Page 38 of California Love Songs
Suddenly anger bubbled up inside him. He still couldn’t believe Crystal had said that. I’m not going to be one of your groupies. How could she? How could she even think it? It was so far from the truth. Crystal was his friend, and that’s what he was so desperate to get back to. If she didn’t want to take things further, he still couldn’t lose his best friend—not for the sake of a kiss.
What a kiss it had been, though. Maybe he understood now why she wasn’t willing to play the game of pretending it had never happened.
He sighed. And then there was Opal, on her way to California right now. He’d been excited at the thought of working with the young musician, and he still was, but now it felt like an added complication in his life. At least she wasn’t going to be staying at his house. What had he been thinking? That had been a brilliant idea—Opal staying in Erin’s apartment. Was he the only one who believed nothing would happen with Opal in his guest cottage? She was here to work. He’d thought it was the perfect plan until Erin pointed out how it would look to the outside world.
What would he do without Erin? What would he do without his whole family? They kept him grounded; sometimes they kept him sane. And because he trusted Erin’s judgment so much, especially as far as the media went, he rang her up and asked her to come with him when he met Opal at the airport in Monterey.
Erin laughed. “You’re not bringing her in on a private jet?” He rolled his eyes.
Of course Erin agreed, and he went to bed that night trying to look forward to the next day, when hopefully he’d help kickstart an incredible career for a very talented musician—and thoughts of Crystal could be quieted, at least for a little while.
* * *
Monday morning, Damien drove to the airport with Erin gazing dreamily out the passenger window. “Is it okay for you to take the morning off from the paper?” He didn’t want to get her in trouble with her editor for doing him a favor.
“Of course,” she replied instantly. “I’ve been covering a lot of events on evenings and weekends, so I’m owed the time.” Then she sighed. “It’s so beautiful here. I’m enjoying the drive. Now that you’re home again, I bet you’ll never want to leave.”
Damien laughed softly. It was true that Carmel was one of the most beautiful places in the world, and he’d traveled most of it. But he’d only been home a few days and had already managed to mess up his closest friendship. He recognized that there was a part of him already longing to flee. To get back on the road and forget about home. Or, more truthfully, to forget about Crystal.
It was a short drive to Monterey Regional and when he’d parked, Damien pulled on his usual disguise of a baseball cap and dark sunglasses. If anyone did recognize him, at least they’d see he was welcoming Opal in the company of his sister, which immediately took the idea of romance off the table.
Opal Dahlberg emerged from Arrivals looking exactly the way he remembered her—tall and skinny with tousled, long blonde hair. She was wearing low-slung jeans and a tank top with a jean jacket. Large silver hoops glinted when her hair moved. A guitar case was slung over her shoulders and she dragged a battered-looking suitcase behind her. He could tell from the way she was holding it that the guitar was a whole lot more important to her than whatever clothes she’d shoved in the case.
Erin was taking in the scene carefully, appraising and observing as was her way. He was pretty happy that Opal didn’t exactly act like a lovestruck groupie when she saw him. Instead, she greeted him casually, as one might a buddy she hadn’t seen in a while. “Hey, Damien, thanks for coming to get me.” There was no hug, no physical touch of any kind. Just a wide grin and a lot of excitement in her blue eyes.
“Good to see you, Opal. This is my sister Erin.”
They said hello to each other warmly, just as easy and casual as he could have hoped. Any budding paparazzi in the airport would catch nothing that a gossip rag might pay big bucks for.
He offered to take Opal’s bags, but wasn’t very surprised when she refused to give up her guitar case. She did let him take her suitcase, which made a thumping sound as though a wheel was damaged.
“Good flight?” Erin asked.
“Nothing too exciting,” Opal replied. “I had to change planes in Dallas, but it was fine.”
He’d already let her know that she’d be staying in his sister’s apartment, so the three of them climbed into his truck and headed straight there. As they drove, Damien glanced at Opal. Now she was staring dreamily out the window. Damien knew that outside of her home state of New Jersey, she’d only visited two other states and had never been to the West Coast before. He wondered how the stunning landscape of Monterey looked to a complete newcomer as it unfolded before her for the first time. To their left, the ocean, a deep shade of blue, stretched endlessly to the horizon, its waves crashing against the rocky coastline. The crisp, salty air that Erin had commented on earlier rushed in through the open windows.
As the truck purred along the winding road, the vibrant beauty of Carmel-by-the-Sea came into view. The surrounding hills stood tall, dotted with autumn wildflowers, while the distant sounds of the surf added a tranquil soundtrack to the scenery. As they drove past picture-postcard fairytale cottages, Erin thought to ask Opal if she wanted to stop for a coffee or anything, but she shook her head. “I’m hoping we can start work. I have some new material.”
He was pleased to discover she was as driven as he was. Maybe Opal would find the local landscapes as inspiring as he did. Maybe it would make its way into the gentle percussion of her guitar-led songs.
They soon arrived at Erin’s and Damien realized how long it had been since he’d seen her place. He’d forgotten how simply she lived. It was just a small one-bedroom, but full of bookcases, books, and pictures of the family—everything scrupulously clean. Erin explained with a blush that she was spending so much time with her boyfriend she was hardly ever home, and then said, “I hope it’s okay. My view is of a local school rather than the ocean, like Damien’s place, but I’m happy to have it.”
Opal, who’d been shyly looking at Erin’s book collection, glanced up and then laughed. “Are you kidding me? This is way better than my place in Brooklyn. It’s about twice the size—and do you have your own washing machine?”
“And a dryer.” With an amused look, Erin pulled open the closet where they sat.
Opal sighed in pure bliss. “You have no idea how tired I am of schlepping down to the basement every time I want to do my washing. I love New York, but unless you’re uber-rich, apartments are very small.”
He could tell Erin was relieved that Opal was going to be happy in her place. She said, “I left you some space in the wardrobe and cleaned out two drawers for you. There are some basics in the fridge. Help yourself to anything.”
Opal was delighted. He thought when he’d met her that she was a really nice kid, and now he was confirmed in that opinion. She said, “This is great. Thanks. How much is the rent?”
Erin shook her head. “I need to keep this place because it gives me independence, but since I’m not staying here, I’m happy that you are. It’s such a waste to leave it empty. All I ask is that you water my plants.”
Opal’s eyes widened. “Wow, that’s so generous. Thanks. I’ll make it up to you somehow.” Then she glanced at Damien. “If this dude can figure out how to elevate me from the coffeehouse circuit…”
“I can’t make any guarantees, but you know I think you’ve got talent. At the very least, if you work with me for a while, you’ll get some new material.”
