Sun & Moon: An Inspirational Contemporary Romance (A Guitar Girl Romance Book 1)

by Hope Franke

  Micah hesitated. “I could lie and say no, but her tentacles had me bound for a very long time. Even though I knew I should’ve left her immediately, I couldn’t stop myself from following her. I knew I was risking losing you, but I naively thought that you would forgive me. I just had to hear her out.”

  He paused to run fingers through his curls, and took in a long breath.

  “It wasn’t enough for her to find me. Even though she didn’t want me, she didn’t want to share me. I thought the timing of her arrival to be very coincidental. She eventually revealed to me that she’d been in contact with my mother. She knew I was going to ask you to marry me that night.

  “I should’ve known by the way she looked at you that her goal was to break us up. She was stronger than me. For that I’ll never forgive myself.

  “By the time she finished the convoluted tale of her selfish pursuit of self-discovery in the Swiss Alps, the sun was rising. I knew I’d blown it. Any sliver of affection I’d ever had for her had been ground to dust in the hours it had taken for her to recite her misadventures, and it had blown away into the Elbe.

  “The only girl I could think of at that moment was you. You’ve been the only girl on my heart and mind, day and night, since. I’m still chasing a girl, Katja, but this time it’s you. It will always be you.”

  Katy blinked hard, her mind racing to comprehend. “She’s been in Switzerland all this time, and never bothered to tell anyone?”

  “She impulsively traveled there the night I passed out. She needed to ‘clear her head.’ Then, when she realized there was a manhunt for her, I guess it made her feel special and important. That was when she decided she’d let the legend grow.”

  Katja was astounded. “She didn’t care what it was doing to you?”

  Micah sighed. “Apparently not. She’d grown tired of me, and didn’t think I’d let her go without a fight. She was probably right about that. Eventually, she did contact her mother, but made her promise not to tell anyone.”

  “Why did she contact your mother?”

  “Her mother and my mother are friends. When I told my mother I was planning to ask you to marry me, she in turn told Greta’s mother, who told Greta.”

  The whole story was just so warped and crazy. Katja rubbed her temples. She had to keep her wits about her, but she felt her defenses slipping. “How long have you been living in Berlin?”

  “Two months.”

  “Why didn’t you contact me earlier? You know where I live.”

  “I didn’t think you were ready to see me.”

  She worked the ring in her lip. “Why do you think I’m ready now?”

  “You’ve started playing your guitar again.”

  Oh, Lord. Micah really did know her.

  “I assumed it would be tough for you here,” Micah said, leaning back. “It had to be. I wanted to help you, but I knew you wouldn’t accept cash. You’re stubborn that way.”

  She huffed. “I’m not stubborn.”

  “Believe me,” he said without smiling. “If there’s one thing you are, Katja, it’s stubborn. At least I was able to help your mother.”

  “You got Mama that job?”

  “She’s proven to be an excellent worker.”

  Katja shook her head. Why was she not surprised? “So, if I move to Frankfurt, are you going to move there, too?”

  Micah’s eyes darkened. “No. As I told you when I picked you up tonight, if you want me to go away, I will.”

  Katja’s heart stammered, and her mouth grew dry. Her mind and emotions were like a ball rolling out of control down a hill.

  “I’m going to be late for my gig,” she said quietly.

  Micah gathered his keys. “I’ll take you.”

  Katja could barely think straight. Her heart hammered in her chest during the whole ride to the club, and she couldn’t come up with one word to say to Micah. She’d spent every waking moment, and most of her sleeping ones, working hard to forget Micah. Not to forgive him. And yet, here he was asking her to do just that.

  Micah parked and reached for Katja’s guitar before she could retrieve it. “I’ll carry it for you.”

  She remembered all the other times Micah had carried her guitar for her, how he proudly proclaimed himself to be her groupie, and her heart softened a little.

  “Are you coming in?” she asked when they reached the door.

