A Love Melody

by Grace Roberts

  Strolling along the streets of New York, Valerie could hold hands with him, without fearing she’d see her face all over the news, and Ryan was as sweet as he’d ever been. He stroked her hair and stole a kiss whenever their friends weren’t looking, and she loved this little game the two of them were playing. Kevin still teased them whenever he caught them kissing or acting all lovey-dovey, but both Ryan and Valerie knew it was because their friend was happy they’d finally opened their eyes.

  The girls pulled their boyfriends into Tiffany’s and, even though both guys faked yawns and complained about wanting to go for a coffee, they ended up buying them identical bracelets, as a souvenir of their trip to New York.

  With Ryan’s arm around her shoulders and her head resting against his chest, Valerie wished that now that Ryan would be living permanently in Boston, they’d be able to organize more spontaneous day trips and short vacations, to add to their already long list of memories together.

  For the first time in years, Ryan felt alive. He had been to New York so many times over the past five years he’d lost count, but he’d never really had the chance to see the city. Being here with Valerie and their friends reminded him of the years they all hung out together in Boston, before he became famous. It felt good to finally be a normal nobody again, and he couldn’t wait for the show to be over so he could start his new life with Valerie as Ryan Wyler from Dublin and no longer as America’s Jazz Star.

  After their trip to Tiffany’s, he suggested going for lunch in Little Italy, where he’d once managed to drag Gordon for dinner back when his career had only just started and he could still enjoy dinner in a restaurant without fans or reporters assaulting him. They stopped in the small, very traditional pizzeria where Ryan told them he’d had the best pizza ever. Dino, the owner, remembered him and welcomed them with open arms and loud cheers, in true Italian style.

  Kevin laughed at the man’s exuberant welcome and when Dino noticed Ryan was holding Valerie’s hand, he shifted his attentions to her, telling her all about Ryan’s visit four years before. He showed her the picture he’d taken with Ryan, that was displayed on his personal wall of fame together with other celebrities who loved hanging out at his restaurant. Once they finally managed to get a table and have dinner, everyone agreed that it was the best pizza they’d ever tasted, and Kevin made Ryan promise they’d come back to New York again and stay a little longer.

  After they said good-bye to Dino, who gifted the adorable signorine a to-go box of homemade cannoli, they hailed a cab and went back to the hotel, so Ryan and Kevin could get ready for the show.

  He’d booked two awesome rooms at the Four Seasons, although he hadn’t managed to get a suite this time. Even so, Ryan couldn’t wait to spend the night in that amazing king-size bed with Valerie snuggled up in his arms. The last time they’d shared a hotel room, back when she’d visited him in Miami, she’d fallen asleep while he was in the shower and they’d only been friends back then. This was their first real trip as a couple and he couldn’t wait to roll between the sheets with Valerie beneath him and—

  “What’s that silly smile for?” Valerie asked, shaking him out of his daydream. His naughty daydream. She was standing in front of him with a raised eyebrow. He encircled her waist with his arms and pulled her flush to him.

  “I was just imagining how comfortable that big bed must be,” he said in a husky tone. Valerie’s cheeks pinked a little at his words, but she was smiling.

  “Well, you might find out just after the show... if you have a long shower and smell clean, that is.”

  Ryan laughed, her words reminding him of their friendly banter after the show in Miami. Valerie would never change—and he loved this. Their complete honesty with each other and the lack of inhibitions were sure to make their relationship work without a single hitch.

  “I will, don’t worry,” he said, nuzzling her neck. Her body quivered in his arms and he smiled against her skin. “Although, I might be worn out after the show, so I’ll probably need your help washing me.”

  Valerie giggled and pushed him back, waggling her eyebrows at him as she walked backward toward the bathroom.

  “We’ll see. It depends on how well you play tonight.” She winked at him just before closing the door behind her.

  Ryan laughed and plopped down on the bed, thinking he had never been happier in his whole life. Loving Valerie was making his life perfect.

