Melodies of the Heart: A Pinewood Grove Sweet Romance (12 page)

By sticking to the shadows and slipping between houses, Levi was able to get back to Mary Alice’s boarding house before any of the paparazzi who’d been waiting around for him on Main Street could spot him.

It had been late, he’d been tired, and yet when he got into the old bed with the broken springs, he hadn’t been able to sleep. His mind was racing and his blood had been boiling, but most of all his mind kept wavering fury and fear.

He knew how the photographers had found where he was, and he had to assume that someone in town probably mentioned that he’d been dating Kassidy while he was there. A question here or there would have been innocent enough, and then all they would have to do was wait until he showed up to snap a picture that they could sell to the highest bidder.

He should have just kept driving with her on the back of his bike, but he’d instantly gone on autopilot. There were only a few of them, but photographers had jumped in front of his motorcycle before and he was in no mood to trash the bike for the second time in under a month.

The worst thing was how he had tossed Kassidy right into the middle of it all. The last thing he’d wanted to do was hurt her, and now he’d thrown her into the hornets’ nest. Those photographers would wait outside until Levi made himself known again, but he’d had no choice but to leave her place for the night.

She’ll be okay
, he tried to assure himself. Kassidy was stronger than she let on, and smarter too. If anything, she might be able to use the photographers to her advantage. With a bunch of pictures of them outside the Olsen family bakery, their pictures would make for great free publicity she could use if she played it right.

But there was something else weighing on his mind while he tried to sleep. There was a voicemail waiting for him on his phone and he recognised the number it came from. His manager had called him for the first time in three or four days and there was no doubt in his mind that Marko was somewhere nearby and itching to talk with him.

Tossing in bed served him no good and finally at three AM he grabbed his phone and played the message that was waiting for him.

“Levi, man, you are a hard one to track down when you want to be,” his manager’s voice echoed in his ears. “Look, I caught the first flight out of LA when I heard you were in... where are we? Pinewood Grove. Yes, well, seems this place doesn’t have a motel so Dean and I are going to search for a place to stay for the night. Call me when you get this, man. Don’t leave us hanging.”

“Damn,” Levi sighed to himself. Of course Marko hadn’t come alone. He’d brought Levi’s oldest friend with him to guilt him into going back on the road, or at least to meet with him to discuss it.

The idea of sleep was an impossibility by then. A million new thoughts were in Levi’s head, but they all found their way back to Kassidy and the way she smiled at him. He knew no matter what he did, she would support him, or at least, she would act like she did.

“I don’t want to go back to that life,” he whispered to himself, and he meant it. The problem was, it wasn’t entirely up to him. There were contracts, legal obligations, and a lot of money on the line if push came to shove. If the label wanted him on tour again, they’d find a way.

Bring Kassidy with you on tour
, his mind suggested, but he already knew she wouldn’t go for it. An occasional visit, yes, but to tour for six months? A year? There was no way. She’d be miserable being away from her family and she’d have to give up her own dream for one he didn’t even have anymore. Asking her to do that would never be fair.

But leaving her behind was an idea that made his heart ache. He knew what he felt for her, and he hated that he couldn’t put it into words. They were on the tip of his tongue, aching to get out, but he just couldn’t do it.

It was six in the morning when Levi gave up and called Marko back. He’d been hoping that his manager would be asleep and he could just leave a voicemail, but Marko picked up right away and Levi was stuck talking with him.

“Levi, man, am I glad you called,” Marko told him.

“I had a feeling you’d find me if I didn’t,” Levi said. It was supposed to be a joke, but it came out accusatory.

“I know, I know, I’m sorry,” Marko said. “I’ve got Dean in the next room, I can hear him snoring through the walls. Guy kept me up all night.”

Levi had bunked with Dean more times than he could count. He knew his bandmate could snore, especially when he’d had a few beers the night before.

“I assume you want to talk about things,” Levi said, getting right to the point.

“Of course I do,” Marko said. “Dude, you just walked away. People were worried. I don’t mean to sound like a whiney girlfriend here, but seriously, what have you been doing?”

“Getting my head together,” Levi said. “Figuring my life out.”

“Fine, fine,” Marko brushed him off. “We need to talk. Face to face. Name the time and place and we’ll be there.”

“All right,” Levi relented. There was no getting out of it, and he might as well get it over with. “There’s a coffee shop here in town, right at the corner of Main and Birch. Birch Street Coffee House.”

“Creative,” Marko said.

“Meet me there in an hour,” Levi told him. “We’ll talk.”

