Page 14 of Black Mark's Heart

Ewan stepped out of the bathroom. "Come to bed. You're exhausted and need to rest."

I kicked off my boots and followed Ewan to his bed. We'd grown close over the last few weeks, but when he'd tried to kiss me three weeks ago, I'd pulled away and told him about my recently failed marriage attempt.

The week after that, when the morning sickness kicked in, I'd let him know the last of my pain. Ewan held me while I cried and then handed me a pen and paper and told me to let my emotions out. I'd picked up my cello instead and composed my first piece since I'd graduated. Ewan sat listening, and then, he'd written my feelings for me.

He'd not tried to do anything since. We stayed up writing together each night. Sometimes I wrote the lyrics, but mostly, he listened to me play and wrote the new songs himself. We were friends; I think he understood that's all we could be. I climbed into the bed with him and he cuddled me to him as we fell back asleep. When I woke in the morning, Ewan was sitting on the lounge with a pen and paper, writing.

"What inspired you?" I asked.

"You," he smiled, scribbling away. "I don't know what I'm going to write about when you find happiness again."

"Are the songs you've written previously about your own heartbreak?" I sat up to look at him.

"They were. Old heartbreak now, and nothing like what you've gone through." Ewan looked at me. "The benefits of having an artistic license is that you can make things seem worse than they actually were."

I gave him a weak smile. "I'm sure at the time things seemed pretty bad."

"It does get easier, Mora," Ewan assured. "For people like us, doing this, writing it, playing it, it makes it easier for us."

I nodded. "The last six weeks touring with you guys, I don't think I could have pulled myself together if it wasn't for this."

"You don't give yourself enough credit." Ewan stood up, walking over to me. "You would never have made the tour if Jeremy thought you were that big a mess."

"Jeremy knew I needed to get away."

Ewan sat on the bed and read his new lyrics. "She came to me like a moon in a starless sky, emotions so raw; her soul an open door. She lay in my arms, frail like a child, and filled my heart with hope, that loss was not mine alone."

He stopped and looked at me, and I smiled weakly at him. Ewan moved forward and kissed me. I returned the kiss, but placed my hand to his chest to gently pull away.

Ewan smiled, "I know, Mora. I just would have regretted never at least trying." Ewan watched me climb out of his bed and go to the bathroom to freshen up. "Plus, I think that was a whole other song right there."

I smiled and closed the door. I leaned against it for a second and closed my eyes. Ewan was a really sweet guy, but he wasn't my guy. One day he'd fall in love with a woman entirely right for him and his music would change forever. With that thought, I moved quickly to the toilet as the first wave of morning sickness hit me. When I came back out, I could hear Ewan talking to someone. I stepped back into the bedroom and saw Jeremy there, looking unhappy. "Ewan, you want to give us a minute?" Jeremy asked.

Ewan looked just as unhappy. "I need to shower anyway." He grabbed up his clothes and stepped into the bathroom, leaving me alone with Jeremy.

"Are you sure you're making the right choice, Mora?" Jeremy asked.

"Ewan and I are just friends, Jeremy," I clarified. I sat to pull my boots back on.

"I went to check on you this morning and found Darius in your room instead," Jeremy explained. "You two could make this work, but I think this is the last chance for that to happen."

I shook my head. "I don't want to sneak around with him, Jeremy, and I don't want him to risk losing everything that matters to him to be with me. He made it clear which means more to him. He made his choice first."

Jeremy cursed under his breath.

I stepped forward, "Please, Jeremy. Just let us fall away. There's nothing to be done here. He needs a friend, and I need a mentor."

Jeremy's eyebrows went up, "You want me to mentor you?"

"You made music work for you. It's all I have left," I reminded him.

Jeremy placed his hand to my abdomen gently and looked in my eyes. "Not all you have left, Mora, and you're not going to do this alone. Cassandra and I are going to be with you every step of the way. This baby belongs to my best friend, and if he can't be a father to it, then I will be."

I smiled, placing my hand over his. "Zander has already decided he's going to be my baby daddy, so you'll just have to be content with being Uncle J."

Jeremy grinned, "Zander hey?" He nodded. "Yeah, I can see you two working."

I frowned, "Not like that, Jeremy."

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