by Sharon Coady
“Just something we talked about last night,” she said with a smile.
Johnny walked through the door dressed in a pair of cream cargo shorts and a grey T-shirt that hugged his body just enough to show off his rock hard abs. When his eyes met hers, she saw something flash through them as he held her gaze for a moment before turning to Alastair. He gave him the once over and shook his head. “Holy crap, Alastair. Your dad would kill you if he saw those.”
They clasped each other in a huge hug. “Look at me, shit man, look at you. When the hell did you get inked?”
Just hearing the two of them made Leona grin from ear to ear. Some satisfaction, in the fact that none of their friends had known about the tattoo, flowed through her. At least the others hadn’t known.
Hope glanced over at Leona. “Wow. John is hotter than ever.”
Leona took him in again, letting her eyes move over his body as he joked with his old friend and introduced Alastair to his new ones. She felt a shift in her heart and knew at that moment, she was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with Johnny and nothing would ever change that. She closed her eyes. Is it too late for us? Have I ruined everything?
“Earth to Leona.” Hope tapped her arm.
“Sorry?” She felt the heat of the blush spread over her face yet again. “What did you say?”
“The timer just went off. The noodles.” Hope giggled at the confused look Leona knew was on her face.
“Crap, how did I miss that?” She rolled her eyes and gave Hope a lopsided grin as she hurried into the kitchen to drain the noodles.
“Do you need help?” Heather called all the while not moving from her spot.
“If you want, sure.” Leona figured her friend needed a few moments to collect herself. Heather had her hands clasped together so hard, her knuckles were white.
“Excuse me.” She moved away from Sebastian and scooted into the kitchen. “This is hard, how do you do it?” she barely breathed out the words.
Leona took her hand. “It will get easier. Trust me.” She looked over her shoulder. “Dinner is ready if you want to have a seat while we get everything on the table.”
“Wow, everything smells great. Seems like ya’ll went to a lot of trouble.” Sebastian smiled as he held Heather’s eyes.
“Leona cooked everything.” Heather blurted out and quickly turned bright red. “I can’t cook.” She dropped her eyes.
“Well, you can’t be the best at everything.” Leona bumped her shoulder as Heather glanced up at her and rolled her eyes.
Leona was glad that Heather was trying to behave herself. However, she’d have to encourage her to be a little more herself. They carried everything to the table. Once everyone was served, the conversation stopped as they took a bite of food.
She glanced around the table and saw everyone looking at her, savoring the first bite. She froze with a fork halfway to her mouth.
“This is so good. It’s even better than it smelled. You have to give me the recipe.” Hope grinned and dove in for another bite.
“It’s amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever had pasta this good. I want the recipe too, if it’s okay.” Sebastian smiled. “I love to cook.”
Heather started giggling. “You cook, too? How perfect is that?”
Sebastian’s brows drew together as he scrutinized her as if trying to decipher her statement.
“I don’t cook, never have. Good thing Leona and I are friends because I would either eat out or starve.”
“What does that have to do with me cooking?” The corners of his mouth turned up as he watched her face turn crimson.
“I’m so glad you like the dinner. I was worried because this is the first time I’ve tried the recipe.” Leona smiled at Heather in the hopes of distracting Sebastian from his line of questioning, which had clearly backed her into a corner. “She encouraged me to make it for you guys.” The conversation picked up, and the moment of awkwardness ended.
Johnny insisted on helping the girls clean up, drying the dishes, and putting them away. “So you’re singing for us tonight, right?” He nudged Leona’s shoulder. “I can’t wait to hear you guys again.”
“Alastair brought his guitar so I guess we are,” she replied nonchalantly. “Heather and I were talking earlier while you surfed—about my singing career. She told me I have to stop living my life for my mom and aunt and start living for me. I’ll finish college, but I’m going to start writing songs again.”
“That’s something I’ve always thought you should do. You and Alastair make a great team and could go far. Speaking of, let’s do this.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Alastair, let’s get this show on the road.”
Alastair grabbed his guitar and Hope’s hand. “Sounds good. Alex why don’t you get the fire going and Heather, you and Sebastian get the glasses and wine?”
Alex stood. “Sure. Where are the matches, Heather?”
Leona loved how well all them were getting along and was happy Heather had invited the guys. She watched Sebastian’s interactions with Heather. He seemed interested in her, watching her every move, the corners of his mouth quirked up. Heather was actually being shy about the attention. She hoped she would continue to be a little more refined. Maybe she could lose the title she had earned for herself.
“Come on, Leo. Let’s get the chairs we had the other night.” Johnny grabbed her hand, tugging her towards the back door. “Have you written any lyrics lately?”
“Nothing I have sung yet or shown to anyone. I have some new ones I’ve written but not put to music yet. There’s an open mic night, and I was going to see if Alastair wants to do it with me. I was hoping to do one of my songs, if we can get some practice in.”
Johnny grinned, his dimples prominent on his handsome face. He gently stroked the side of her face, his finger moving down her cheek. “I love seeing your face light up with excitement like this. I’ve missed you. A lot.”