  “I’m so worried Kevin will screw it all up,” Karen said, squirming in her front row seat while they were waiting for the show to start. “I’ve never seen him so nervous.”

  They’d spent a little time backstage with the two guys, and Kevin’s face had looked a little gray, if she had to be honest. He’d never played in front of a big audience, and Valerie knew that playing at the Madison Square Garden was a dream come true for him. Though Ryan and Valerie had tried to reassure him and ease the tension, the only one who’d managed to get him to breathe again and regain a bit of color had been his girlfriend. Though he was still pale when the two women had walked out of the dressing room.

  Valerie chuckled, and patted Karen’s arm reassuringly. “He’ll be all right. Ryan was always nervous before a show, but once he came out on stage and he was in his element, everything went smoothly. I’m sure it’ll be the same for Kevin.”

  Girls around them screamed Ryan’s name, and Valerie was glad this would be his last show. Now that they were together, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to tolerate women flinging themselves at him.

  “You know, I’m a little sorry Ryan decided to quit,” Karen said, raising her voice to be heard above the screams of Ryan’s fans. “I’ve always thought he was quite adorable on stage. The sex-on-legs kind of adorable.”

  “Oh my goodness, Karen! Have you got no shame at all?” Valerie screamed, and slapped her friend on the back of her head. “It’s my man you’re talking about!”

  Karen giggled. “What, now? Are you gonna pee all around him to mark your territory?”

  “Maybe I should.” Valerie smiled. Karen was right. Her comment had sounded a little Neanderthal even to herself. “And keep your sex-on-legs comment referred only to Kevin.”

  Karen rolled her eyes. “I love Kevin, but I’m not blind. You should feel proud to know other women find him attractive but you’re the only one who’s gonna have his babies. What?” she asked, when Valerie’s mouth dropped open and her eyes widened. “Don’t tell me you’ve never thought about having his babies. I used to think about it all the time, back when I had a crush on him.”

  “But now you’ll have Kevin’s babies and you’ll stop fantasizing about Ryan, won’t you?”

  Karen laughed and her expression changed to a dreamy one, including heart-shaped eyes and little stars twinkling in them. Well, her friend was in love.

  “Beautiful blond-haired, green-eyed babies, with Kevin’s artistic DNA and my brain.”

  “They’d better take your brain, all right. We don’t need other eccentric Blakely individuals around.”

  They both burst out laughing, well aware of how eccentric Kevin could be when his artistic side took over. Apparently, though, that was one of the things Karen loved the most about him—which was saying a lot about how bad her friend had it for him.

  Valerie thought back to the first time she’d introduced her friend to Kevin. Although Karen still had a crush on Ryan at the time, she had given Kevin an appreciative once-over, but once the girls were back in their room, she had told Valerie she thought he was handsome but way too weird for her, and she would still wait in line for Ryan to ask her out.

  That had been the first time Karen had openly admitted her crush on Ryan, and it had made Valerie uneasy. She had known from the very first day that Karen had it bad for Ryan, but deep down she’d always hoped she’d eventually get over him. With hindsight, Valerie realized she’d never thought any girl would be good enough for Ryan because her heart had always belonged to him, even though back then she had no idea about her true fee
lings.

  Luckily, things had sorted themselves out; Karen had never made a move on Ryan and Valerie hadn’t been forced to choose between her best friend and her roommate and closest female friend.

  The lights dimmed and the screams and cheers became louder as soon as Ryan walked onto the stage in his black suit and tie. He smiled, staring in her direction, and her heart soared in her chest. He was her whole world and would be forever. She leaned back in her seat and enjoyed Ryan’s last show, realizing the end of his career was in fact marking the beginning of their new lives together. And she couldn’t wait to enjoy every single minute with him.