  “I’d like that,” he said, “a lot.”

  They entered the darkened room in time to catch the last song of Simone’s set. The stage lights had a blue lens that cast a cool hue into the audience, making everyone’s face look whiter than normal. Matthias was there, and he rushed to her side when the song ended. “Where were you?” His ghostly expression chastised her. “I thought you said you’d be here for Simone.”

  “I meant to. I just… ran into someone.”

  Matthias’s gaze moved to Micah and to Katja’s guitar case in his hand. His eyes narrowed. “That’s not the jerk who dumped you on your engagement night for his old girlfriend, is it?”

  “Matthias!”

  Micah held out his hand. “It is, actually. I’m Micah.”

  Matthias’s face twisted in disbelief. “Excuse me if I don’t shake your hand.”

  Katja groaned.

  Matthias wasn’t finished. “Do you want me to show him out?”

  Did she? Matthias and Micah bore down on each other like two cocks wanting the same hen. Only one of them had claimed her heart. Only one of them still did.

  “No.” She sighed. “He can stay.”

  Matthias shrugged on his jacket. “Fine.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “It’s okay.” He stuck his fists in his pockets. “It’s your call.”

  Katja watched him as he headed for the door. He was stopped by friends before he had a chance to leave, and she hoped he’d change his mind and stay for her set.

  “I like him,” Micah said with a grin.

  “I don’t think he likes you.”

  “He cares about you. We have that in common.”

  The host motioned for Katja to get ready. When Katja had left her apartment that evening, she never in a million years imagined that the night would’ve gone like this. That Micah would be sitting in the room, and not at the back this time, but at a table front and center, watching her play.

  She spoke with the manager of the bar and the guy who helped with the sound. She reviewed her set list. A song was missing. She knew how to end it now. Quickly, she took her new lyric notebook from her bag. She remembered the words of the song by heart, but quickly scribbled out the lyrics to the third verse. She smiled. It was finished now.

  She waited for her introduction, then entered the spotlight on the small stage. She never felt alone when she had her guitar nuzzled against her belly. They were a team, and they could conquer any giant together. Including this one.

  “Thank you,” she said as the welcoming applause faded. She ran through her set, sticking with covers and a few new songs that didn’t have anything to do with love, and telling humorous stories in between. She was good at what she did, and she quickly had the crowd engaged and listening to her every word.

  Her hour blew by quickly, as most of her performances did for her. “I’m going to end my set with a song I started several months back and just finished ten minutes before I got on stage tonight. It’s dedicated to the one who broke my heart.”

  Micah’s dark eyes drilled into her, his mouth in a firm line. She broke the gaze, snapping her eyes shut, knowing this was going to hurt.

  Don’t go now

  I know it’s late and the light is growing dim

  But I just like the way

  You feel beside me on the front steps, not yet

  Sing me one more song,

  The one about the girl, who finds the whole wide world

  She risked a peek. Micah looked stricken by her words. She had to look away.

  Don’t go now

  I know it’s la
te and the dark is folding in

  But I just like the way

  Your fingers close around my hand, so grand

  And sing me one more song

  The one about the girl who finds the whole wide world

  So far she had managed to sing without her emotions threatening to crack her voice, but now, as she prepared to enter the last verse, she had to squeeze her eyes shut and focus on staying strong.

  Don’t go now

  I know it’s late and the light is spreading thin

  But I just like the way

  The shadows pattern on the road, don’t go

  And sing me one more song,

  The one about the boy who never let her go

  The crowd roared, and the room began to spin. She thanked the crowd, keeping her eyes focused on the back of the room. She packed up her guitar, her heart pounding against her chest. She knew Micah was watching her, but she couldn’t face him. She couldn’t bear the look of grief on his face.

  He didn’t give her a choice.

  “Katja?”

  “I wrote it while waiting for you. Call it our engagement song.”

