by Quinn, Taryn
A little girl or boy running around the truck with me, helping me pass out ice cream and create crazy flavors. I could see it all.
What I couldn’t see was him.
Rory would be across the street watching. Forever watching and separate. He wasn’t the guy who would climb into the fray and pick up a sticky, screaming kid and kiss away his or her hurts.
He kissed away yours.
I ignored that little voice. He wasn’t a monster. He just wasn’t my future.
But he could be my right now. He could be a bright spring day in one of my favorite places on the planet beyond the Cove.
“Let’s go see your friends. You have work to do, right?”
“Only if that’s okay with you.”
I rose onto my toes and kissed his scruffy chin. “It’s a real hardship to deal with you, LC, but I will survive.”
He hooked his arm around my shoulders and dragged me back toward the car. “A magnanimous woman. I’m not sure I can survive the day.”
I bumped my hip against him. “So, I get to see you play that guitar? Do you sing?”
His cheeks went ruddy. “I can play any instrument you put in front of me, but singing isn’t really my forte. I leave that to the Kellans and Ians of the world.”
“But you can?”
“I can hold a note, yes.”
“I expect to hear you sing, LC. Today.”
He rolled his eyes. “We’ll see.”
Thirteen
We made it into the clearing and Ian and Kellan were waiting for us.
This time, there were a few more men with them. A tall guy—well, they were all kind of on the tall end, to be honest—was playing airplane with Wolf. Another one stood nearby with a definite familial resemblance. Both men were enamored with the very happy child. A pretty dark-haired woman was filming on her phone as Wolf went for another zoom.
“There they are.” Kellan kept an eye on his kid as he spoke. I was pretty sure Wolf was his anyway. Everything had gotten jumbled after I’d been sideswiped by the Rory information deluge.
So many things made more sense now, but it was still a lot to digest.
“Hey. Sorry about that.” My chest, neck, and face had to be blazing.
“No worries. If Ian isn’t tossed out of the barn at least twice a visit, then something’s wrong.” The woman who spoke made me feel like an Amazon. Her voice was husky and filled with humor. She was leaning against Ian’s chest as his arms encircled her. He was lightly tapping some internal beat on her rounded belly. She had silvery hair gathered in an intricate braid I’d only ever seen in YouTube videos. She wore overalls and a sunny yellow tank top splattered with paint.
“Hey.” Ian pouted.
She batted his hands away and came across the grass to me. “I’m Zoe Manning.” She pointed behind her. “Those are my brothers. Hayes is the spotter and the pilot is Justin.”
I shook Zoe’s hand. “Thanks for letting me crash the rocker club.”
“Please crash it. These guys get going and all we do is play audience.”
“You love my music, Magic.” Ian came up behind her and kissed her neck. “She likes to pretend we’re a pain in the ass.”
“Oh, you are.”
Ian snaked a hand around her belly. “But I’m your pain in the ass.”
She rolled her eyes, but put her hand over his. “Yeah, you are.”
“Ugh, we’re leaving if it’s going to get all couple-ish in here.” Justin swung the toddler through the air and handed him off to Kellan. “Flight’s over, little dude.”
Wolf’s gleeful laugh filled the air. “More!”
Kellan sighed. “Now I’m going to be playing airplane all day.”
The dark-haired woman came up beside him. “As if you don’t do it already.” She waved. “I’m Maggie.”
Justin motioned his brother over. “Give them the keys.”
Ian perked up. “Keys?”
Justin’s tanned face was a mass of beard and wrinkles. He seemed young, but there was a lot of hair going on, so I wasn’t sure. He was wearing a black T-shirt and jeans covered in…tree sap, maybe? But he was definitely on the manly-woodsy end of the spectrum. It was quite appealing. Especially his bright blue eyes that gave me an appreciative once over.
He glanced at Rory and cleared his throat.
I looked over my shoulder. Rory’s face was set in that reserved, blank expression again.
So, he’d been right about the Manning brothers swarming about.
