Page 5 of Melody

The balloon that had started to fill when he’d indicated she might have a job there was beginning to deflate…but she wasn’t sure what she could say to change it—or if she should even say anything.

“But I’m willing to give it a shot if you are. If you can impress meandmy other bartenders and servers, you can stay.”

This time, Scarlett allowed the positive emotions to fill her chest and light up her face. “Oh…thank you so much.”

“If you’re ready, we can have you start today. That’ll give you a few shifts under your belt before Frenzied Friday.”

“Frenzied Friday?” It was so crazy, they had a name for it. At least she could prepare for it now. Although she’d intended to go to her apartment to start studying the ingredients for various mixed drinks, she figured on-the-job experience would beat that any day.

“Lame, I know. I keep trying out different names and none of ‘em stick. Frenetic Friday, Fantastic Friday, Fabulous Friday. All lame. But I’ll find something eventually.”

“So what do I need to do?”

“There’s always paperwork. I’ll get you going on that and get you a couple of t-shirts. What size?”

“Uh…medium.”

“Standard uniform is the shirt, jeans, and close-toed shoes. If you make it through the week, I’ll give you another couple of t-shirts.”

She wasn’t about to ask, but she wondered if people frequently left after a short time there. Not a good sign, but it wasn’t like she’d never worked a shitty job before. Still, there was something about this place—the people she’d already met and an underlying feel of fun—that told her she was going to like it.

“Okay. Can I run to my apartment to change before I start?”

“Yep. But let’s do the paperwork first.”

The paperwork. That meant he’d have to see her driver’s license and Social Security card. “Yeah, um, about that…I know it’s unusual, but is there any way I could work for tips only?” And, if he agreed to that, it would probably be easy enough to also convince him to continue calling herScarlettinstead of the name on her identification.

CHAPTER 3

Late July, almost two months later

As Kyle took a bow alongside his fellow bandmates, he realized that his heart and head felt lighter than they ever had. Probably for the first time in his life, he felt a euphoria unlike anything he’d ever felt before.

Better than heroine. Better than sex.

Well, maybe not quite—but pretty fuckin’ close.

Despite the sweat clinging to his brow, the ache in his fingertips, and the knots in his stomach that were finally starting to relax, he couldn’t have felt better. If Tequilaville was this much better than The Apothecary, the rinky-dink bar in Charlotte where they always played as house band, what the hell would a place like The Black Sheep in Colorado Springs feel like?

But time for celebrating was over. They had to clear the stage for the next act, a band named Impending Cataclysm, and then Kyle planned to have a beer.

Or several.

While the five of them worked together to quickly remove their equipment from the stage, Kyle tried to envision the future. If this all worked out, there would be a point someday when they would have a road crew doing this part for them—and, meanwhile, they’d be showering or starting to party with their fans. He could hardly wait to start traveling the U.S. and abroad, seeing the world for the first time. While his mother had done her best keeping her kids fed with a roof over their head, they hadn’t ventured much out of Charlotte. Once a year, they’d go to a family reunion in Oklahoma, and sometimes they’d go to Denver for various adventures—but that was about it.

And ever since Kyle had started working with a therapist, he’d been focusing on his goals. She’d encouraged him to look to the future. Although she’d said he needed to work on his past and honor it, he shouldn’t dwell on it. There was nothing he could change about what had already happened, but hecoulduse that information to be a better person.

He’d started with Hayley. Their romantic relationship had been rocky for some time, but it had become contentious after Liam’s death. It was as if they’d become enemies living under the same roof, but Kyle could see now that a lot of what happened had been fueled by his anger, frustration, bitterness, and grief—and Hayley had been the closest target. So he’d begun by making amends with the woman who’d been his first love…and gone from there.

Things still weren’t good with his mother, but he hoped that time would help. He was coming to the realization, though, that things would never be the same between them—and she mightneverforgive him.

That was something that was hard to accept…but he knew he must.

Why the hell was his brain going there when, just minutes earlier, he’d been riding high?

But that was the way his brain had always been—it was as if he couldn’t allow himself to be happy.

Taking a deep breath, he placed his guitar case in the trunk of his car and headed back to the alley where they’d been loading Wolf’s truck. Their lead guitarist had recently bought a removable shell for the back so the band could load all their equipment without worrying if it would be damaged by the weather or stolen by some enterprising thief.

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