Chapter 15
We danced for a few songs, letting the music be the only guide to his hands soft caress on my swaying hips while we were in this space that felt free of all the constraints of reality.
“Can I get you a drink?” He nodded toward the bar during a break between sets.
“Sure.” I smiled at him. I wasn’t normally in the market to accept drinks from men I had recently met, but something about Heartstrings, something about him, made me feel unequivocally safe.
Once the bartender brought us our drinks I turned to him and leaned my elbow on the bar, face falling into my hand, “So, Calvin, tell me something.”
A look of sincere curiosity crossed his face. “Anything,” he replied as he grabbed his drink.
“Is that a harmonica in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?”
He spit the beer he had just taken a sip of across the bar top, and a booming laugh rolled out of him.
A feeling of pure satisfaction filled me. After our first few meetings had been so awkward and strained, it felt amazing to hear his laugh and lighten the tone between us.
“Okay, that was a good one,” he admitted his defeat once he caught his breath, reaching over across the bar top to grab a cloth to clean up after himself. This man was so genuinely good, and I didn’t even think he knew it.
“All jokes aside, you guys were incredible up there.”
“Thanks. My family and I are huge parts of the music scene in Love. You’ll always catch one of us Harts here during an open mic night.
Even Grandma Trixie is known to get up there on a karaoke night.
” The shy smile that coloured his cheeks as he accepted my compliment quickly changed to pure delight as he talked about his family.
“Your family has done a lot more than just have a hand in the music here, though, haven’t they? Is it true that a lot of the buildings around town were made by your grandparents?”
He gave me a quizzical look, causing it to be my turn to have a shy smile.
“I like to read. I grabbed a few books from the library on my first day here, one of them had a little history on Love.”
I swear, if you had looked up “pride” in the dictionary, you would have seen a photo of Calvin’s face at this very moment.
“Yeah, actually, the pillars outside the library were hand-carved by my great-grandpa, and the sign out front was originally hand-painted by my great-grandma, though it’s had to be touched up over the years.
And there’s also—” he cut himself off as another thought clearly crossed his mind.
“Actually, do you just want to get out of here?”
The surprise must have shown on my face because he quickly corrected himself. “To show you, I mean. Just for a walk down Main Street to tell you about the buildings, that’s all.”
I nodded and couldn’t help but melt at the way he stumbled over his words—not because of the alcohol but because of his nerves—to correct himself so his intentions were clear. It wasn’t a trait I was used to when it came to the men in my previous circle.
“Hey, Cal, you guys heading out?” Garrett called to us from across the bar as we walked toward the door.
“Yeah, I’m just going to show Stella around a bit, and then I’ll walk her back to the B and B after. You want my truck?” Calvin tossed Garrett his keys as I heard a scoff from behind me.
I turned to see the tall blonde I saw outside Cupid’s Cup on that first day glaring my way, and then she quickly turned back to whisper something to her friends before they burst out laughing and looked my way.
This evening had been going too well for me to concern myself with the trials of mean girls, so I brought my focus back to the man who had captured my attention.
“Ready?” Calvin beamed down at me, offering me his arm as he opened the door.
“Ready.” I smiled at him.
Chivalry was alive and well in Love.