“Just wait. You haven’t seen the best part.” Placing a hand on her lower back—an area his fingertips longed to explore further—he guided her toward one of the pews. The rest of the group, including those in Brian’s party, sat with bated breath, eager for the grand finale of the tour.
After Martin arrived with the last couple, he gave a brief introduction before asking everyone to turn off their headlamps.
A hush settled over the crowd as the lake became the only visible sight.
Knowing what would come next, Colt watched Penny, mesmerized by the way her eyes widened and her lips parted ever so slightly as ethereal music flooded the cavern, reverberating off the limestone walls.
She gasped as a large raft appeared around a distant corner, ferrying four musicians across the still water that shimmered like liquid emeralds. “I don’t believe what I’m seeing,” she purred softly. “Are they playing a cello and a violin? And is that… apiano?”
“A harpsichord, actually,” Colt explained in a hushed voice.
“It’s stunning. I’ve heard Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’ before, but never like this.”
“I’ve only seen this one other time. At Cuevas del Drach in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. They played ‘Barcarollé fromLes Contes d’Hoffmannand it was hauntingly beautiful.”
“You’ve seen a lot of incredible things, haven’t you?”
Although she spoke barely above a whisper, her tone fluttered with curiosity.
“I have.” He paused, gathering a breath of courage before murmuring, “There’s so much I could show you.”
For a long moment, she didn’t respond, and Colt waited in agony, wishing he could see her face more clearly—to glimpse some small clue to gauge her reaction.
Finally, she whispered, “I’d like that.”
Even as the crescendo swelled, filling the cavern with a soul-stirring melody, Colt had never heard a more beautiful sound than those three words.
And he wanted to savor them for as long as possible.
Chapter 19
“He kissed you?” Eliza squealed before clamping a hand over her mouth.
“Shh,” Penny hissed, glancing over her shoulder to make sure no one overheard them—especially Colt.
He stood on the far end of the town square in a huddle with the other guys, gawking as Jack tried to stuff an entire meatball sub in his mouth, presumably on a bet.
Whipping back around to Cassie and Eliza’s refreshment stand, Penny lowered her voice. “Technically, I kissed him.”
“I don’t believe it!” Eliza’s huge chocolate eyes mirrored her disbelief.
“He’s totally smitten.” Cassie grinned as she watched her brother-in-law steal a glance in their direction, then abruptly look away when he got caught.
Penny blushed. “Maybe. I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t—” Eliza snapped her mouth shut as Dolores Whittaker strolled toward them, the gentle breeze ruffling her bouffant of white curls.
“Pleasant evening, isn’t it?” Dolores’s kind eyes sparkled behind her Coke-bottle glasses as she lifted a small plate from the towering stack. “Your mother couldn’t have asked for better weather.”
“True,” Eliza agreed with a smile. “But you know how she is… the show would go on in the middle of a hurricane.”
The women shared a good-natured laugh.
Sylvia Carter, a former Broadway actress turned amateur director, was well known around town for her low-budget, high-energy performances—the most notable being her one-night-only Shakespeare in the Park extravaganza. Each year, she chose a different Shakespearean play, but reworked the familiar story around an unexpected setting. Local vendors like The Calendar Café and Buttercup Bistro would craft delicious foods around the unusual theme.
This year, they would performRomeo and Juliet. But instead of the Renaissance era, the tragic love story would take place in twenty-first century Little Italy between two rival Italian restaurants—each claiming to have the best meatball subs in Manhattan. Which Penny found ironic considering the sandwich wasn’t even Italian.
“What’s on the dessert menu, ladies?” Dolores asked, eyeing the delectable spread of Italian pastries.