  Epilogue

  *** Two months later ***

  Ryan walked out of the subway on a hot June day, holding a paper bag with muffins, and looked around at the crowd of people passing him by on the busy street. His life had changed so much in the past four months, ever since the accident, since those terrible days when he’d been close to death. He’d put an end to his rising career as a jazz star, even though his manager still thought he was crazy—and he wasn’t the only one who did—and had applied for a teaching job at Berklee. He’d loved working with the talented students in his former college when he’d been given the chance, before he’d become a celebrity, and he felt it was exactly what he was meant for.

  The most important change, though, was his new kind of relationship with Valerie, his best friend, the girl whom he’d always cared so much for.

  Things had gotten so much better after he stopped traveling around the world. When Valerie and Karen’s shifts allowed them to, the four of them would go out together and they would spend hours laughing and having fun, just like they used to do before he became a celebrity. It felt good to be normal again. He was living exactly the life he’d had in mind when he was a teenager and dreamed about his future.

  He was happy he could spend all his free time with Valerie, without having to worry too much about who would see them together. The tabloids’ interest in his life had ended as suddenly as it had begun; when he officially told everyone that he was quitting to go back to a normal life as a music teacher, there had been various reactions, and he’d had to cope with tabloids following him and wanting exclusive interviews for a few more weeks.

  But just like the time they’d tagged Valerie as his secret lover, after a while they got tired. Since he was no longer an interesting subject, he wasn’t worth wasting time on, and they eventually left him alone, free to finally lead a normal life with the people he loved and cared for.

  Every now and then, a fan of his would still stop him in the street just to shake hands with him or take a picture, but it didn’t happen often anymore. He honestly didn’t mind, though.

  Everything was back to normal, his life was back to normal, and he knew it was all thanks to Valerie, to what she had done for him, to how she had fought for him, bringing him back to life and giving him the chance to set things right once and for all.

  After they’d moved in together, they both agreed they wouldn’t go back to Ireland because this was where they belonged now, so he’d put his apartment up for sale. They had already started looking for something less expensive, but big enough for the two of them and for his grand piano, and they had recently seen a place in Beacon Hill, a beautiful neighborhood they had fallen in love with. He had just been to the real estate agency to make an offer for it, hoping nobody would make a better one.

  Although he still had quite large savings, and the job at Berklee would pay well, he didn’t want to spend all of his money on some big, pretentious house, which would be so typical of a star. After all, he had never acted like one, and he knew Valerie wouldn’t like that either.

  She had loved that apartment—her eyes had sparkled when she’d seen the big windows looking out onto the Boston Common Park, and she had loved everything about it. When they’d gone home that night, they’d talked about it and she’d already started planning where they would put every piece of furniture and what room would be their bedroom.

  Even after they’d made love that night, she’d gone on talking about it, and he’d laughed at her enthusiasm.

  Making love to Valerie—that was another thing he had never thought he’d end up doing. But, just like everything else about their relationship, it was just perfect.

  Now he was walking swiftly toward the hospital, smiling alone as he tried to imagine what her reaction to his surprise would be, and he almost wanted to start skipping down the road, telling anyone he came across how much he loved Valerie.

  When he finally stepped through the automatic doors and into the elevator, he brought the paper bag close to his chest and hoped she wouldn’t be busy, because he wasn’t sure he’d be able to wait a minute longer.

  When the elevator doors opened with a ping and Ryan emerged, walking out toward her holding a paper bag and with a beautiful smile on his face, the love Valerie felt for him overwhelmed her and nearly swallowed her whole. Her body thrummed at the sight of his handsome face, his smiling hazel eyes and his strong arms and chest—that same chest she’d kissed and stroked just a few hours before, when they were lying under a duvet in their comfortable bed.

  She couldn’t believe how things had changed and how natural this all was. She still wondered why they had never been able to see what everyone else had always seen, even when the two of them were teenagers and had no other interests but music and their friendship.

  Although it had taken them ages to understand they were meant to be, what they had now would never end. Their strong friendship had made everything even more special, and they knew the foundations of their relationship were strong and solid.

