.
With one last look around my bedroom, I went out to the living room to grab my carry on bag. Morgan was standing there with her arms crossed, and a sad look on her face.
“So this is it?” She asked, as she wiped a tear from her eye. “You're really leaving?”
I closed the distance between us, and pulled her into a hug. In mere seconds the flood gates had opened, and we were weeping in each other's arms. Our friendship may have taken a few hits, but at the end of the day she would always be the person who helped to shape me. The way she went about 'helping' me was never conventional, but it was always coming from a place of love.
“I'm going to miss you so much.” She whispered into my ear.
“I'll miss you too.” I whispered back.
Owen was standing in the kitchen with his own bag slung over his shoulder, waiting. Morgan offered to drive us to the airport, but this was something that I had to do without her. I spent half of my life following in her footsteps, and this time I needed to find my own path.
With one final squeeze, I pulled away from my best friend and gave her a heartfelt smile.
“I love you, Morgan.” I said, earnestly.
She glanced around me then, glaring at Owen.
“If you break her heart, I'm coming for you Foster.” She said taking her fingers and pointing to her eyes, and then his.
“And you.” She said, her attention turning back to me. “If you ever need me. Please don't hesitate to call. Any time, any day. I love you, Ronnie Locke.”
“It's been one hell of a ride.” I winked.
“Even if it was a little bumpy?”
“Even if.”
I grabbed my bag from the couch, and handed it to Owen when I got into the kitchen. His hand was on the door knob, and when he pulled it open and stepped out into the hall I turned around one last time. I waved with my fingers, a final goodbye to a woman who meant more to me than I ever thought another person could. She waved back, and before I lost my nerve I walked through the threshold and towards the elevator.
I heard the door shut behind me, but I didn't look back this time. I couldn't. Tears were falling slowly down my cheeks as I took slow deep breaths in an attempt to stop them. My emotions were all over the place. I was excited to start my new life with Owen, but I was sad to be leaving what was left of my old life behind.
When the two of us were closed inside of the elevator, Owen set our bags down and pulled me into his arms. I sobbed quietly into his chest, and he kissed the top of my head. The only other set of arms that made me feel this safe and loved were my dad's, and I knew without a shadow of doubt that I had made the right decision.
The doors opened to the lobby floor, and Owen scooped our bags up. I held my head a little higher as we made our way through the building and out the front door. Our Uber driver was already waiting for us on the curb, and after tossing the bags into the trunk Owen slid into the backseat beside me.
“Are you alright?” He asked, as the driver pulled away from the building and onto the road.
“I will be.” I said, resting my head on his shoulder.
“Have I told you how happy I am that you agreed to come back to Nashville with me?”
“Once or twice.” I teased.
“I was afraid you'd be disappointed in me.”
“Disappointed? Why?” I asked, lifting my head so that I could look at him.
“For walking away from my dad's business.”
“From the moment I met you; you were honest about not wanting to be a part of it. When you told me you wanted to go back to Nashville the night that your dad died, I'll admit that I was scared. My first thought was that you were going to leave and never look back. I wouldn't have blamed you if you did. You didn't exactly sign up to be a father when you met me.”
“And you didn't sign up to deal with all of my emotional baggage, but here we are.”
I laughed. “I think I've got a bit of emotional baggage of my own.”
“Do you? I hadn't noticed.”
I rolled my eyes. “There's a part of me that still doesn't believe that you're real.”
“Pinch me.” He said, raising his brows up and down suggestively.
I swatted his
