Read Online A Nashville Collection by Rachel Hauck - Free Book Online Page A

waiting. Long distance still costs money.”
    Leaning against the trunk lid and thumping it with the heel of my hand, I work the stuck half of the picture free and hurry down the attic stairs, hiding the picture in my hip pocket. Surely there’s a place in Nashville that fixes photos. But the original is torn. Forever.
    â€œWhere’ve you been?” Momma asks, handing me the phone. “Eliza’s getting ready to go to England, and you’re dilly-dallying.”
    â€œI do not dillydally.” I hop up on the counter. Savory smells drift from Momma’s oven. “Hey, Liza.”
    â€œHow’s Momma behaving?” she asks.
    I mutter into the receiver, “She’s not on board, but she’s accepting it.”
    â€œThat’s something. I can’t get why she’s so boiled over you moving to Nashville but so accepting of me going to England.”
    â€œStory of our lives, I reckon.”
    â€œAre you going to e-mail me when I’m in England?”
    â€œDid I e-mail you at Auburn?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œThere you have it.”
    â€œYou’re a horrible big sister.”
    â€œOh, really?” I cup my hand over the phone. “Say, Daddy, remember when Granddaddy’s valuable coin collection was stolen?”
    Eliza’s laugh floats down the line. “Okay, you win best big sister ever ! You did take my punishment for me.”
    â€œWhat’s that, Robin Rae?” Daddy cranes around his easy chair, a red licorice whip dangling from his lips. He quit smoking twenty-five years ago and took up licorice.
    I smile. “Nothing, Daddy.”
    Eliza tells me a letting agent (translation: realtor ) found her a flat (translation: apartment ) in Cambridge near the university. She can walk or bike to most places or take the buses.
    Then, too soon, she says, “I’d better go. I still have a lot to do.”
    My heart lurches. It’s hard to say good-bye. I ward off my tears by picking at the small hole in the knee of my jeans. “Be careful, you.”
    My baby sister, thousands of miles away. It was one thing when she was only a few hours south in War Eagle country. One small plea for help and we’d send down the cavalry. But all the way over in England? I suppose Eliza has to find out what she’s made of too. Steel or clay.
    â€œYou know I will.”
    â€œEliza, I tease you about being all brains, but you’re very beautiful. Be smart about it.”
    She sniffs. “Same to you, Robin. Don’t let no sweet-talking cowboy get in your way, because once they hear your songs, they’ll fall in love with your soul.”
    â€œSure they will. As soon as I work up the nerve to sing to them.”
    â€œLet me talk to Momma again. I want to say good-bye.”
    Handing the phone back to Momma, I realize how soon my own life will change. I’m leaving home. Leaving the comforts and sounds of Freedom for a life and a city I don’t know. And that doesn’t know me.
    Will Nashville welcome me?
    I meander into the living room where Daddy’s dozing off. Sitting on the floor, I press my cheek against his knee, defenseless against the tears that form when his hand rests gently on my head.
    â€œLast day?”
    I look up as Ricky approaches me Friday afternoon with his work apron wadded in his hand. His cowlick sweeps his thick blond hair off his forehead.
    I smile though the sad shimmer in his eyes, and it stings my heart. “This is it. Just finishing up next week’s order for Lil. She’s taking over my aisle.”
    â€œI need your truck,” he says.
    â€œMy truck? Why?”
    â€œBecause.”
    â€œBecause? You can’t have my truck on a ‘because.’ I still remember what you and Mitch did to Reed Larson’s car.”
    His jaw drops as if he’s completely innocent of painting the man’s car pink and green. “Robin, please, I never touched Reed’s