“I’ve missed you too.” They made their way to the fire pit and sat in their chairs, finding everyone sitting in almost the same spots they had last night. For the first time in forever, Leona felt like she was with family again. She couldn’t help the smile plastered on her face. Things were starting to fall in place; she could feel it deep inside.
Alastair strummed his guitar while Leona closed her eyes and started to sing. As the words flowed and the chords wound around her, everything else fell away. It was just her and Alastair as the song wove its magic for her. They ran through their entire set, no one speaking as their spell was woven. As the last note faded into the night, Leona looked up and saw everyone staring at her with smiles on their faces.
“Whoa. You’re amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything so beautiful as your voice. Why aren’t you doing this for real?” Awe transformed Sebastian’s face. “I’m serious, you guys have something special.” He glanced around at everyone as they nodded their heads in agreement.
“I’ve been telling her the same thing.” Heather smiled. “You think she’ll listen? What the hell, Leona. See what I mean? I’m not just fluffing your feathers, look at everyone’s face.”
“Thanks. I do love singing, and I love doing it with Alastair. Speaking of...” She turned to him. “There’s an open mic night...”
“Let’s do it!” Alastair’s face lit up. “I’d love to play for a crowd again. I’ve missed it. You don’t mind, do you, Hope?”
She shook her head. “Of course not.”
“I can’t wait to hear your songs,” Johnny said softly. He reached over and tugged her closer. “You definitely need to think about doing it as a career.”
Leona’s eyes met his, and again, everything else faded away until it was just the two of them. “I will,” she whispered.
“Leona, you going to sit there staring into John’s eyes all night, like the rest of us don’t exist, or are you going to sing some more?” Heather giggled.
Heat spread a blush over her face. She narrowed her eyes as her mouth drew into a thi
n line. She hoped Heather felt the daggers she shot at her.
Heather threw her head back and laughed. “Damn, I love watching her get pissed off like that.” Her eyes sparkled as she winked at John.
“You are such a pain in the ass.” She giggled, too. “About time I heard that smart mouth of yours tonight. Which set now Alastair?”
Forty minutes later, Leona sat back, happier than she could remember feeling in forever.
Alastair’s face lit up, his eyes gleamed. “I haven’t had this much fun since we were kids.”
“We have to figure out what we want to play on Saturday. I think we get to do two sets of three songs. What do you think?”
“Yeah, I think we should definitely do Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush” for sure. You kill that one. Have you got anything new yet? Something we could introduce as ours?”
“I’ve written a couple but not sure if it’s anything we could do that quickly. We haven’t even practiced them.” Her heart raced at the thought of performing something of her own in front of people.
“Well, give it to me and I’ll work on it tonight We could get together tomorrow morning to run through it a few times to see if you like what I do with the tune. You know, make sure we’re in the same place with it.” He shrugged. “If you want…”
“Um, why don’t you come over tomorrow morning? Let me work on polishing the lyrics before I let you have them. That way we can discuss where I’m going with them and see which one we both feel good working on.”
“That sounds good. Man, this is going to be so much fun.” He glanced at Hope. “You sure you don’t mind?”
“Of course not! Look at you two. I haven’t seen either of you this happy for a while. I can’t wait.” She winked and grabbed his hand. “I love that you’re doing this.”
Johnny pulled Leona close, leaned in, and whispered in her ear, “You’re glowing. See how happy it makes you to do something you want to do?” He kissed the top of her head before letting her go. “Alex, it’s getting late. I’m going to grab my stuff from your Jeep.”
Sebastian stood, pulling Heather to her feet. “I’m surfing in the morning, if you want to meet me to watch.”
“Sure. I’d love to. Johnny can wake us up when he gets up.”
“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Smiling, he turned to Alastair and shook his hand. “Man, you guys are awesome. I’m not usually a fan of country music but you guys rock.”
“Thanks.”
“Hey, Leona would you mind if the guys came over again tomorrow so we can play for them? Good practice and all that.”
“Heather, you don’t care do you?” Leona had seen the smile light her face when Alastair had extended the invitation.
Heather shook her head. “Fine with us. Why don’t you guys plan on dinner again tomorrow? This has been so much fun.”
“Cool! We’d love it. But listen, why don’t you let me know tomorrow morning what you want to make, and Alex and I will buy the stuff to make it. I don’t want y’all to pay for everything.”
Before Leona could object, Johnny piped in, “Sounds like a good plan. We can run to town after we surf and let them get some extra practice in.” He winked at Leo. “I know you’ll want as much private time with Alastair as you can get before you let us hear your masterpiece.”
Leona loved that Johnny thought of her feelings. He’s always done that for me. Damn, I take so much for granted with him. I wonder if he would ever be able to see me as more than a friend? Her high suddenly gone, she sighed as the men went to the Jeep.
“What’s wrong?” Heather asked as she slipped her arm around her. “Why the long face all of a sudden?”
Shrugging her shoulders, she sighed again. “I don’t know.” She leaned her head on Heather’s shoulder.
~~~
Tonight had been wonderful, watching Alastair and Leo perform. She had glowed the entire time. He hadn’t seen her that happy in years. Her mom and aunt were so wrong to hold her back and discourage her from following her dream. He would never do that to her. He knew if she opened herself up to him and loved him back, he would do everything to see her accomplish her dream.
