Page 19 of The Music of Love

“I can tell,” Cal whispers back. Then, in a much louder voice, he says, “How you doing today? Your name was Winston, right?”

The man nods enthusiastically. “Winston, yeah! Would you like to come in and see the guitar?”

“That’s why we’re here, man.” Cal smiles.

“Yeah, of course,” Winston replies quickly, holding the door open for us.

We step into what can only be described as a museum of guitars. There are guitars everywhere—on the walls, on stands, even display cases across the room.

“So you’re a collector?” I ask as a bit of a joke.

“You could say that,” Winston replies, his eyes on Cal as he takes a strange V-shaped case from the couch and hands it to him. “Perfect condition, in tune, just like the ad said.”

Cal’s eyes look like a little boy’s at Christmas as he pops the latches open on the case and opens it to reveal the strangest guitar I’ve ever seen, shaped just like the case. “1967 Gibson Flying V.” He smiles, lifting it up to inspect it. “Yup, great condition. How much did we say?”

“Uh, eleven-hundred and,” Winston stammers. “But for you—”

“Don’t give me a discount, Winston,” Cal interrupts. “I can afford it.” Cal places the guitar back in its case and pulls out an enormous wad of cash from his pocket. How did I not even notice that before? “Let’s call it twelve thousand. That sound all right?”

“You must get that a lot,”I say, when we’re back in the car and driving. “Fans swooning over you.”

“Swooning?” Cal rolls his eyes. “But yes, it happens a decent amount.”

This time,Iroll my eyes. “You’re just being humble.” I notice we’re not headed back toward Cal’s hotel or my apartment and glance at him. “Where are we going now, by the way?”

He grins and places a hand on my knee. “You’ll see.”

“I’ll see?” I repeat. “Is this the part where you kidnap me?”

Cal laughs. “Yes, kidnap you in broad daylight when you’d gladly go anywhere I want with me willingly.”

“Oh, I would, would I?” I scoff.

“Damn right.” He grins. “And relax, we’re pretty much there.”

14

Reese

I’m feeling floodedwith happiness as Cal and I step out of the car. We’re the only ones by the lake, the sun is shining down on us, the day isn’t too hot or too cold, and the breeze is blowing just right as I take his hand and we walk down to a spot on the grass by the edge of the water.

I look over at him, and we exchange smiles. It’s hard to believe so much has happened in such a short period of time. It feels like we’ve known each other for years. Like there’s no other man I could ever possibly be with. Just the thought of being away from him seems not only heart-wrenching; it seems strange.

I want to learn even more about him. I want to learn what makes him happy and do all those things for him. I want to please him.

But no matter what I do, I still can’t shake this feeling in the back of my mind that I’m just an ordinary girl with an ordinary job. I’m a waitress. How will the two of us ever work out? How could I ever show up at big events with him and know what to do? I’d just end up making him look stupid.

“You must come here a lot,” Cal says, looking out at the water.

“Hmm? No, actually,” I reply.

“Really? If I lived around here, I’d come to this spot all the time for some peace and quiet.” He nods, taking out his new guitar from its case. “You know, I wrote a song for you.”

Instantly, my entire body goes hot. My cheeks flush, and I want to find a rock to crawl under. But at the same time, I light up inside like someone just shrank the sun and stuffed it into my chest.

“Forme?You wrote a song forme?”

Cal nods. “That’s right. When I finished my show and you were waiting for me backstage…that was just such a nice moment, and it got me thinking,” He strums the strings of his Flying V. “Now this won’t sound as good as it would if I had an amp or an acoustic guitar but…”

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