He didn’t wait for a confirmation, he just hung up the phone. The time would be earlier than any of them were used to, but Levi was already awake and hoped the paparazzi weren’t. Not just that, but if Marko and Dean were late, he could say that he waited and gave up.

But they weren’t late.

Levi had walked over to the coffee shop – his bike was still out front of the bakery – and had barely ordered his coffee and breakfast bagel before his bandmate and manager walked in the door.

There was no greeting, the three men simply sat down in awkward silence while Levi sipped his coffee.

“Aren’t you going to get something?” Levi asked. “The coffee here is good. Really good.”

“I’m not hungry,” Dean grumbled, and Marko waved him off.

“You enjoy,” Marko said. “We need to figure this out and now. The label has been down my throat since the night you just drove off and I’m tired of it. I need something to tell them, and I need it now.”

“Everyone’s pissed,” Dean said, the hurt apparent on his face. “We understand how you feel, or I think we all do, but taking off was not the way to fix things.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Levi said, consciously trying to appear nonchalant. If he got mad, or emotional at all, it would be too easy for Marko to swoop in and dig under his skin.

“No one was happy with the last album,” Dean continued. “We aren’t doing music that means anything anymore. If you had spoken to us, if we had gone to the label and told them what we were thinking, we could have got them to figure something out. Now we’re screwed.”

“Now hold on,” Marko stopped him. “I agree, Dean, Levi should not have just taken off, but things might have worked out in your favor. That silly cellphone video that was posted might have just saved all of your asses.”

“What?” Levi asked as he looked to Dean, but he only shrugged.

“I’ve been on the phone with them nonstop,” Marko went to explain. “That video was the most popular thing any of you have done all year. The record was a sales disappointment, which might be why they are willing to work with you on this.

“They want to do something different on the next album,” he went on. “Clean it up, make it more inspirational. They want you to drop the whole Jesus thing. It opens up a wider market, but they’re even willing to give you more creative control.”

“What’s the catch?” Levi asked.

“Nothing,” Marko told him. “You guys can release the kind of music that made you famous in the first place. That video has over two million views and it’s only been online for a few days. That’s the kind of thing that makes a record company take note. It took Fable Heart’s last video two weeks to hit that many views, and ticket sales are down. They’re willing to take a risk on this album and let you do something different.”

“I don’t know,” Levi said. “I don’t think I want that life anymore. Being here... it’s made me think of things differently.”

“You’re in La-La Land, kid,” Marko said with a heavy shake of his head. “It’s fun now because it’s a vacation. It’s not real life. But I guarantee you that if you stick around and make this life you want here, you’ll soon realise that it’s not all fine and dandy.”

“And the band needs you,” Dean told him. “We’re a band, a group, and you’re a part of that.”

“Here’s the deal the label has thrown out, and I’m sure we can counter offer,” Marko said. “You finish the last leg of the American tour and we cancel the South American stretch all together. It didn’t sell all that well, anyway. That’s only twenty more shows, along with promotional stops. Head back to the studio, record whatever you want. I do assume you’ve been writing while you’ve been taking this vacation.”

“I’ve dabbled,” Levi said with a shrug.

“Good,” Marko continued. “We record that, do it indie style, get it out quick. Then we do a tour to promote. No stadiums, only ten shows, and only three of those are overseas. London, Tokyo, Beijing. That’s nothing.”

“And how long are we looking at for all this?” Levi asked.

“A year and a half,” Marko said. “Two, tops. Then we can start looking at the future of Fable Heart and see where we want to go. The label is on board.”

“And so’s the band,” Dean said. “I like the plan, and I’m sure the guys will too. Come on, we need you.”

“I... I don’t know,” Levi said honestly as he stared at his bagel. The coffee shop got them from Kassidy’s bakery, and eating it now was like some kind of betrayal. What the label was offering was what Levi wanted a year ago, two years ago, and now they were giving it to him on a silver platter.

“Think it over for the day,” Marko said. “Call me tonight, we’re only about thirty minutes away. No one has motels around here.”

“I know,” Levi said with a laugh. “There’s a campground not far from here.”

“That’s great,” Marko scoffed. “Twelve hours, and then I’m coming to find you and making you bargain. We need to get this sorted.”

“What if I say no?” Levi asked, though he wasn’t so sure he was going to say it now.

“Then you’re in breach of contract, like you aren’t already,” Marko told him. “You’re lucky the tour has paid off promotional costs, but cancelling the South American leg will be costly in refunds. Add in legal fees and if they decide to sue, well, you could be in a lot of trouble.”

“Oh,” was all Levi could think to say.

