She shrugged but felt anything but nonchalant about the way Ryan still held her hand in his. How he was looking at her. Really and truly looking at her. Ryan wiped a tear from her cheek, cupping her face as if he were holding a delicate treasure. “Don’t cry, Mood Music.”
She laughed through the tears, knowing he’d been forced to watchYou’ve Got Mailat some point with those kooky friends of his and anticipated his next line.
“I wanted it to be you.” His thumb traced the curve of her cheek and his grin tilted in the way that made Ginny want to kiss him silly. “I wanted it to be you so badly.”
“I… I’m so sorry, Ry. For everything.”
“I know, Gin.” With gentle, agonizingly slow movements, Ryan took her hands and wrapped them around his neck, pulling her close and beginning to sway them to the music. “I got your letters.”
“And my secrets?” she asked, feeling as if she were walking along a tight-rope, holding her hand out tenuously to him.
He raised an eyebrow. “Among other things.”
“I wish I was apologetic for that glitter bomb, but I’m more sorry I wasn’t there to watch ya open it.”
Ryan shook his head and tightened his grip on Ginny’s waist, a delicious pressure she wanted to lean into. “And how ‘bout the date sabotage? Are ya sorry for that?”
Ginny ran her hands across Ryan’s shoulders and then grasped his tie, pulling him close. “Not even a little bit. I bet Hadley is very happy canoodlin’ those puppies of hers.”
“You’re such a peacock, Virginia Remillard.”
“You like peacocks…”
“I do,” he admitted, eyes never leaving hers. “Can we go talk? Maybe a little more privately?”
She nodded, feeling those nerves bursting at the seams of her spirit but silently thanking the Lord she’d have the opportunity to tell Ryan everything she’d wanted to for so long. Face-to-face. Heart to heart.
He took her by the hand, leading her from the dance floor to a quiet alcove in the hallway. “I, umm…” He cleared his throat and pulled a letter from his pocket. One that had clearly been folded and unfolded time and again. He slipped it between his fingers like he wasn’t quite sure what he planned to do with it. Which, of course, made Ginny want to know the contents of thatpiece of paper more than anything. But Ryan looked up, intent written in the sharp lines of his face, and instead, she decided the paper could wait. She wanted all the thoughts running through Ryan’s brain. Whatever it was that had him looking at her so differently than the week before.
“A few weeks ago I was going to stop communicating with a girl I’d been writing letters to in my favorite record store…”
“You were?” She gasped a quiet breath, and Ryan took a tiny, but monumental step towards her, running his finger down the length of her arm, pausing at her palm where he traced circles against her skin.
“Yeah, I was.” He nodded. “Ya see, I’d been praying for a long time… with my mysterious penpal, actually…” Ginny chuckled softly, and he continued. “I’d been praying about a distraction in my life in the shape of a beautiful, strong,irresistiblewoman that I’d known for years. A woman who’d saturated my life with color and laughter and confrontation, but one I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about for longer than I care to admit.”
“She… she sounds awesome.”
He nodded, taking her pinky and linking it with his, drawing her closer still. “She’s…You, Ginny, are stunning and smart. You’re as stubborn as a mule, but when you go after something you want it’s impossible not to watch in awe at what you’re capable of. For so long I told myself that the feelings I had for you weren’t real. That you were too young and Georgia’s sister… and just another woman I’d sought attention from. All those old wounds from growing up just bubbled to the surface and drowned me with doubt. But Ginny, the more I prayed for the distraction of you to disappear, the more enticing you became. The more I wanted to be around you. To drink coffee with you and share lunches. To walk the dog… or fight about what the greatest country classic of all time is.”
Ginny laughed through tears, the stunned rush of joy and shock rushing over her.
“It doesn’t matter what we do, Gin, because I just… I just want to be near you. The more I pray, the more you are at the forefront of my mind and heart. And the more I see you for what you are… The only woman I want to be with.”
“But… I… I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you the truth. That night, I should have come out and told you, but I just… didn’t. You were there, and you werehimand…”
“I forgive you, Virginia. Okay? I…” He invaded her space, cupping her cheek with his free hand and searching her eyes like he wasn’t sure how she’d respond. “I’d gone to meet Mood Music that night to thank her… for her friendship and prayers in person, and then end it so that I could pursue you.”
“But then I showed up,” Ginny whispered, finding her voice and reaching up to capture his hand against her cheek.
He kissed her forehead. “When I saw you in that gazebo it was like God had thrown a football through my chest—I knew. I know that even when I can’t always trust myself or my feelings, Icantrust Him. And I trust Him with you, Virginia.”
He pulled away and put that mysterious piece of paper in her hands.
“I wanted to throw out every one of your letters this week. I’m not gonna lie to you, Gin. I was angry. But… I was angry at myself for not realizing it was you the whole time. Embarrassed at the whole situation—at how open I could be with a stranger but not with people I knew. And mad… so mad that I didn’t see you, Virginia… sooner.” He sighed. “So instead of tossing them, I read every single letter again and again. And I… I wrote you one in return.”
Ginny unfolded the soft edges like a present she’d unwrap at Christmas, feeling his eyes on her as she took in his scribbled but neat penmanship. The way it looked like italics but not quitecursive. The loops and quick marks she’d memorized like lyrics to her favorite song.
For Mood Music,
