Melodies of the Heart: A Pinewood Grove Sweet Romance (14 page)

The few sips of cola she’d had bubbled back up in Kassidy’s throat. Her head was spinning like she’d had too much wine and her forehead grew damp with sweat.

“I’m sorry, could you repeat that?” she asked, though she knew exactly what Paul had said. He wanted her to sell the family bakery, to sell everything her parents had worked their whole lives for. It was the dream she’d held on to ever since she was a little girl, and he was just casually telling her to throw it away.

“I’m simply suggesting that you sell the bakery,” he said with a shrug. “I mean, I doubt anyone’s going to buy the bakery part, but the building itself is only going to increase in value when more businesses come to town.

“More businesses?” she asked, her eyelids fluttering in confusion.

“Of course,” Paul said, his tone unbearably casual. “Look, my dad knows about this because he signed the permits and he told me about it a few months ago, but next month a paper processing factory is breaking ground just outside of town. They’ll be employing about a thousand people, which is why ShopMart built here a couple years ago. They knew the plant was coming and got in before land prices went up.”

“Land prices?” Kassidy managed to ask. Her throat was dry and her drink wasn’t helping any.

“Of course,” Paul told her. “A new subdivision is being proposed next month at town hall. Nothing huge, maybe about one hundred houses. Pinewood Grove is ripe for a bit of a boom. It’s a pretty little town that city folks dream of moving to.”

“What does that have to do with my bakery?” Kassidy asked.

“It’s not the bakery, but the building,” Paul clarified. “The paper plant is just the start. My father has had a few corporations proposing to build here. There’s so much open land that the town has room to grow, but Main Street will always be a major street, that will never change.”

“So?” Kassidy asked.

“So in a couple years, you’ll be able to sell the building for a mint,” Paul told her. “Sell it to some chain, like Pita Paradise or one of those burrito places. Heck, you could rent the building out and keep making money every month. Plus you can make a fair bit of money when you sell all the baking equipment.”

“But I don’t want to sell the bakery,” Kassidy told him. “It’s my home, and in a few years that will be my store.”

“Come on,” Paul laughed. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s great that you’ve turned things around in there, but how long do you think those cute little cupcakes of yours are going to keep you afloat? Be reasonable here.”

“I am being reasonable,” Kassidy insisted.

“I wish I could agree,” Paul said. “Kassidy, I can’t have you being a working mother.”

“Excuse me?” she asked, her confusion turning to anger.

“When we have kids, I’ll need you home with them,” he said. “Kids turn out better when the mother is home to raise them.”

“My mother worked when she had me,” Kassidy shot back. “I think I turned out okay.”

“Oh, of course you did,” Paul tried to clarify. “But that’s not a risk I want to take. Plus it looks good for me to have a supportive wife at my side. You know I want to get into politics as soon as possible and having a family behind me will only help my image. Bachelors don’t do well in the polls.”

“Okay, we need to slow down here,” Kassidy told him. “This isn’t even a real date. We’re just two friends having dinner and you’re talking about us getting married. Hold up.”

“Kass, calm down,” he told her, but that only made her face redder. She could feel the heat in her cheeks and she didn’t care who saw them turning bright crimson.

“Don’t tell me to calm down,” she told him. “You’re rushing me into a marriage I don’t even want.”

“I’m just explaining my expectations,” he told her. “I want to be president before I’m forty-five and that means I need to get into politics no later than thirty. This is my dream and I’ll do anything to get it.”

“But the bakery is my dream,” Kassidy told him.

“And that’s really sweet,” he said. “But Kass, you can’t think it’s something that will support you for life, can you? I dreamed I would be an astronaut when I was five, but I grew up and picked a smarter path. It’s time for you to do the same thing.”

“Excuse me?” she asked, her voice turning low and deep. “What makes your dream any more realistic than mine?”

“Maybe because mine doesn’t include some rock star coming to sweep me off my feet,” Paul said. “There, I said it. Kassidy, he’s not coming back, and you need to get yourself sorted out before it’s too late. You won’t be twenty-one forever.”

“You think he’s what this is about?” she asked, her face so hot it burned. “You don’t know me at all, do you?”

“And you think that guy does?” Paul shot back.

