Page 4 of The Lyrics of Love

His words caused her to catch her breath. He released her hand and motioned. “Come on.”

They walked up the sidewalk together and rang the doorbell. Shayla answered it, her surprise obvious.

“Rylie! I didn’t know I’d be seeing you.” She glanced to Nash. “Mr. Edwards? Please come in.”

“Thank you,” he said in that low grumble.

At least Shayla Newton had confirmed it. He was Nash Edwards.

They followed her into her office, and she picked up an envelope.

“Here are your keys, Mr. Edwards. I’m happy to go over to the property with you and walk you through it.” She batted her lashes at him, and Rylie almost burst out laughing.

“No, thanks. I like to discover things myself. Thank you, Ms. Newton.”

“Oh, please. Shayla.” She smiled brightly. “Anytime.” Once more her eyes flicked to Rylie, questions in them as to why she was in the company of one of country’s superstars.

She decided to end the mystery. “I ran out of gas. The twins didn’t fill the tank for me as they were supposed to. Mr. Edwards was kind enough to stop and give me a ride to Fred’s gas station when he came upon me stranded on the road just outside of the Cove. I wanted to be helpful and return the favor, so I showed him where your office is.”

“We need to get you back to your car, Rylie,” Nash said. “And I want to go check out my rental.”

Shayla seemed satisfied by the explanation Rylie had provided. “Well, you let me know if there is anything—I mean anything—that needs to be addressed, Mr. Edwards. You have my number. Just call anytime, and I can be there.”

“Thank you again,” he said.

Rylie accompanied him back to the truck. Once again, he opened her door for her. She liked the gentlemanly gesture.

He got behind the wheel and started back toward the square. He must have a good sense of direction because he didn’t ask any questions and easily found his way back to the highway.

“You knew who I was all along, didn’t you?” he asked softly as he picked up speed.

“Yes,” she replied. “When you didn’t provide your last name, I figured you wanted your privacy. For the record? I do listen to your music. I’m a huge country fan. But no, I’m not an avid tabloid reader. I recall you got a divorce a while back. You haven’t put out any new CDs in the past year. I hope you at least got a few good songs out of your relationship.” She grinned. “And that I’ll be hearing them on the radio soon.”

He laughed, a rich laugh that made her toes curl. “I’ll admit that I have been itching to write again. I haven’t in over a year. Not since... not since Luna and I broke up. But I’m ready to do so again. My drummer, Billy Brown, is from Salty Point. He told me the Oregon coast is quiet and beautiful. The perfect place to lose myself and start writing again. That’s why I’m here. To discover if I still have something to say through my music.”

“You will. You can use your music to search for what was good about your relationship with your wife, as well as what went wrong. You can let it speak for you as you find the next chapter in your life.”

By now, they had reached her car. Nash did a one-eighty and pulled in behind her trailer again.

“You sound like you know what you’re talking about.”

“Maybe a little. Even though I majored in business, any elective I could take in English, I did so. I found I loved poetry. Reading and writing it. I had a bad break-up in college and turned to writing poems to help me get over it. Song lyrics are poetry set to music, so yes, I get it.”

He looked at her, those hazel eyes mesmerizing. It was as if he saw down to the depths of her soul.

“We just might have to write together,” he suggested.

“Me? Write... song lyrics... with you?” Rylie laughed. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re Nash Edwards. You have Grammys for songwriting. I wrote a few poems as I wallowed in misery. We are so not on the same playing field.”

“You might be surprised,” he said enigmatically.

Rylie reached for the gas can at her feet. “Thanks again for stopping to help me, Nash. I appreciate it.”

“Are you going to blister the ears of those twins?” he asked, biting back a smile.

---