“Right. Keys.” Justin clapped his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “We finished the little stage in the distillery. If you guys want to try it out, we’d appreciate it.”
As Hayes dug a set of keys out of his pocket, Ian rushed over and tried to snatch them.
“Hey, try it out, not trash it, rockstar.” Hayes thumped Ian’s forehead with with his middle finger.
“Bloody hell.” Ian snatched them just the same. “If you didn’t want me in there, you wouldn’t have offered.” His eyes were bright with excitement. “They’ve been teasing us with that stage for months. I can’t believe my band’s not here to try it out.”
“Handily, we are,” Kellan said.
Rory frowned. “We have work to do too.”
“We’ve got all day, right?” Kellan handed off Wolf to Maggie and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’m going to get my guitar.”
Maggie shook her head. “He’s been dying to play with people. Thanks for inviting us. He’s going to be like a…” She glanced at Wolf and kissed his neck until he laughed. “Well, like his kid.”
I resisted the urge to ask to hold him. His face was so sweetly chubby and perfect.
Rory slid his hand into mine as the group of people started moving. I was herded with instruments, baby strollers, and general revelry. Everyone seemed at ease with each other.
Sometimes too at ease. It was a little weird that Ian Kagan was running back and forth between the groups of people like an antsy three-year-old.
Ian Kagan who had recently been on a billboard in Times Square. The billboard I’d seen with my own eyes during my annual trip down to see the Christmas windows with my bestie.
Yeah. Weird.
But Rory was right. He was a guy with energy to burn—bless his girlfriend/fiancée /lifemate—but just a guy.
Ian had the door open to a huge barn. He was waving his arms to get us to move faster. Hay was strewn across the floor, lending a rustic charm to the room. Large steel silos lined one side of the space, and a big bar was stretched in front of it with various taps. The bar top was steel and glass with half built stools situated against it.
The steel was the super industrial kind, but the stools seemed to be made from repurposed barrels with rich red cushions waiting to be fashioned to them. The rafters were high and three huge fans were lazily spinning.
It smelled like cider and hay with a bonus blast of floral notes from the blooming trees lining every square inch of the property.
Rory tugged me toward the stage and my mouth dropped. It was made of reclaimed wood polished to a gleaming shine with an apple tree coming from the far side of the stage. They’d actually built the barn around the gnarled old tree. It was gorgeous and each branch looked like it held a story.
“This is the coolest place I’ve ever seen.”
Hayes was standing in the corner looking from the small group to the stage and back again. He was biting his lower lip and cracking his knuckles.
“Don’t mind my brother,” Zoe said in a whisper.
“He looks like he’s about to throw up.”
“Probably a close thing. This has been Hayes’s baby for awhile. He’s been working on it nonstop since before I got pregnant.”
“Well, he did an awesome job.”
“I’ve been painting tiles that I’m going to put behind the stage. He doesn’t know it yet.” She grinned. “I’ve been itching to do a huge puzzle piece of a painting, but I’ve got this basketball hampering me from
climbing on my usual scaffolding.”
I glanced down at her belly. It was pretty sizable. “Scaffolding?”
She shrugged. “I’m an artist.”
“Best artist ever in the history of artists.” Ian’s voice behind me made me jump.
Zoe rolled her eyes. “Go play with your friends.”
“Just making sure you have somewhere to sit, Magic.”
“I’m fine. We’ll be fine.”
He frowned and kissed her then bent to kiss her belly. “Okay, but you’ll tell me if you need anything.”
“I’m a big girl.”
“You’re perfect.”
“Just because I’m bearing your spawn doesn’t mean you have to keep laying it all on so thick there, pal.”
He started to run to the stage before coming right back to her. “I need to steal her for a minute.”
I smiled and nodded to them.
Zoe laughed. “I’ll be right back. It’s easier to just let him show me whatever he’s got to show me than to say no.”
I watched them go, trying to hold down the wistfulness that was trying to grow inside my chest. “He’s a bundle of energy.”