“They’re willing to swallow the refunded tickets, even from the shows you missed these last couple weeks,” his manager said. “But only if you get your ass back on the road.”

“All right,” Levi sighed. “I’ll think about it. Give me the day.”

“Twelve hours,” Marko said. “It’s not just you that you need to think about here,” he said as he stood to leave.

“I know,” Levi agreed, but it wasn’t his band he was worried about. Twenty minutes ago he’d been dead set against ever touring again, but now...

Now he had no idea what he wanted.

Trying to work was nearly impossible. With almost no sleep and her mind full of conflicting thoughts, Kassidy had burned three loaves of bread, dropped a tray of sweetheart cupcakes, and made a mess of the kitchen when she used baking soda instead of flour.

“That’s it,” her dad finally grumbled halfway through the day. “I know those idiots outside are distracting, but I can’t have you burning this place down. Get your mother back here and you run the cash.”

It wasn’t the paparazzi that were bothering her, at least, not until she could see them hanging outside the bakery. Mrs. Gleeson had come in earlier to apologize for what she’d done, she hadn’t realised the person who’d asked about Levi and the local girl wasn’t just some tourist being a bit nosey and she’d gushed about seeing the cute couple at church.

Kassidy had tried to insist it was okay, but deep down she was upset. She was more than upset. She was scared. Not only did the paparazzi know that Levi was in town and that she was dating him, but she’d heard rumors that people had seen the lead guitarist of Fable Heart at the Birch Street Coffee Shop that morning.

Being on cash didn’t end up going much better than her attempts in the kitchen. Counting money when she hadn’t slept at all due to stress was impossible and at the end of the night the count was off by more than sixty dollars.

“Honey, I know you’re upset,” her mother said as she gave her a hug, “but tomorrow you need to be back on your A game. We’re only just getting back on our feet and we can’t afford to lose a single dollar. Not again.”

“I know,” Kassidy apologized. “I didn’t sleep at all and I’m just... I don’t know.”

“Oh sweetie,” her mom said as she squeezed Kassidy tighter. “I know it’s tough. Get a good sleep tonight and get your head on straight. I’m sure everything will be fine.”

It was nice of her mother to be so confident, but Kassidy couldn’t find it in her to heed her mother’s advice. It wouldn’t be long before people were demanding that Levi go back to his real life and leave her behind, and as much as she wanted to offer to go with him, she knew she couldn’t.

Her life was here, no matter how much she loved him. Her parents needed her, and her dream was finally in reach. She couldn’t just give that up for someone else. All she could hope for was that he’d ask her to come visit and that he’d promise to stay faithful to her, just as she would do for him. If he could offer her that, then she would support whatever he decided.

At least by time they closed up the bakery the paparazzi had taken off. She didn’t know how long they’d be gone for, though she hoped they would just give up and leave forever.

“Well, they got some great shots of the bakery,” her dad said, trying to turn the lemons of the last twenty-four hours into lemonade.

“And you had all those cupcakes on display,” her mother chimed in as she locked the door. “Come on, I’ll make dinner and we’ll watch a movie or something. Your choice honey.”

Kassidy wanted to tell her mother that she was on board, but her eyes found their way to Levi’s motorcycle that was still sitting out front. He’d left it behind when he’d slipped out of their house on foot, and she’d had trouble trying to tell her parents why the bike was still there.

“He couldn’t get through on the bike without hurting someone,” she’d told her parents. “So, uh, he just ran.”

“And they didn’t run after him?” her father had asked.

“They, uh, they did,” she’d told them. “But he’s actually pretty fast and those cameras are really heavy.”

She didn’t think her parents had bought the excuse, but it was better than nothing.

Kassidy was about to follow her parents into the front door of their apartment when her phone blipped in her pocket.

“One sec,” she told them and then looked at the message.

“The rats gone?” Levi’s text read.

“The photographers?” she asked and then sent, “If so, yes.”

“I’ll be right there,” his message came instantly. “Get your helmet.”

Kassidy had a choice to make. She could go upstairs and spend the night with her parents, or get her helmet and wait for Levi. Something told her what he was coming to tell her was not good and she didn’t know if she could handle hearing it.

“Okay,” she replied and climbed the stairs up to the apartment. Not to have dinner with her family, but to get the robin’s egg blue helmet.

Levi didn’t take long to walk from Mary Alice’s old Victorian to Main Street, and even from a distance Kassidy could see the storm clouds that hovered on his face. Something was wrong, and he didn’t need words to tell her.

He greeted her with a kiss on the cheek and said, “I’m glad you said yes. And that the bike is okay.”