“Maybe not,” Kassidy said. “But at least he never told me my dreams were stupid and childish. At least he didn’t try to force me into a life I didn’t want. Your goals and mine aren’t even close to the same thing, and you’re too self-centered to get that.”

“Calm down,” Paul said, his eyes narrowing at her. “You’re making a scene.”

He was right. People were starting to look toward their table, but Kassidy didn’t care.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said, her voice turning sickly sweet. “Am I embarrassing you?”

“Yes,” Paul hissed at her.

“Good,” Kassidy said as she stood up. “At least I have the sense to know we shouldn’t be together. Maybe you’re the one who needs to grow up a bit.”

With that, Kassidy spun on her heel and marched toward the exit. She knew all eyes were on her, but she refused to look back. The town would be buzzing about this at church, but she didn’t care. She just needed to get out of there.

It was raining harder by time she got outside, but the spray was cool on the heat of her face. She couldn’t remember a time in her whole life that she’d ever been so mad, but she smiled to herself as she began to walk toward home.

By time she reached the edge of the small park in town, she was laughing. There had to be thirty people in that restaurant, and they’d all seen her telling him off. Paul Larson’s pride wouldn’t allow him to try to get her back again after that, and she was finally going to be free of him pestering her for another chance. At least she had that going for her.

In the distance, she heard the rumble of what sounded like thunder and it wiped the smile off her face. She still had another fifteen minutes of walking in the rain, and thunder and lightning were only going to make that worse.

But the rumbling didn’t rise and fall like thunder. It only got clearer and closer as she walked, and then it hit her.

She spun, no longer caring about the rain. It wasn’t thunder at all, but the deep rumbling of a familiar motorcycle. Through the rain, she could see a single headlight heading her way.

The storm that had been at Levi’s back all day finally overtook him as he pulled into Pinewood Grove. He had no choice but to continue, but he had to slow down to avoid wiping out before he got to Main Street.

He’d texted Kassidy when he was about an hour outside of town to let her know that he was coming, but like most of the messages he sent her, she never replied. He couldn’t blame her for it. If their roles were reversed he would have been just as mad.

Sometimes he was happy she didn’t reply. He felt guilty enough leaving her, and being able to think she was moving on made that easier to bear.

But most of the time it only hurt. He thought leaving her was the best thing for her, but it hadn’t taken him long to discover how wrong he could be.

And it wasn’t just leaving Kassidy behind that had been a huge mistake. Leaving Pinewood Grove felt wrong the instant he rode out of town. The town had a charm, a magic to it that felt like home from the moment he’d trashed his bike right outside of Kassidy’s bakery. He’d begun to fix himself while he’d been there, bit by bit, and then he left before he had the chance to be whole again.

He wasn’t going to make the same mistake again. Though the road was slick, he picked up speed when he got close to Main Street and didn’t slow down until he saw the bakery.

They were long closed, but that wasn’t going to stop him. He didn’t even take the time to make sure his bike was steady and he took the few steps across the sidewalk as one long leap and then he pounded on Kassidy’s front door.

“Kass,” he called as he pounded his fist against the thick wooden door. “Kassidy!”

From inside, he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Nerves crept all over him, nerves and anticipation. They’d been apart for two months, but he still remembered the way her hair shone in the sun, every freckle on her shoulders, and the way her face lit up when she smiled.

But when the door opened, it wasn’t Kassidy on the other side. She was nowhere to be seen and instead her father was staring back at him.

“Um, hello Mr. Olsen. Sir,” Levi said as he pulled off his helmet. “I was wondering if Kassidy was in.”

“She’s gone out,” her dad told him. “On a date.”

His words twisted Levi’s heart and he had to fight not to show the pain that ripped through him.

“Oh,” Levi said when he couldn’t think of anything else to say. He was too late. She’d picked someone else and she’d moved on. He’d had his chance and he’d screwed it all up.

“But,” her father said, his expression lifting some, “I don’t think she’s all that interested in the fellow. Maybe you should see how she’s doing. They went down to that new place, Harvest House or something.”

“Thank you,” Levi said, and he really meant it. “I’ll, uh, go check on her.”

“Might be for the best,” Mr. Olsen said before he shut the door again.

He should have walked, it wasn’t all that far, but what was three minutes on the bike was nearly thirty by foot and he didn’t want to wait a single second longer to find Kassidy and tell her everything that he should have said two months ago.