Rory rolled his eyes. “He’s like this all the time. It’s a wonder we ever get work done when we’re in the studio. He’s like a butterfly on speed.”
I laughed. “He’s fairly adorable.”
“You would think so.”
“Oh?” I bumped his shoulder. “And why’s that?”
Rory shrugged. “Everyone does. Why he has legions of women panting after him. And yet he only has eyes for his fair Zoe.”
“As it should be.”
He met my gaze. “For some.”
I wasn’t sure what to do with that little comment, but before I could come up with a reply, Kellan called for him to come onto the stage.
He dropped a quick kiss on my mouth and jogged off to oblige him.
“Have you ever seen him play?”
I turned toward the voice behind me. Maggie was swaying with Wolf in her arms. “I didn’t even know he could until today.”
“That one plays it close to the vest in all things.” Wolf tugged on her hair and she patiently unwound his chubby little fingers without missing a beat. “He and Kellan have been working together for a bit. I’ve never seen someone with such innate talent who doesn’t want to be on stage.”
A different sort of wistfulness took root inside me. I wanted to know more about Rory. Especially about the parts of him he squirreled away. “No?”
“Rory? He definitely isn’t interested.”
“Hey guys, we can sit over here. My ankles are balloons.”
We both turned toward Zoe’s voice. Hayes was beside her, setting up chairs. He lifted a small cooler and set it on the table. “Gotta keep you ladies hydrated.”
Zoe rolled her eyes. “I’ll be glad when I’m not pregnant anymore and you start treating me like your sister again.”
Hayes pushed up his dark rimmed glasses. “I am treating you like my sister.”
“No, you’re being nice to me.”
“Well, you have my innocent nephew in there. Have to make sure he knows I’m the very best uncle.”
“Ah, now that makes more sense.” She grinned up at him, then dragged him down by the tail of his shirt to give him a hug. “Lemonade?”
“Maybe.”
“Yes.” She flipped open the cooler, then wiggled her fingers. “You ladies are in luck. This is the best lemonade in the state.”
I sat down and peeked over the edge. “I’ll take some of that.” It felt like I could drink a damn lake. I was parched.
Maggie laughed. “I don’t know. My mom’s recipe is pretty amazing.”
“Oh, let me get the stroller.” Hayes jogged to the doorway and returned with the huge stroller laden with everything a little boy could want.
“Thanks.” Maggie set Wolf inside and handed him his little cup with two handles.
He instantly tossed it past the table.
“Whoa.” Hayes glanced from the kid to the cup a few feet away. “Impressive. You’re on my team, bud.” He retrieved it and gave Maggie a horrified look.
Maggie snapped out a baby wipe and handed it to him. “Every eventuality. Go-go-Gadget-Go.”
Wolf waved his arms. “Go!”
“Is that a thing? I thought Mr. Gadget was like…ancient.”
“All the good cartoons are recycled. He loves that show.” Maggie accepted a cup from Zoe. “Just you wait, you’ll be all about the television shows too.”
“I’d love to say I won’t use the iPad, but I know myself.” Zoe filled another glass and handed it to me. “I mean, I’ll have the most paint-splattered child, but there’s a time for sanity.”
“Smart lady.” Maggie took a sip and her eyes widened. “Okay, your mom wins.”
“Her cooking isn’t as good as Aunt Laverne’s, but she knows how to make anything in liquid form.”
“And Dad started us on moonshine.” Hayes grinned. “I took it a few steps further, but he taught us everything we know about the groves. Would you like to try some?”
I nibbled on my lower lip. “Is it going to knock me on my ass? I’m more of a tequila in a margarita kind of girl. Sometimes some wine.”
Hayes pulled out another smaller bottle in the cooler. “This one was made to be a mixer with my mom’s lemonade.”
Maggie covered the top of her glass. “I’m still breastfeeding. Little bugger won’t quite give up on the source.”