  He reached for her arm.“I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  She sighed. “But you did. I want to forgive you, Micah, and I do, but… I just need more time.”

  “You can have as much as you want.”

  She didn’t know what she was promising him, if anything. “I have to go.” She left Micah standing near the stage, and was surprised to see Matthias waiting by the door.

  “I thought you left,” she said to him.

  “Nah. I had to see you play.” He cocked an eyebrow. “I hate to say it, but that last song rocked.”

  She shook her head sadly. “I don’t know if I’ll ever sing it again.”

  For the first time, Matthias carried her guitar case for her. “You look beat. I’ll take you home.”

  “Thanks.” She couldn’t stop herself from taking a peek over her shoulder at Micah. He stared at her looking bereft. In her heart, she knew she was leaving with the wrong guy, but she couldn’t help herself. She wanted Micah to know what it felt like.

  The next day was Sunday, her day off, and Katja slept in. The timing was good, because she didn’t have the physical or emotional energy to get out of bed. As she lay there in the dim winter morning light, the events of the night before replayed in her mind, over and over again. Micah’s return into her life was an unexpected wrench. She needed some downtime to process it.

  Plus, she didn’t want to risk running into Matthias again. She liked him as a friend only, and she felt badly that she’d let him believe there was a chance for something else. Next time she saw him, she’d have to tell him how she felt. She hoped their friendship would survive. Her heart couldn’t bear losing another person she cared about so dearly.

  Her cell phone rang on the side of her bed, and she groaned. She wasn’t up to speaking to anyone, especially Micah or Matthias. She picked it up, expecting to see one of their names on the screen, but instead it was her lawyer’s name, Tanya Fullermann.

  “Katja Stoltz,” Katja answered.

  “Hello, Katja. It’s Tanya Fullermann. I have news you may not be happy to hear.”

  Katja’s heart skipped. “What is it?”

  “Horst has been released on probation.”

  Blackness closed in on the edges of Katja’s eyes, and she pinched them tight. “Oh.”

  “Your restraining order against him is still in effect, but I wanted to make sure you knew he was back on the streets.”

  Katja sprung out of bed, whisking to the front door to make sure it was locked. Sibylle was watching television while eating breakfast. A startled look crossed her face. “What’s wrong?”

  “Uh, nothing, just checking the door.”

  She heard Gisela banging around in the kitchen, and she slipped in to tell her the news, keeping her voice low.

  Gisela’s hand reached for her throat. “What are we going to do?”

  “There’s nothing we can do, except use extra caution. We can’t let Sibylle out alone.”

  Gisela nodded, but Katja knew she was concerned. Sibylle would turn twelve soon. They couldn’t keep her under lock and key forever. She had a life. Or at least, she should have a life. She needed friends and hobbies that took her beyond home and school. She wouldn’t put up with Katja escorting her everywhere for much longer.

  She shared her concerns with Henni later that day when she dropped by for a visit.

  “I’ll help watch her,” she said. Her hair streaks were pink now. “Sorry I missed your show last night,” she added. “How did it go? I heard Simone Pellar was really good.”

  “You heard how Simone’s set went, but not mine?”

  “Well, actually, I heard yours was amazing and that you did some crazy powerful song at the end, but I wanted to hear it from you.”

  “Micah showed up last night.”

  “The Micah?”

  Katja nodded.

  “And?” Henni poked her in the ribs. “Come on. Spill!”

  “And, I sang the song I wrote the night he left me. To hurt him. Then I left with Matthias. To hurt him. I’m an awful person.”

  “Oh, Katja.” Henni pulled her into a hug. “The fact that you feel awful about what you did just proves you’re not an awful person. Besides, he deserved it.”

  Katja pulled free and pressed fingers against her eyes. She was so tired of tears. “Yeah, he did, but now it’s over, and I don’t feel any better.”

  “It takes time,” Henni said with a knowing look. “It just takes time.”

