Page 19 of Rock Strong

Wow. That was a one-eighty. A woman who could admit she was wrong? Impressive. Sweet. I admired her even more now. This was looking better by the second. Maybe this was my chance to talk to her some more, get a sense of whether she’d want to board my crazy train of a life for even a short time.

I invited her to sit next to me on the stone bench. “So maybe I’m right.”

“About what?” she asked.

“About us meeting here. Maybe it’s a sign. We should talk more often.” I smiled. Luckily, she smiled back. “Both of us coming here, in this little corner of…” I scanned the familiar grounds. “Where are we today?”

“Seattle Center,” she said.

She didn’t argue about us getting to know each other more. That was definitely promising. “See? You have all the answers. I like that about you.”

“I don’t have all the answers. Just that one.” Abby chuckled.

“I bet you have more. I bet you probably know every city we’re going to, how many hours it’ll take to drive between each town, and exactly what time every show starts.”

She frowned. “Are you mocking me, Liam? You assume that because I play cello, I’m straitlaced, and nerdy, that I probably got straight A’s in school and a full scholarship to college?”

She may be frowning, but she could not get me that easily. “Because I’d be right, right?”

Abby laughed out loud, the most angelic sound I had ever heard in my life. Even her voice matched her music. “You got me there. God, I would suck as an actress.”

Let it be known that I was not oblivious to the huge smile on my face at this very moment. Taking a huge risk, I reached out to take her fingers, keeping my eyes on them. This was a deciding moment. Maybe I could go slow and see where things led. If I felt things weren’t going well, I would let her know. I would give her full disclosure on my feelings.

Do it, Liam, I heard Garrick say in my mind.

“Seriously, you’re smart. You pay attention to details… You’re pretty amazing,” I said. Abby didn’t pull her fingers away, and I flipped her hand over gently to touch each fingertip. “The mark of a cellist, huh?”

Abby was breathless. Her words came out on a string of airiness. “After a while, you develop thick skin, I guess.”

I pulled her hand a little closer to me, but that was it. I couldn’t scare her away. With Abby, I would need to take my time. She was not a groupie. She’d already let me know that in no uncertain terms. Besides, you couldn’t rush perfection. “Trust me, I know all about that.”

“You do?”

“Oh, yeah. Not everyone loves me. I have my critics.”

“What do they say?” she asked.

I shrugged. “Some think I’m talentless. Some think I’m a Bono copycat…no originality…looks like Bon Jovi’s ugly cousin… You name it.”

She giggled then covered her mouth. “Sorry. When I first saw you, I thought you looked like a punk cowboy.”

“Punk cowboy, huh? I kind of like that.” I brushed her hair away from her eyes. She didn’t fight me, but she didn’t exactly jump on me either. Which was refreshing. And classy. And the reason I was keenly aware that I needed to get to know her better.

“I don’t think you’re talentless,” she said. “I heard you a cappella just now. You have a beautiful voice.”

Wow, coming from her, I was truly honored. Seriously. “Really? I gotta tell you I thought for sure you’d think I was a fake, too.”

“You care what I think?”

“Of course! I care a lot. Girl, you were a cello pirate in there last night, pillaging and plundering and taking no prisoners. You put everyone to shame! I would take your opinion over anybody else’s any day.”

A soft smile filtered onto Abby’s face, like nobody had ever talked like that to her before. But it was the truth, and I was simply letting her know it.

“In fact,” I added, “I was trying out a new lead-in to the song right before I heard you here.”

“I heard it,” she said, refocusing on pressing back her cuticles. “I like it for the live show. Gives it a little uniqueness for the concert experience while keeping the integrity of the recording for fans who like getting what they expect.”

I stared at her so hard, my eyeballs almost fell out. I wanted to hug her tight. “See? You get it. You just get it, Abby Chan.” A yellow and black butterfly flew between us just then.

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