Page 45 of Accepting Love

“Yes.” I groan. “Don’t remind me. She turned me down every time.”

“How did you get her to sayyes?”

“I showed up at her house to do a job actually.”

“What?”

“As Kingston Slade. I was working. She needed some help with the acoustics in her music room. We both nearly fainted when she turned around and saw it was me.”

“Shit. That’s amazing. Must be fate.”

“That’s what I choose to believe.”

“When are you going to bring her to Blossom Ridge? Leah would love to see her. Amy too I’m sure.”

“That’s why I was calling. It’s a long shot. Do you happen to have a lot of guests coming next week?”

“Actually, no. Coincidentally next week is wide open.”

I smile, but one other factor is at play. “Do you have a piano?”

“We do. Two of them. One upstairs in the library and a new one we just put in downstairs in the dance studio. Does Hannah play the piano?”

I chuckle. “You could say that, yes. I’m going to have her music room renovated. I’ll need to make a few calls and see if I can pull that off next week. If so, and if she agrees, it would be amazing for us to come there for the week while the carpenters are working here. She’ll need to practice though, and I don’t know how she feels about revealing her identity to others yet. I’ll need to speak to her first.”

“How mysterious. She must be a rock star or something.” He chuckles.

“Or something. Yes. Let me talk to her and I’ll call you back. Is that okay?”

“Of course. I doubt we’ll get guests calling to make last-minute reservations for next week at this late date. Leah and Amy would be over the moon if Hannah came. Isn’t she close friends with Giana? Maybe she and Kendric could come next week also. That’s a long shot of course, but it can’t hurt to ask.”

I’m excited now, but I don’t want to get carried away. A lot of pieces still have to fall into place.

The music stops and I don’t hear another piece begin. “I need to let you go. I’ll call back in a few hours.”

“Sounds good. Later.”

As I end the call and turn around, Caro enters the room. “Hey, Little angel.” I reach for her.

“Little angel?” She skips toward me.

“Because you sound like an angel from heaven when you play.”

She giggles as she wraps her arms around me.

I rub her back. “Are you done for the morning?”

“Yeah. I finished a long piece and looked at the time and decided to take a break. I wasn’t sure if you’d still be here.” She plays with the front of my shirt, which I’ve realized she does when she’s nervous and doesn’t want to look me in the eyes.

“I told you I’d be here, angel. I would never break a promise to you.”

“I know, but I wasn’t sure you were real in the first place.”

I chuckle and lift her up to set her on my knee. “I’m real, and I have a few questions.”

“Hard ones?” She lifts her gaze.

“I don’t think so, but I guess you’ll have to make that determination. I still need to make a few calls to pull this plan of mine into action, but it occurred to me that your music room is going to be a dusty mess for several days while it’s being updated, so I thought we might go away for a few days.”

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