Playing For Keeps (Emerald Lake Billionaires 2) (14 page)

Ryan shrugged. “I don’t know any other way. If I don’t believe in what I’m singing, no one else will either.”

Sophie looked across the lake. The setting sun sat above the mountains. Its reflection looked like a ball of gold in the rippling water. It was the kind of view that someone with a romantic soul could get used to. “Have you always written your own songs?”

“When I started performing I’d sing anything as long as someone paid me. I lived from day to day. I didn’t have a plan and I didn’t know where I’d end up each night.” He looked down at his guitar. “It’s a hard life being on the road. After a couple of years, I got tired of singing the same songs, so I wrote my own. Some of them were so bad that I’ve never sung them in public, but others were good. The more songs I wrote, the easier it got.”

“What’s your favorite song?”

Ryan smiled. “The next one that I’m going to write. There’s something exciting about creating a song out of nothing. How about I play this song from the beginning and you can tell me what you think?”

Sophie turned toward him and nodded. “I’m ready.”

He bent his head over his guitar. His fingers moved along the strings as he sang the song she’d heard from her bedroom. She closed her eyes and listened to the clever melody. Ryan’s voice was deep and sure. There was an edge to the way he sung that made the simple lyrics real and meaningful. By the time he was halfway through the second chorus, Sophie was humming along with him. After another verse, she could see where he was going with the lyrics.

Ryan stopped playing. “That’s as far as I’ve gotten. I’m not sure the lyrics work.” He turned the sheet of music toward her and pointed at the second verse. “It works well until here. What do you think about the rest of the song?”

Sophie read the words from the beginning. “Tell me what the song is about.”

“You don’t know?”

“I want to know if what you think you’re saying matches what I think. It will make a difference to the words we use.”

“You had me worried. For a moment, I didn’t think you understood what any of the lyrics meant.”

Sophie couldn’t imagine anyone not knowing what he was singing about. It was such a beautiful song. It pulled at her heart and left a little hole of sadness where the memories of her mom hid.

“It’s about losing someone that you thought would always be there,” Ryan said slowly. “I was worried that it would be too sad, but there’s a strong element of hope tied into the chorus.”

“What do you want people to feel after they’ve listened to your song?”

Ryan thought about his answer. “I want them to know that the time they spend with someone is worth more than the sadness of living without them.”

Sophie looked down at the lyrics and focused on the words. “You’ve done that,” she said softly.

“Are you okay?”

Sophie took a deep breath. “It’s been a hard day. Hayley called from mom’s new nursing home.”

“Is everything all right?”

“Mom’s not settling into her new routine very well. I’m worried that not being in familiar surroundings is upsetting her.”

Ryan rested his guitar on his knees. “What does your sister think?”

“Hayley’s worried that she might start wandering again. Mom’s able to walk short distances with a walking frame.”

“Has anyone left the facility when they weren’t supposed to?”

Sophie shook her head. “Not that we know of. The staff at the unit are great, but I’m concerned about her.”

“Is she still taking the supplement?”

“Three times a day. It’s not easy for either of them at the moment.”

“Maybe your mom’s dementia will get a little better and she won’t be so upset about being somewhere new?”

“I hope so. She’s still making good progress, but we don’t know how long it’s going to last. If she stops getting better, it could be worse than when she was constantly living in her own world. I’m scared that I might have made things worse.”

Ryan held her hand. “Sometimes you’ve got to take the risk.”

“It wasn’t my risk to take,” Sophie said with a heavy heart.

“What would your mom have done if it had been you or your sister in the dementia unit?”

Sophie wiped her eyes. “She would have given us the supplement twenty times a day and fought off anyone who tried to stop her. Before her dementia got too bad, she told us to make every day count. She knew we’d make the best decisions we could about her care.”

“There’s plenty of room here for your mom and sister. They could live here until we find out what’s going on.”

“I can’t do that. This is your home.”

“Your mom might be more settled here than in a nursing home.”

“We’ll be okay. The dementia unit is set up for people with Alzheimer’s. At the moment, it’s the best place for her.”

Ryan didn’t look convinced that she was right. “The offer still stands. If you change your mind, it won’t take long to get them here.”

Sophie leaned forward and kissed Ryan’s cheek. “Thank you. It means a lot to know you care. But I didn’t come down here to tell you my troubles. Show me your lyrics.”

Ryan smiled. “If I didn’t know you better, I’d be blushing about now.”

She let go of his hand and took the sheets of music he handed her. “I don’t believe you. Anyone who runs naked down Main Street hasn’t got a blushing gene in his body.”

“You’d be surprised,” Ryan mumbled. He picked up his guitar and strummed the chords to the song she was looking at. “I’m good at pretending to be an extrovert.”

It was Sophie’s turn to smile. “Are you telling me you’re shy?”

“Could be.”

She looked up from the lyrics. “How do you perform in front of thousands of people if you’re shy?”

“I pretend that only a few people are listening.”

“But there isn’t.”

Ryan started playing the chorus. “I know. Sometimes I’m sick before I go on stage. Other times I’m so nervous that I have to force myself to walk into the spotlights. My mom and dad wanted me to be an accountant.”

Her mouth dropped open. “Why?”

“My dad works construction and mom is a teacher. They wanted me to have a job that gave me a good income and wasn’t going to disappear with a downturn in the economy. They’re big on financial security.”

“What did they say when you told them you wanted to be a musician?”

“They told me every reason they could think of why it wasn’t a good idea. Dad blamed my music teacher. He said Mr. Francis was filling my head with nonsense.”

