The laughter quieted, but the humour never left the guys’ faces.
“So, go talk to her. No woman in their right mind is going to turn you down,” Garrett assured me.
But it wasn’t that. I didn’t just want her for a night. I had seen her sad eyes, I had seen her scared eyes, and now I was seeing glimpses of her happy eyes. But I also wanted to memorize the look of her sleepy eyes when she just woke up in the morning. Her focused eyes as she read one of those books she grabbed from the library. The glazed over haze in her eyes after I made her come apart by?—
I shook my head before the thought got me in trouble in a packed bar.
“You wait too long and you might miss your shot…looks like Carter is eyeing her up, too.” Patrick motioned to the other end of the bar where Carter was sitting.
I hadn’t even noticed he was here. After a few beers, he sure didn’t look as rough as he did today at work, but there was still a shadow in his eyes as he put down his beer and flexed his hand, only making the ink that lay there even more prominent under the bar’s low hanging lights. He glared over to where Blaire was still sitting with Valerie, and then his eyes locked on Stella as he downed the rest of his drink.
Oh, hell no. I was not about to let Stella become a rebound for whatever mess of a situation that would be.
Well, it all made sense now. The family with melodic voices, the man whose voice consoled me like a lullaby. It was because they were all musicians.Not in the professional sense—I didn’t think any of them were landing record deals or anything like that—but the passion they had for their craft spoke for itself.
My hips had started swaying as soon as I walked into the bar, and then when I realized the exceptional music was coming from him,I couldn’t help the way his voice lit up my body and made me want to move.
I danced and hummed along as Calvin and his brother did a few covers of some popular folk songs, and when he left the stage and our eyes locked afterward it was like nothing else in the world mattered.
I lost myself in the atmosphere of the bar as Melody made her way to the stage. It was warm without it being stuffy. We had passed the cutest little built-in vintage phone booth when we came in, and the entire interior was made of huge, rustic log beams. Old guitars and violins were displayed like artwork along the walls. There was a beautiful jukebox in the corner that wasn’t in use but I could imagine how loved it was with the shelves ofrecords surrounding it. The bar top ran the entire length of the building on one side, while the other held cozy booths with pillows on the seats, creating such a homey atmosphere. There were a few tables staggered along the floor, a couple pool tables along the side, and there was an open space in front of the makeshift stage—which looked to be built out of some pallets and was lit up with twinkling lights.
As Melody got herself set up, her red hair seemed to glow under the lights, and I couldn’t help but notice Patrick, who tracked her every movement while she sang a cover of a song about stargazing and intertwining souls. The bar was full, with more people than I figured could fit in here, but at that moment it was only Patrick and Melody.
“What’s the story there?” I asked Olivia as my eyes roamed between Melody and Patrick.
Olivia laughed softly. “Well, if you ask Melody, she’d tell you they’ve been friends forever and nothing more.”
“But if I asked anyone else…”
“Anyoneelse would tell you that man has had that exact lost little puppy dog look every time he sees Melody. Ever since Garrett pushed her on the playground one day, and Patrick punched him for it when she was probably seven.” She laughed.
I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped me, too. It was so romantic, and I didn’t understand how two people with such a history, such a connection, couldn’t find a way to be together.
“Hi.” I was pulled from my thoughts of Melody and Patrick to the gentle but deep voice that soothed all the frayed edges of my soul. “Would you like to dance?” Calvin held his hand out to me with a shy smile on his face.
“I would love to.”
We danced for a few songs, letting the music be the only guide to his hands soft caress on my swaying hips while we were in this space that felt free of all the constraints of reality.
“Can I get you a drink?” He nodded toward the bar during a break between sets.
“Sure.” I smiled at him. I wasn’t normally in the market to accept drinks from men I had recently met, but something about Heartstrings, something abouthim,made me feel unequivocally safe.
Once the bartender brought us our drinks I turned to him and leaned my elbow on the bar, face falling into my hand, “So, Calvin, tell me something.”
A look of sincere curiosity crossed his face. “Anything,” he replied as he grabbed his drink.
“Is that a harmonica in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?”
He spitthe beer he had just taken a sip of across the bar top, and a booming laugh rolled out of him.
A feeling of pure satisfaction filled me. After our first few meetings had been so awkward and strained, it felt amazingto hear his laugh and lighten the tone between us.
“Okay, that was a good one,” he admitted his defeat once he caught his breath, reaching over across the bar top to grab a cloth to clean up after himself. This man was so genuinely good, and I didn’t even think he knew it.
“All jokes aside, you guys were incredible up there.”
“Thanks. My family and I are huge parts of the music scene in Love. You’ll always catch one of us Harts here during an open mic night. Even Grandma Trixie is known to get up there on a karaoke night.” The shy smile that coloured his cheeks as heaccepted my compliment quickly changed to pure delight as he talked about his family.