“Guess it’s just you and me.” Hayes grinned at me and splashed some in my glass.
I lifted it. “Cheers.” The drink was sweet and tart with a little something extra. “I was expecting it to taste like gasoline.”
“Backwater moonshine maybe, but not ours. That’s the problem. You can’t even taste it, and then you’re on your face.”
I held up my glass to Zoe. “Maybe a bit more lemonade. I don’t want to miss anything today because of too much alcohol.”
“Smart lady.” Zoe laughed and refilled my glass with straight lemonade.
Hayes stayed for a few minutes, but kept pulling out his phone. “Work just isn’t going to wait. I’m heading out, guys. Maybe you could record a few songs for me so I can hear how it sounds once they get going?”
“Sure.” Zoe grinned up at her brother. “I’ll make sure they don’t hurt your baby.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You didn’t have to.” She elbowed him when he smushed her into a hard hug.
“I’ll see you at dinner later.”
“Sounds good.” She watched him leave then eased back in her chair. “I love my brothers, but all they do is hover. Add in Ian and I have precisely seven minutes alone a day. And that’s generally peeing.” She pushed her chair out. “Speaking of. I’ll be right back.”
I twisted my glass in the little puddle of condensation on the table . I could easily get used to this kind of lazy afternoon. My boyfriend playing with his friends, making new girlfriends.
Only Rory definitely wasn’t my boyfriend, even if he felt like he could be one sometimes.
The strum of guitars dragged me away from my thoughts. Wolf gave a happy shriek.
“He’ll be out in ten minutes. The minute Kel starts playing the guitar, he’s soothed right to sleep.”
My eyebrow rose. “They’re playing Metallica.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Impressive.”
“Handy having a husband who provides an instant lullaby, in between the overstimulation of course.” Maggie gave me a wink. “For Mama too.”
“It’s got to be hard to have a musician as a husband.”
“Sometimes.” She bent down to get one of Wolf’s toys. “For the most part, he’s just a regular guy. When he gets a big head about certain things, I usually kick him or drag him back down to Earth. Kind of my favorite thing to do, but don’t tell him that.”
My attention slid to the stage. Rory’s g
uitar was worn in that way that made me itch to get a closer look. Little nicks along the body where his hand rubbed with repetition. An odd smudge further along the outside of the body, away from the strings.
He watched Ian, taking cues from him, changing the song slightly to suit him. He didn’t lead, which surprised me. He was so forthright when he was around me. Seeing him fall back into a supporting role was puzzling.
As the often played “One” from Metallica blended into… I frowned. What was that song? I loved music, but it was more of a whatever-is-on-the-radio love. I enjoyed the old songs on the jukebox at the diner, some of the country-type music that played at the Spinning Wheel, and even some of the rock my brothers listened to.
But this felt more groovy. Before our generation.
Rory wasn’t that much older than me, maybe a handful of years, but this music felt older. Finally, Ian’s vocals rose to the rafters. His voice was velvet-smooth with an almost seventies’ flavor.
The guitars were layered and seemed very skillfully done. I listened to music, but I’d never picked a song apart in my life. Rory’s fingers were sliding up and down the neck of the guitar, making it do all sorts of things I’d never noticed one could do before.
It was far hotter than it should have been.
“Oh, don’t start that crap,” Zoe called out behind us. “Freaking Eagles song. As if he hasn’t already gotten me knocked up,” she muttered.
Ian lifted his hands in exultation. “For you, my sweet wife-to-be.”
“Get a life. You haven’t asked yet!”
“Yet is the operative word, Magic.”
“The Eagles?”
Zoe shrugged. “His brother was here and they got on a classic rock tear. ‘One of These Nights’ is my favorite Eagles’ song.”
I grinned. “That’s sweet.”
“Yeah, he likes to think he’s adorable.”
Maggie snorted. “Oh, he knows he is.”
“Why my life is never boring. Besides, I don’t really mind bringing him down a peg or two when necessary.”