He was almost there when he saw a figure on the side of the road. It was right outside the park where they’d sat together until the early morning, watching the rain fall. Where she’d first told him she loved him and he was too scared, too stupid to say it back.

It can’t be her
, he thought as he brought the bike closer, but in the glow of his headlight, he could see her clearly enough to know it could be no one else but Kassidy.

And then she stopped and turned to look back at him as he slowed his bike. Even in the rain, with her hair matted to her face and her skin soaked, she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

And he was terrified.

She watched him pull his bike over to the side of the road not five feet from where she stood in the rain and he didn’t even bother with the kick stand. He jumped off the bike and ran to her, and it wasn’t until she was in his arms that she realised she’d been running too.

His lips met her forehead and continued down until they found her own in the sweetest kiss she’d ever known. He held her so tightly that she could barely breathe, but it didn’t matter.

He was home.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered in her ear as he squeezed her. “I’m so stupid. Can you forgive me?”

“I think so,” Kassidy said as she nuzzled against his muscular chest.

“Good,” Levi said and then he lifted her up in his arms and carried her back to the gazebo to take shelter from the rain. They were soaked, but it was still hot outside and the rain only helped to cool them off.

“Why did you come back?” Kassidy forced herself to ask once she was sitting in the covered gazebo. She worried the answer wouldn’t be exactly what she wanted to hear, but she needed to know.

“Because I realised how stupid I was to leave,” Levi said as he sat beside her and took her hands in his. “I found everything I’d ever wanted and I was too scared to realise it. I love music, but I don’t need a record label or fans to make it. All I need is inspiration.”

“Uh huh,” Kassidy said as she listened intently.

“The band is pretty pissed,” Levi said with a soft laugh. “And the label is probably going to get me on some breach of contract, but I’ve been smart with my money. At least I can say that. Whatever they ask for, I’ll be fine. I’d rather pay them to get off my back.”

“What about your band?” she asked him.

“They can decide what they want,” he said. “They can come out here to record and we stop touring, or they can split up, or find a new singer. I’ll support their choice, but the Levi Thayne that traveled and recorded music nonstop is gone.

“Maybe I’ll release some solo stuff,” he told her. “I can buy a place and put a recording studio in the basement or something and never have to leave to put out music. With the internet, I really don’t need anyone else. I already have a name for myself, the rest is easy.”

“So now what?” Kassidy asked him.

“Isn’t that clear?” Levi asked her. He used a finger to gently tilt her chin up to make her look at him. “I move here. I make this my home. With you. You can bake and I can sing and we can be happy together.

“Those few weeks I was here were a glimpse into the life I knew I always wanted,” he continued. “When I left it behind it only made me realise that even more. Every day I was gone, I realised it more and more. It was torture.”

“Being away from Pinewood Grove?” Kassidy asked him.

“Oh Kass,” he laughed before he kissed her. “Being away from you. You make me want to be a better person. I still don’t think I deserve you, but I’m trying my hardest to fix that. If you’re willing to settle for a guy like me, then I will fight every single day to be the man you deserve.”

“So...” she mumbled. She needed to know he was really staying. Not just for a year, not just for a month, but for good. The scary part was, she wasn’t sure he could give her that answer, but she had to ask. “Are you planning on staying for good?”

“Of course,” Levi said before his lips met hers. “I never want to be away from the woman I love again.”

Kassidy’s heart thumped hard in her chest and her stomach flipped
. Love?
her mind reeled.
Is it really true?

He had told her before that he didn’t know if he was able to say that word to her, and now he’d thrown it out so easily. She couldn’t trust her own ears and she had to ask, “Could you say that again?”

“What?” Levi asked. “That I’m staying in Pinewood Grove?”

“No,” Kassidy said. “That... that you love me.”

“Oh, that,” Levi said, but there was the tiniest hint of a smile on the corners of his lips. “Well, I thought it was obvious, but Kassidy Olsen, I love you. I’ve loved you since I met you, I was just too bullheaded to see it. You’re my inspiration, my muse, and the only woman for me. I love you.”

“I love you too,” Kassidy replied. His words meant more to her than anything else in the world and she let herself curl up in his arms while the storm raged on around them.

It was the perfect start to a new beginning. The rain was washing away the old, and when it let up, all that would be left was their future. Together.