Chapter 21 #2
The band’s front man, Lance, accepted the microphone and faced the crowd.
Liv had seen them perform several times, and they always kicked off a performance with two rock songs and then a slower ballad.
Then they’d thank everyone for coming before launching back into their show.
Today, the instruments remained silent as he gestured for the crowd to quiet down.
“We’re going to do things a little differently tonight,” Lance said.
“About a week ago, a resident, someone many of you know, contacted us asking for our help. After he explained the situation, we couldn’t say no.
” The musician gestured toward the stairs leading onto the temporary stage.
“Everyone, please welcome Matt Sherbrooke.”
Liv’s iced tea slipped from her fingers as a deafening cheer erupted from the crowd as Matt joined Back Bay onstage.
For the past few weeks, she’d struggled to block out thoughts and memories of him.
With Matt standing mere feet away, they bombarded her.
Urged her to wait for him to come off the stage and tell him she’d changed her mind. That she’d made a mistake.
“Thanks, Lance,” Matt said, accepting the microphone and then turning to face the crowd. “How are you doing, Orchard Harbor?”
The question elicited another cheer from the crowd.
“Tonight, I’m performing a new song I wrote for someone very special to me. Someone I want to spend the rest of my life with here in Orchard Harbor. Liv, if you’re here tonight, this song is for you.”
Stunned, she stood there, her heart racing a thousand miles a minute as Matt’s voice filled the air, accompanied by Back Bay. A gentle nudge pulled her back to reality.
“Did you know about this?” Liv asked.
Emma nodded. “He asked me to make sure you were here tonight.”
Now her insistence that Liv come tonight made sense.
“Go up there,” Emma urged her.
She’d rather run down Main Street naked. “No way.”
“At least move close enough so he sees you.” Emma gently pushed her when she remained frozen in place.
“Now I know what love is.” Matt’s voice washed over her, and she swallowed, hoping to dislodge the golf-ball-sized lump that had taken up residence in her throat.
She’s right. I should move closer.
Liv weaved through the crowd far easier than she would’ve imagined.
Soon she found herself almost close enough to touch the stage, and when Matt spotted her, he gestured for her to join him, drawing the attention of many concertgoers her way.
As if someone had waved a magic wand, the crowd created an opening for her.
Everyone fell silent; the only sounds were Matt’s voice and the band. As if in a dream, she climbed the steps. Heat filled her face and spread down her neck, and she didn’t need a mirror to know she resembled a tomato when Matt took her hand and led her to the center of the stage.
She could handle performing karaoke at the Northside Tavern during the offseason when the restaurant resembled a ghost town. But this was about as different as you could get from that.
Matt’s eyes never left hers as he finished the song. Even as the final note rang out through the air, the crowd remained silent, their attention fixed on the stage, wondering what he had planned next.
“For a long time, I’ve felt as if someone was missing from my life.
I didn’t know until this summer you were the one I needed, Liv.
I know you have doubts, but I love you and want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you here in Orchard Harbor, the only place that truly feels like home. ”
Wiping away the tears slipping down her cheeks, Liv struggled to hold back a full onslaught of emotion.
After pulling something from his pocket, Matt dropped to one knee. “Olivia Middleton, will you marry me and let me spend my life showing you how much I love you?”
Words deserted her. She’d accused him of cheating, ignored him for weeks, and yet now he was on one knee asking her to marry him. She’d imagined this summer ending many different ways, but she’d never allowed herself to think a marriage proposal from Matt was in her future.
“Say yes,” someone in the crowd shouted.
The comment was quickly met by another. Soon, everyone was urging her to accept.
Matt couldn’t decide which was louder, the crowd or his heart pounding in his chest. When Liv told him things between them were over, all he knew was that somehow he had to change her mind.
He started sending her flowers and daily lattes—not to sway her, but because it was a way to let her know she was on his mind.
It had also made him feel as if he was doing something while he formulated a proper plan.
He’d known it needed to be something from the heart.
Liv wasn’t the type won over by expensive jewelry or exotic vacations.
The idea to write a song for Liv only came to him after Aiden suggested he focus on what he did best. Once he sat down with his guitar, the song flowed in a way that hadn’t happened in a long time. Writing it had solved part of his problem while creating another. How would he get Liv to listen?
