Page 23 of The Lyrics of Love

“Watch?” she asked, puzzled by Ainsley’s words. “You know what he sent?”

“I have a good idea, based upon our conversation.”

“Maybe we should give you some privacy,” Willow said. “Come on Tens.”

Both women stood and Willow added, “We’re here if you need an ear. And you know we’ll support you whether you want to see this guy again or not. If you do, that’s great. If you don’t, we’ll start pooling our resources and see who’s single in Salty Point.”

Rylie swallowed. “I appreciate that. I appreciate both of you.”

Willow and Tenley left the bakery, and she turned to her cousin. “I know you thought you were trying to help, but I’m really not interested in Nash Edwards.”

“Watch the video, Rylie,” Ainsley begged. “Because this guy is very interested in you. What Willow said goes for me, as well. If you want to talk about things after you watch, I’ll be upstairs in my office.”

Rylie waited until Ainsley had time to get upstairs because she didn’t want anyone around when she watched whatever Nash had sent to her.

She opened the text and deliberated for a moment whether she truly wanted to see it or not. If she didn’t—and she didn’t reply to him—Nash would get the message and leave her alone.

Curiosity filled her, however. He had made a second effort by coming to see her today. Listening to her for an hour talk about furniture and its history. He had pleaded for a second chance and when she turned him down, he had gone to Ainsley to try and arrange that second chance. Rylie supposed she owed it to him to at least see what his efforts were all about.

She looked at the text.

Watch. Please.

Steeling herself, Rylie clicked on the video. Nash appeared, wearing the same clothes he had to the store this morning, so she knew the video had been shot after he’d left her and Buttercup Bakery. He stared into the camera a long moment before he spoke.

“First, I want to say thank you for even opening this video, Rylie. I know you wanted to wash your hands of me, but I have a few things I want.” He paused and corrected himself. “Things I need to say to you. I’m not an eloquent speaker. I’ve always let my music and lyrics do the talking for me, so thank you for listening to this song. I wrote it after you left last night. It’s the first time I’ve written anything in a year. It’s called A Mistake I Can’t Take Back. I wrote it about us.”

Nash reached for something out of the frame and brought a guitar to his lap. He cleared his throat, and Rylie thought he looked nervous. Then gazing into the camera, he began to strum his guitar and the song unfolded.

By the time he finished singing and set down his instrument she had tears pouring down her cheeks.

Nash stared into the camera. “My heart was laid bare in that song, Rylie. The ball’s now in your court. Do you want to run those eighty-four feet again and see if we might have something between us? If you do, you have my number now. I hope you use it.”

Rylie clicked on the video and watched it a second time, moved by Nash’s performance and what his lyrics said. They told of a mistake a man had made, one that he didn’t think he could change its outcome. His story told of the regret that filled him and how he would give anything for a second chance with the woman he sang about. The video ended again.

She decided to give Nash Edwards that second chance.

CHAPTER 9

Nash stared at the phone in his hand, willing it to ring.

“Please,” he said aloud, as if saying the single word, the phone would come to life.

He had sent the video when Ainsley texted him to do so. After he’d told her about the song he had written about Rylie and him and how he wanted a chance to play it for her, it was Ainsley who suggested that he make a video and send it to Rylie’s phone. Ainsley didn’t know if her cousin would give Nash the opportunity to play for her in person, and the idea of sending the video to charm Rylie was a brilliant idea on her cousin’s part.

Then Ainsley had sent a text that told him Rylie had deleted his text since it had come from an unknown number. Ainsley urged Nash to send it again and promised she would do her best to get Rylie to open it.

He had done so—and now waited.

The song was almost three-and-a-half minutes long. Eleven minutes had passed. Enough time for Rylie to have watched it. If she had deleted it again, Nash felt certain Ainsley would have let him know that by text. Since she hadn’t, he assumed Rylie hadn’t. But had she actually watched the video?

Maybe. Maybe not.

If she had chosen not to watch it, she wouldn’t bother responding to him. No response from her would be the response itself. It would signal him that there was no hope. If she had watched, it, though? She still might not reply. Another minute passed. Nash felt hope begin to fade. His throat grew thick with emotion.

Why had he even made the damn video, much less sent it to her? Why hadn’t he simply accepted what she told him? That she wasn’t interested in him. That she didn’t want to see or speak to him again.

But that’s where his stubbornness set in. He wasn’t done. She couldn’t make him be done.

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