  Ryan approached and hugged her, kissing her lips tenderly. Her heart skipped a beat, and she knew she would never get enough of feeling his lips on hers.

  “I’ve brought you something to get you through the day,” he said, handing her the paper bag. “And I have news. You busy now?”

  “I was just about to take a break.” She nodded to her left. “Let’s go to the staff room.”

  They passed the nurses’ station and rounded the corner toward the small room that served as a kitchen and a place to put their feet up when the doctors and nurses were close to exhaustion. The room was empty and Ryan closed the door behind him, while Valerie switched on the coffee maker and waited for the coffee to warm up.

  “So what’s all this about? I’m curious, now. What kind of news do you have?”

  She pulled up a chair and sat down, clasping her hands on top of the table. Ryan sat right in front of her but didn’t look at her. Something was bothering him and Valerie’s blood went cold at the thought that his news wouldn’t be the good kind.

  “I, uh... did something on a whim, and I hope you won’t be mad at me.” He fidgeted with the strap of his watch, something he always did when he was nervous—something she’d come to love about him. “I wanted to call you, but I knew you wouldn’t be able to talk and well, I... uh... I sort of wanted to surprise you in a way, so...”

  Valerie chuckled. He looked so cute she wanted to hug him and reassure him everything would be okay, that she wouldn’t be mad at him, no matter what he’d done. It couldn’t be that bad, after all, could it?

  “So?” she prompted him, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze.

  He inhaled deeply and the words tumbled out on a breath. “So I made an offer for the house, you know, the one in Beacon Hill we saw the other day, and the real estate agent said it was quite likely they’ll accept it. There, I said it.”

  Her heart soared in her chest and her face cracked into a smile. “Why should I be mad at you, Ryan? Of all the places we’ve seen, that was the one I liked best. This is wonderful news.” She took both his hands in hers and their fingers entwined. He smiled at her and she brought his hands to her lips, placing a soft kiss on his knuckles. “You eejit; you should know by now I could never be mad at you, let alone for something like this.”

  He shrugged and shifted on his chair, as if the s
eat was on fire. “I wasn’t sure if you wanted to look at some other apartments before making a decision, and I was afraid you’d feel left out because I’d chosen for both of us.”

  “But that’s what we wanted, wasn’t it? We both loved that apartment, and I’m glad you made an offer before someone else stole it from us.” She stood up and went to the counter, where she filled two mugs with hot coffee. She returned to the table and sat down, placing a mug in front of him. He smiled, and pushed the paper bag toward her.

  “Muffins?” she asked, opening it and taking out one.

  “That’s mine, actually,” he said, snatching it out of her hand. She frowned. “Yours is the other one.”

  “And since when is there my muffin and your muffin?”

  “Yours is a blueberry muffin, while I felt like eating chocolate chip today. There. End of mystery.” He lifted a shoulder and took a huge bite, munching nonchalantly.

  She raised her eyebrows and stared at him for a moment, wondering what was going through his mind today. He was definitely acting bizarrely. She took the other muffin and when she opened it in half, the way she had been doing all her life, she let out a shocked breath and dropped it on the table.

  Inside the pastry was a simple white gold band encrusted with small diamonds on its upper half. She looked up from the muffin into Ryan’s eyes and he smiled, a beautiful, loving smile that turned his eyes to warm caramel. Speech eluded her and she just stared at him, losing herself in the depth of his gaze.

  “I know we haven’t been dating long, but we’ve known each other for half of our lives, after all. There’s nothing more I need to find out about you that I don’t already know. I mean, I know you better than anyone else, and you know me more than I know myself. I love you, Val. I will always love you.” He stood up and took her hand, kneeling down in front of her. “I know this is a bit melodramatic, and I know if Kevin were here he’d never stop teasing me, but this is how you’ve been dreaming it for all of your life. I wanted to do it right. I wanted it to be perfect, just like our first time together.”