Ryan’s bittersweet smile told Sophie that whatever else they’d said hadn’t been good. “What did your music teacher say?”

“Not much. But after dad refused to pay for my lessons, Mr. Francis met me during my lunch break. We used to practice three times a week.”

“How did you become so famous?”

Ryan smiled. “Famous enough that you didn’t recognize me?”

“I’m different. My head is usually buried in textbooks and research theories. Country music wasn’t on my list of preferred pastimes. You must have had a plan to help your career?”

Ryan looked across the lake. “After I made the top of the charts with
Sad Time Coming,
I employed Dorothy. It was the best decision I’ve made.”

“What do your parents think about your music career now?”

“Mom and dad are still worried about me. They think that one day it’s all going to be over and I won’t have a good education to fall back on.”

“But you’re a billionaire,” Sophie whispered. “You don’t need anything to fall back on.”

“I know that and you know that, but my parents are stubborn.”

She looked down at the music sheets. “You need a little loving.”

“I do?”

Sophie looked at Ryan and grinned. He was definitely blushing now. “Here.” She pointed to the lyrics. “If you add, ‘you need a little loving’ to the last verse, it changes the tone of the song.”

He strummed the chords of the song and added the new lyrics. “You’re amazing.”

“I try to be.”

Ryan smiled as he ran his hands along the guitar strings. “What did your mom and dad want you to be?”

“I don’t think they minded as long as I was happy. Although dad did raise his eyebrows when I told him I wanted to own a pet store.”

“Why was he surprised?”

“I’m allergic to cats. I break out in a red, blotchy rash and have an itchy skin for days.”

Ryan stopped playing his guitar. “When did you change your mind and decide to become a scientist?”

Sophie thought through the other career choices that had come after the pet store owner. “I wanted to be a lot of things before I did my science degree. I guess the turning point came when I was sixteen. Dad hadn’t been well. He went to the doctor and was eventually diagnosed with bone cancer. He did all of the treatments his oncologist recommended, but nothing worked. That’s when I decided that I wanted to be a scientist. I wanted to help dad, but I didn’t know where to start.”

Sophie curled her feet under her and gazed at the night sky. “Dad used to tell me that one day I’d find a cure for cancer and, when I did, he’d be smiling down at me from heaven.”

“I’m sorry your dad died.”

“You don’t need to be. Dad struggled at the end. In a lot of ways he’d found peace with what had happened, but his body refused to let go. When he died, we didn’t know how we were going to manage. It took a long time for us to get used to living without him.”

“But you did?”

“Eventually. Hayley and I started our degrees together. We stayed close to mom, even though we’d been offered scholarships at other colleges.”

“Is your dad part of the reason Hayley became a nurse?”

“No – she’s got a thing for doctors.”

Ryan laughed at the smile on her face. “Does your sister have your sense of humor?”

“We’re pretty similar, which is another reason it’s not a good idea for her to come here. You’d never survive two of us.”

“You might be surprised.”

Sophie didn’t think she would be. Ryan was one of the world’s nice guys. He was the type of person who stopped on the side of the road to help a complete stranger. He hadn’t grumbled too much when she’d converted his kitchen into a lab, and he hadn’t said no when John asked him to judge the local talent show. He was the type of man a woman would be crazy to ignore.

She looked down at the lyrics. “Why didn’t you remarry after you divorced Cindy?”

The smile disappeared off Ryan’s face. “You’ve met Cindy. I don’t think I could go through that kind of relationship again.”

“But it doesn’t need to be like that.”

“Maybe not, but I’m never in one place long enough to meet anyone normal. And then there’s my money. As soon as someone finds out I’m a billionaire they treat me differently. How do you work out whether someone likes you for your money or for you?”

Sophie tried not to smile, but she couldn’t help herself. “I don’t know. I’ve never had that problem.”

Ryan frowned. “I’m not joking. Some women start planning their bridal registry as soon as they meet me.”

“What a hard life. It’s a wonder you can get out of bed in the morning with the amount of stress you’re under.”

“Why aren’t you interested in my money?”

“How do you know I’m not?”

Ryan leaned forward. “I found the cookie jar.”

Sophie felt a blush explode across her face. “Danny told you, didn’t he?”

“He might have said something after I asked him why there was a jar full of money in my office.”

“It was supposed to be a surprise,” Sophie muttered. “You wouldn’t take any money for letting me stay here, so I thought I’d put it in a jar. Danny was going to give it to you after I left.”

“I don’t want your money.”

Sophie lifted her chin. “I don’t care. You’re getting it anyway.”

“You might as well keep it. I’ll just give it away to someone else.”

“Fine. I’m sure there are plenty of organizations that would be grateful for the donation.”

Ryan narrowed his eyes. “I’m not changing my mind.”

“Neither am I.” Sophie reached across the table and slapped the lyrics to his song in front of him. “We haven’t finished writing these lyrics. Are we going to spend the rest of the night arguing or working?”

Ryan picked up his guitar. “Give me some words.”

“Has anyone ever told you you’re bossy?”

“Those words won’t work with the song. Unless you want to add that it takes one to know one?”

Sophie didn’t trust the gleam in his eyes or the words that were on the tip of her tongue. Ryan Evans was a force to be reckoned with. It was no wonder women threw themselves at him. It wasn’t his money that attracted them, but the man behind the words.

And whether he liked it or not, he’d be a few hundred dollars richer by the time she left.

CHAPTER SIX