She looked so beautiful today, more relaxed than he’d seen her in years. He hoped he was part of the cause. He climbed the ladder to the loft and started unpacking his bags. Catching a glimpse of her grabbing her nightclothes from her dresser, he averted his eyes when she turned and glanced his way before closing her door.
He turned back to his task at hand, made his way down the ladder, and headed for the guest bath. He stopped outside her door, hand raised to knock, thought better of it, and turned to head down the hall. Heather was standing just inside her bedroom door watching him.
“What?”
“I wish you two would admit your feelings for each other and stop playing around. If one of you doesn’t make a move soon, I’m afraid you guys will drift apart.”
He could see the sadness in her eyes. “Look, Heather. I don’t want to make her uncomfortable or scare her off. You know how she is.”
“You guys gave me advice, and I’m trying to take it. Now, it’s time for you to listen to me.”
He put his hand on her shoulder and gave it a little squeeze. “I’ll try to say something to her, but I have to wait until I think it’s the right time. Respect me on that?”
She shook her head and turned to go back into her room. “Night, John. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Night, Heather.” He quickly made his way to the bathroom, closed the door, and started the shower. He’d made up his mind, but he wasn’t letting anyone push him.
When he finished his shower, her door was opened just a crack with the light on, and he could hear her pacing. It was what she did when she was creating. He didn’t know how it helped her, but he suspected she would write something amazing. He climbed the ladder and picked up his tablet to read for a while, just to make sure she didn’t need him for anything. Sometimes when they were kids, she would bounce things off him.
He read for an hour, but she never came out of her room. He turned off his light and lay facing her door. Every once in a while, he would see her pass the door and pause. Once, she even put her hand on the knob but dropped it, shaking her head before turning and going back into the bowels of her room.
He glanced at the clock at two a.m. and closed his eyes. As he drifted off to sleep, he thought about her scent again and the feel of her in his arms. He needed to do something.
Chapter Six
Early the next morning as she fixed breakfast and brewed coffee for the three of them, Leona thought of the two songs she had written last evening when she couldn’t sleep. She’d listened to Johnny settling down in the loft and knowing he was so close had her womanly parts feeling things she had never felt before. She’d given up trying to sleep and sat up for a few hours writing and re-writing her lyrics. By the time she had gone to bed, it was in the wee hours of the morning. Now, she was exhausted and wondering if it had been a good idea to think about her own song for the show on Saturday.
Just as the timer went off for the rolls in the oven, she heard Johnny coming down the ladder from the loft.
“Morning, Leo. Something smells amazing.” He made his way toward the bathroom.
Closing her eyes, she wondered yet again what it would be like to be loved by Johnny. Why, oh why had she pushed her feelings away for so many years? Suddenly, she felt his arms go around her waist, and his chin resting on top of her head.
“You outdid yourself this morning. Especially since you were up so late writing.”
She tensed. “How do you know I was up so late?”
“Your light was on, and I could hear you pacing every once in a while. So I figured you must have had an idea for another song.” She could almost see the smile she was sure was on his face. “I thought about coming down, but I assumed you would want to be left alone while the muse spoke to you.”
“You know me so well, don’t you? Why do I feel lik
e I don’t really know you?” She leaned back against him and sighed. “I missed out on so much of your life, didn’t I?”
He turned her around and lifted her chin gently with his hand. Searching her eyes, he leaned down. Just before his mouth could capture hers, he turned his head slightly and kissed her on the cheek instead. “You know me, Leo. You were just so wrapped up in your aunt’s life and doing what your mom wanted that you never paid much attention to anything outside of that little bubble. You can change that if you really want to.” He pulled away and grabbed two mugs from the cabinet and poured two cups of coffee. “You still take yours with cream and sugar?”
She nodded, feeling disappointed that he wasn’t holding her anymore and that he hadn’t kissed her. What the hell is wrong with me? She took down three plates and plated two with the perfectly scrambled eggs, fried potatoes with green pepper, onions, and mushrooms. “Do you want one or two rolls?”
“One is good for the moment. What time is Alastair coming over? I was hoping you might want to come down and watch us surf.” He smiled when he saw the amount of food she had put on his plate. “Trying to fatten me up, Leo?”
“No, I just figured you could use the energy for all the surfing you’re doing today. It sounds like the waves are coming in pretty hard.” She felt the blush covering her face yet again. “Alastair said he’d be here about nine, but I want to go over the lyrics a couple of more times. I’ll have to pass on the surfing thing today.”
“Okay, just thought I’d ask.” He picked up his fork and dove into the meal on his plate. “This is as good as it smells.”
Watching him out of the corner of her eye, she wondered if there was a hint of disappointment in his tone. “I can work on it later and come down for a bit.”
“Don’t worry about it. Where’s Heather, by the way? I thought she was going to go watch Sebastian?”
Leona pushed back from the table and laid her napkin down. “I’ll go check on her. Be right back.” She hurried out of the kitchen, hoping he hadn’t noticed her disappointment that he really didn’t care if she went or not. She knocked on Heather’s door. “You up in there?” she called.