Under indigo skies
You’re a California girl
With gold in your eyes
I’m a boy in love
Under indigo skies
By the time the music faded, there were tears in my eyes.
Even with Violet singing the chorus of the song, the lyrics clearly belonged to Xander. They told his story,ourstory, and I was at a loss for words. After several silent seconds ticked by, Xander lifted his gaze to meet mine. His eyes went wide when he saw me.
“Oh my God. Indie, why are you crying?”
“Because that was beautiful,” I said, wiping my tear-stained cheeks with the back of my hand. It was taking every ounce of my control to keep myself from sobbing and turning into a blubbering mess.
“You really think so?”
“No, I’m crying because it sucked so bad that I’ll probably be traumatized for life,” I said, shooting him a look. “Of course I think so, you big dork.”
He grinned, lifting his shoulder in a half shrug. “Hey, you never know. Maybe you hated it and didn’t want to hurt my feelings. It was a bit personal after all.”
“No one haseverwritten a song for me before.” Or done anything remotely romantic for me. Just thinking about the lyrics was enough to make my heart race. “I could never hate it.”
Xander visibly relaxed. “You don’t know how much of a relief that is.”
“What’s it called?” I asked, even though I had an inkling.
“‘Indigo Skies.’”
I opened my mouth, wanting to explain to him how much this meant to me, how proud I was of him for writing it, but Alec had returned.
“I’m back,” he announced, slipping his cell into his pocket as he stepped into the room. He immediately focused on me. “What do you think?”
“I love it,” I told him truthfully. “It’s seriously amazing.”
He crossed his arms, his mouth scrunching up on one side as ifhe didn’t like my answer. “Okay, sure, overall, it’s fine, but don’t you think there’s something missing?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I’ve only heard it once.”
So Alec made me listen to the song again. And again.
“Now what do you think?” he asked after the third listen.
“It’s beautiful, but…”
Alec leaned forward, eyes eager. “Yes?”
“I don’t know. The melody is a bit—calm? Almost like it’s too subtle,” I replied, struggling to come up with the right words to explain what I was thinking. Producing music was outside my area of expertise. “Maybe it needs more intensity. Can you edge it up a bit?”
“Yes,” Alec said, snapping his fingers and pointing at me in agreement. “That’s what I thought too. I tried to amp things up with an electric guitar, but it didn’t sound right.”
“Hmm.” Tugging on my bottom lip, I glanced around the room in thought. When my gaze landed on a rack of instruments in the live room, an idea began unfolding in my mind, but it didn’t present itself to me in words. I could hear the notes of a new melody playing inside my head, and my fingers itched to bring it to life. “Can I grab something out of there?” I asked Alec, pointing at the glass window.
Without a word, he extracted his key ring. After flipping through it and singling out a key with red nail polish painted on the head, he passed it over to me. “First door on your left.”
“Thanks,” I said, striding out of the room. I came back two minutes later with a violin clutched in my hands. “Suppose an electric guitar wasn’t the right instrument?”