  Katja threw all her pent-up energy into work the next day. The physical act of viciously scrubbing dishes didn’t calm her raging emotions at all. Micah was here in Berlin, messing with her mind. If she didn’t have her mother and sister to worry about she’d just catch the next train to wherever. But she did have them. She was stuck. What was she doing with her life? How long would she be washing dishes and scrubbing floors?

  She examined her hands. Red and chapped, they looked like they belonged to an old lady. She’d taken to chewing her nails lately to relieve stress. Thick calluses had formed on the tips of her fingers again from playing guitar.

  At least the dishes were done. She just needed to do the floor and then she could go. Hopefully, she’d be gone before Matthias showed up. She just didn’t have the energy to deal with him right now.

  She grabbed the blade and got down on her hands and knees to scrape the floor. She was halfway done when she heard a male voice call her name.

  It wasn’t Matthias’s voice. She froze on the spot. No, please. She didn’t want him to see her like this: sweaty and grimy, dressed in scrubs, on her hands and knees.

  “Katja?” he called again.

  She turned, and Micah was standing in the doorway, looking like a model, wearing clean, name brand jeans and a crisp shirt. A shocked expression crossed his gorgeous, clean-shaven face.

  She couldn’t feel more humiliated. “What are you doing here?” she mustered

  “I thought I’d drop in for coffee.”

  She flung her hand. “You missed the café by about two meters. It’s behind you.”

  “I know. I thought you worked there.”

  “No, I work in the bakery, back here.” She wished the floor she’d been scraping would just open up and swallow her.

  “When does your shift end?” he asked. “Should I wait for you?”

  Oh, God, no. “I really should go home. I need to shower…”

  Her phone buzzed in her pocket. Now what? She dug it out and answered it. Her face blanched as she listened to her mother’s frantic voice. She sprung to her feet. “I’ll be right there, Mama.”

  “Is something wrong?” Micah asked

  “Sibylle is missing. Horst is out on bail, and my mother thinks she’s with him.”

  “Isn’t she in school?”

  “It’s a school holiday. I have to go home.”

  “Of cours
e. I’ll drive you.”

  She didn’t want to go anywhere with him, especially looking like she did, but he would get her home faster than walking or transit.

  “Okay.” She told Herr Bauer she had a family emergency and had to leave before the floors were done. He bellowed his disapproval, and she wondered if she’d still have a job the next day.

  She didn’t speak during the trip over, sitting as close to the passenger door as possible. She hated how the bakery made her smell and didn’t want Micah to sniff her. And she couldn’t believe she could care about something so vain when her sister was missing. She tapped her fingers restlessly on the arm rest, just wanting to be home now.

  Micah hooked his blue tooth around his ear. Katja didn’t see how he connected to the person on the other end, but she perked up when he started talking.

  “His name is Horst Bergmann. Out on parole. I need to verify his whereabouts. I’m with the older daughter now. The younger one is missing and they are concerned she’s with Bergmann without authorization.”

  A pause. “Yes, that’s fine.”

  “Who were you talking to?”

  “My lawyer. He’s putting a call into the parole board. They’ll locate your step-father.”

  The lawyer hadn’t called back by the time they arrived at the building. Katja raced up the stairs with Micah right behind her. She banged on the door.

  “Mama, it’s me!”

  Gisela opened the door, her eyes puffy and red. “I’m sorry Katja. I fell asleep. When I woke up she was gone.”

  “She could be anywhere,” Micah said. “You can’t know for sure she’s with Horst.”

  Gisela squinted. “Who is this, Katja?”

  “Oh, Mama, it’s Micah. You’ve met before, a long time ago.”

  Gisela nodded slowly. “That Micah.”

  Yes, that Micah.

  Katja raced to her room. Just in case. Her sister may have returned without her mother noticing. “Sibylle?”

  The bed was neatly made. There was no sign of her sister. Katja took a moment to quickly change her clothes to a clean shirt and jeans. She put her winter coat back on.