Page 74 of Melody

“Didn’t I just hear you say I didn’t have to get you anything?”

Laughing, she said, “Okay, but this gift is small.”

Kyle shook his head, holding his mouth in a mock frown. “What am I gonna do with you?”

“And it’s a bit of a cheat anyway.”

“What do you mean?”

“That gift is what I was going to give you the night Tommy showed up at the bar during your show. I just forgot to give it to you.” She sensed an energy coming from him that she hadn’t ever felt before—something positive…andhappy. “Should we open them at the same time?”

“No. I want to see your face when you open your present.”

“Then you open yours first.”

“You are full of it tonight, Tink.”

She simply stood straight, nodding—feeling as impish as he’d implied.

But she won—and he pulled the paper from the box, revealing the picture of what was inside. “Sweet guitar—a nightlight?”

“Yeah. And, um…if you take it on tour with you next month, you can plug it in every night and think of me.”

There was a lot going on in his eyes, but she couldn’t quite interpret any of it—and he wasn’t going to give her time to try. “Open yours now.”

She wasn’t quite sure where to start, so she found a corner where she could pull the folded paper apart. Once she’d done that, it was easy to rip it off—and, when she saw the present, she gasped, unable to stop the tears dropping on her cheeks.

It was the full-size painting “Maroon Bells in Autumn.” Kyle had since returned the print to her that she’d given back when she’d stupidly broken up with him—so why’d he go and spend so much money on this?

Still…it was one of the sweetest things anyone had ever done for her since the passing of her parents.

“Kyle, you shouldn’t have—”

“Nope. I get to spend my money the way I want, and I know how much you love this painting.”

“I do. I really do. And every night when you’re gone, I’ll look at it and imagine we can hike up there this summer.”

“You want to do that?”

“Yeah, why not? My mom and dad used to take me to all kinds of cool places around Colorado when I was a kid, but I don’t remember ever seeing the Maroon Bells. I want to see the real thing.”

“Okay!”

“There’s one other thing…that I hope you can use on tour.”

Kyle raised an eyebrow and she grinned, running back in her room. This time, she pulled out the larger present by its neck. Then she hid it behind her back. When she came back in the kitchen area, Kyle asked, “What are you hiding?”

Rather than say anything, she pulled out the blonde guitar, the one Kyle had been lusting after in the music shop on Main Street. She couldn’t read his face, but it looked like he was having a hard time swallowing. “Why?”

“The same reason you got me the painting. I know how much you love this guitar.”

“Jesus.” He took it from her, looking it over with reverence.

“Maybe you can play it on tour.”

Walking over to the sofa, he set the guitar down. “I promise I’ll play this later.” Turning, he picked Melody up in his arms, holding her close before kissing her gently. She’d expected him to carry her to the bedroom just like he often did, where they could express their growing love physically. Instead, he set her down. “I wanted to talk to you about that.”

“What?”

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