“They took lots of pictures of it,” Kassidy said. “But I don’t think anyone touched it.”

“Good,” he said. “You want to go for a little ride?”

She wanted to tell him no, that whatever he had come to tell her should be said right then, but she didn’t want to argue. She wanted to hope that he had good news, that he was just playing a prank on her and was taking her for a ride to say he was staying in Pinewood Grove forever and that he loved her.

As much as that was her hope, she didn’t believe it could be possible. Not even for a second. His smile was too strained and his eyes were too heavy. Yet she still pulled on the blue helmet and got on the back of the bike while he revved it to life.

Levi never told her where they were going, but she had a good idea when they made the first corner of the highway. The rest stop they’d parked at the first time he’d taken her for a ride was only a few minutes up the road.

She’d been right in her assumption and Levi turned into the secluded spot and brought the bike to rest just out of sight of the road.

“So,” Kassidy said once she rested her hips on the guardrail and put her helmet on her lap.

“So...” Levi said as he came to rest beside her. “I’m sorry again about those stupid paparazzi today.”

“It’s not your fault,” she said. “They didn’t keep customers away.”

“That’s good,” he sighed. “Kassidy... I...”

“What is it?” she asked, hoping with bated breath that there wasn’t bad news coming.

“I met with my manager this morning,” he told her. “And the lead guitarist of my band. We talked about the future and what the label is expecting and what will happen if I don’t appease them. It’s not good.”

“Oh,” Kassidy said, but she still hoped there was a light at the end of the tunnel.

“They need me to go back on tour,” he told her. “They’re cutting most of it, but I still need to finish the North American tour dates that are left.”

“Okay,” Kassidy said, her throat suddenly hot and dry.

“It’s going to be six months on the road, and then they want us to record a new album after that. I want to be able to say that maybe I can convince them to do that here, that we can set something up, but I don’t want to make promises I can’t keep.”

“That’s fair,” Kassidy said, and her hopes now rested on him telling her that he wanted her to visit, to fly out when she could and see him on tour, and visit him while they recorded the next album. It was doable. They could make it work.

“Listen, I’ve spent all day thinking about this,” he told her while his eyes refused to meet hers. “You’re so wonderful and good to me, and I hate the idea of stringing you along. I don’t think it’s fair to you to promise you anything while I’m away, and I don’t want to ask you to wait for me. That’s not fair to you, you deserve to live your life.”

“Wait...” Kassidy mumbled. There was no request for a long distance relationship, no promise to visit. It was the opposite.

“They promised me I should be done all this in a year and a half,” he went on. “And then, if you’re still single and don’t hate me, then I would want to try again. The timing just isn’t right, and I have to go.”

“Oh,” was all Kassidy could manage to say.

“Come on,” he said. “There has to be more than ‘Oh’. I know this is rough, but I think it’s what’s best for you. You’re too good to be stuck waiting for a guy like me. But I’ll text you all the time, and call, I’ll even write you letters if you want. I just don’t want to make promises we can’t keep.”

The hot sting of tears had found its way to her eyes and the lump in her throat was so big that she could barely breathe. She knew what was coming – sobbing, hyperventilating, and screaming. None of it was how she wanted to act the last time she might ever see Levi, and worse, she couldn’t stop it.

Instead, she pushed herself to her feet and let her helmet drop to the ground. She didn’t even pay it any notice when it banged hard against her knee and she started walking back toward the road.

“Kass,” Levi called after her. “Kassidy, come on!”

His words were barely a whisper in her mind. She was on autopilot and all she could think to do was get home and block out the entire world. Her bed would be her sanctuary, and her tears would be safe to fall there. Until she found her way to her bedroom, she had to hold herself together, but inside she was breaking.

She’d made it a few yards down the highway when the roar of the motorcycle filled her ears.

“Kassidy,” Levi yelled at her as he rode beside her, his bike going so slowly that he needed to keep a foot on the ground to keep it balanced. “Come on, get on the bike.”

“I’m okay,” she managed to mumble, each syllable nearly letting the tidal wave of tears fall free.

“Don’t do this,” he pleaded with her. “Is this really how you want to say good-bye?”

I don’t want to say good-bye at all
, she thought to herself, but she knew if she said the words aloud she would collapse onto the pavement and make a fool of herself. She just had to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

For twenty minutes Levi walked the bike beside her. At first he pleaded with her to stop and talk to him. Once he even reached out and tried to make her stop, and then for a while he only followed her.

When the edges of Pinewood Grove came into view, Levi finally gave up. With a rev of the engine, he peeled away from her and left her to walk the final leg home while the sun set behind her.