Page 33 of Places I've Never Been

He took the drive to dinner as slow as he could without looking obvious. It wasn’t hard. The cart appeared to have only two speeds: slow and stop.

“There’s something different about you.”

She watched the ocean as they drove, seemingly entranced by the waves. “Oh?”

“It took me a few minutes to figure it out, but I got it now.” He grinned. “No phone.”

She gave him a rueful smile. “My butler told me I should leave the things that were causing me stress in the drawer. So I did. Just for tonight.”

Adam nodded. “He sounds like a wise man.”

“Did you bring yours?” She tilted her head. The blazing orange of the sunset brought out the gold in her hair.

“Guilty. But I have it on vibrate, and mine doesn’t stress me out like yours seems to.”

“That’s because you don’t have sisters.” She returned her attention to the waves.

Even without the phone in her hands she didn’t seem completely on the island. Not yet.

He’d planned for this moment all day, but now that he had alone time with her, he was coming up blank on what to say.

By the time they reached Sunset Beach, everyone else was already there. Flynn and Brandon were kicked back on a couch near the firepit with a bucket of beers between them. Cooper and his girlfriend, Tina, a stunning brunette model he’d picked up at the end of their last tour, occupied a love seat next to Flynn, and both held half-drunk cocktails. LT stood nearby chatting up a very attractive server. Judging by the way the girl giggled, he might not be sleeping alone tonight.

A fire blazed in the pit, and the setting sun played with the waves in the background. He couldn’t have created a more romantic setting. It was perfect. He and Mattie crossed to an open love seat next to Brandon and sat down.

“This place is ten out of ten for style,” Cooper raised his glass. “To tropical islands and making music.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Flynn said.

“The French Polynesians have more amenities and less mosquitoes.” Tina tossed her hair.

“Shame you didn’t go there, then.” Brandon smiled politely at her.

Adam shot his brother a hard look. The last thing he wanted their first night on the island was a fight with Tina.She’d been upset about something the entire way here, and he could tell Cooper was embarrassed by her behavior already.

Mattie gave Tina an appraising look, then turned to Adam with a business-like expression. “Let’s talk about the album. It feels like the theme you’re going for is change. Changes in love, and life, that kind of thing. So the last three songs should carry that forward. What topic do you feel like you haven’t covered yet?”

“We had a theme?” Brandon asked, his face wrinkled in confusion.

“Yeah, the same one we always have,” LT said. He’d lost the server’s attention and meandered closer to the firepit. “Make songs that don’t suck.”

“That’s not a theme, that’s a motto,” Cooper said.

“The theme wasn’t exactly change,” Adam said. From the look on Tina’s face, there was about to be an implosion if he didn’t provide distraction. “This one was mostly playing around with minor keys. So, that slightly off-kilter feel. We’ll want to keep that going.”

“I noticed that, but that’s not the theme,” Mattie said. “That’s the voice. The tone. If we’re going to write a new song, I need to know what message you want to focus on.”

Adam turned away from the group so he could focus entirely on Mattie. “Why limit ourselves? First we play with the melody, then we’ll see what words pop out. Let them flow from the music.”

“We can’t just let them flow.” Mattie drew the word out with a note of derision. “We won’t end up with the story we need to tell if we do that. First we have to tell the story,thenwe craft the melody to match.”

Adam blinked at her. “I always start with the melody. It’s the foundation of the song.”

“No, it isn’t.” Mattie’s chin lifted a little. “Words are the foundation of every story.”

“See,” Flynn said, “this is the kind of thing people usually sort outbeforethey partner with someone on a project.”

“Yeah,” Brandon said. “This is like watching a first date happen, without the fun sex stuff.”

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