Fortunately, the town newsletter about the fair provided a solution. After Back Bay agreed, he sent them the music, and then he traveled to Wellesley so they could practice it together. And Emma had helped with the last possible hurdle.
With his plan executed, all he could do now was wait and hope he got the answer he wanted.
Nodding, Liv wiped fresh tears from her cheeks as the band joined the crowd’s chant of “Say yes.”
Before he could ask her to say the words, Liv threw her arms around him.
Only quick reflexes kept him from landing on his ass.
Cheers erupted from the crowd, and Matt barely heard Liv say, “Yes,” before kissing him.
Although he never would’ve thought it possible, the cheering intensified as soon as her lips touched his.
Far sooner than he would’ve liked, Matt pulled his mouth away from hers. “I promised I’d perform a few songs with the band, but afterward, I’m all yours.”
Performing with them wasn’t the only thing he’d offered the band. He’d also lined up a meeting with his agent for them, because once his performance with them went viral, which he knew it would, Back Bay was going to need a good agent to negotiate a record deal.
Liv squeezed his hand before kissing his cheek. “I’ll wait with Emma and Brian.”
He’d prefer to keep her close, but he recognized not only how impractical it would be but also how uncomfortable she’d feel if she remained onstage.
Three songs later, Matt fought his way through the crowd.
He’d managed to avoid the attention when he arrived since no one expected him there.
Now that fans knew he was at the fair, they repeatedly stopped him to get a photo or an autograph.
A few even stopped him to offer their congratulations on his engagement.
Clearly, he should’ve prepared an escape route before taking the stage tonight.
Somehow, he reached Liv while Back Bay continued the concert. Without asking if she was ready, Matt grabbed her hand and kept walking.
“Thanks again, Emma,” he said. If she replied, he didn’t hear her.
“You owe me a deep-fried Snickers,” Liv said.
He could still hear the band playing, but they were far enough away now that they could have a conversation without shouting.
“What?”
“I was going to buy a deep-fried Snickers after the concert. We left before I could, so you owe me one.”
He hadn’t misheard her. “We can go back.”
“Maybe tomorrow. I’d rather get away from the crowd.”
Matt couldn’t agree more.
A cool breeze washed over him when he stepped back outside.
When they’d returned home, they’d gone to the rooftop patio.
Now that the sun was long gone, the temperature had dropped, and he’d gone inside to get them each a sweatshirt and something hot to drink.
Liv had offered, but he figured if he went, it would give her a chance to answer some text messages.
Her phone started exploding on the ride home, and it hadn’t stopped.
He’d received his fair share too, which he’d expected, considering he’d asked Liv to marry him in front of hundreds of people.
“People I haven’t heard from in ages are texting me and sending me messages on CHAT.” Liv looked away from her phone as she spoke.
Earlier in the summer, she had a small taste of the media intruding on her life, but it was nothing compared to what it was going to be like for the foreseeable future.
“I knew word would spread around town quickly, but I didn’t think friends in Pennsylvania and Florida would know already too. Even Phoebe’s mom messaged me, and she’s on vacation in Hawaii.”
Matt handed her the sweatshirt and placed both mugs on the table.
“Videos of you proposing and performing with Back Bay are being shared all over social media. I think you made their career.”
“I had a feeling it might, so I arranged a meeting for them with my agent.”
“Talented and smart. How did I get so lucky?” Liv asked as she pulled the sweatshirt over her head.
“Actually, I think I’m the lucky one. If I hadn’t roomed with Owen in college, I never would’ve met you or found my home.”
Liv pulled her braid free from the sweatshirt as a serious expression settled on her face. “When you said Orchard Harbor is the only place that truly feels like home, did you mean it?”
“I told you that before. It’s why I always came back as much as I could.”
“And I thought it was for the exciting nightlife.”
“Well, there is that too, but when I’m not here, I feel restless—that’s the best way I can describe it. Like I need to be somewhere else. When I’m here, I don’t want to leave.”
“You’ve never spent a winter here; you might have second thoughts then.”
“As long as you’re here to keep me warm, the temperature can drop below zero and the snow can be over my head, and this will still be home to me.” He brushed his lips across hers.
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep you warm.”
Although she sat next to him, he needed her closer. Slipping one arm under her legs and another around her waist, he moved her onto his lap. “Promise?”
She nodded as she lowered her lips toward his. “Promise. Always and forever.”