Melodies of the Heart: A Pinewood Grove Sweet Romance Read online

  Melodies of the Heart

  A Pinewood Grove Sweet Romance

  By Sarah Paisley

  Copyright @ Sarah Paisley. 2015

  Kindle Edition

  All rights reserved

  This product is protected by copyright and distributed under

  licenses restricting copying, distribution and decompilation

  Cover stock art provided by: prometeus & mshake | depositphotos.com

  Cover designed by: Trevor Dupp Designs

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  The sold out Las Vegas crowd was screaming for an encore. They had paid good money to see the rock band Fable Heart perform, and for two hours they’d done just that. The band was fresh off the release of their latest album, but the fans were begging them to play some of their older hits to close out the show. Levi Thayne had sung the words to songs that no longer made any sense in his heart, but he had done his job and yet the crowd wanted more. They were never satisfied.

  “Levi, man, you need to get back out there,” the band’s manager, Marko Hill, told him. The man who had once been one of Levi’s closest friends was now no more than a glorified babysitter, telling the singer where to go, what to wear, and how to act. What had once been an important friendship had strained thin over the years and had turned Marko into a whole different person.

  “I need some fresh air,” Levi grumbled as he pushed past Marko. The backstage was crowded with techs, roadies, and a few women who had found their way past security, but Levi didn’t notice any of them. He just needed to get outside.

  “We need to wrap this encore up and get on the road,” Marko was telling him, but Levi wasn’t listening. He barely heard his manager say that they were expected in LA to be on a live morning TV show ahead of their next concert.

  Dean Kirkman – the lead guitarist of Fable Heart – moved to block his path as if he knew what Levi was planning before the singer himself knew what he was doing. All he knew was that he needed to be outside, needed to be away from the screams of fans and the demands of the band and his manager.

  It hadn’t started out this way. It had just been four friends in Dean’s garage, goofing around until Marko had shown up with a record deal. For six years the band had toured the world nearly non-stop and what had once been his dream had turned into Levi’s nightmare. Nothing made sense anymore, and before he realised he was doing it, he was unhooking his motorcycle off the back of the trailer that towed it around the States during their latest American tour.

  His helmet was stored in a locked box beside the bike and with a hard kick from the heel of his boot, the old lock snapped easily. He took his head gear and slid it on before he walked his bike off the back of the trailer. Levi always kept the keys on him, as if he had been planning this escape for years. While the crowd roared from inside the stadium, he kicked the bike to life and drove off, the midnight moon his compass.

  The late morning sun was high in the air and Kassidy Olsen was leaning on the front counter of the bakery her family owned. It had been a slow morning – it was almost always a slow morning – and she watched with hope in her eyes every time a car or pedestrian went by the large glass windows, only to find herself sighing in disappointment when no one stopped and came in to see what the bakery had to offer.

  Her mother was in the back, working on a special order wedding cake. Despite trying to deny it to herself, the wedding cakes were one of the only things keeping the little shop in business. Her parents tried to keep it from her, but at twenty-one years old, it was long past the time where they could hide much from their daughter.

  But May brought with it not only wedding season, but people home from college. For four months, the population of Pinewood Grove would expand slightly with bored college students and hopefully at least some of them would spend some money in the Olsen family bakery. There was little else for them to do in town.

  Those college students included most of Kassidy’s childhood friends. While they had spread out across the country to attend different colleges, she’d stayed behind to learn the trade of her family’s business. She loved the little shop more than anything in the world and in a few years it would be hers alone. That is, as long as they could keep the lights on and the mortgage paid.

  The little bell above the door chimed and brought Kassidy out of her daze. After a slow morning, customers had finally arrived, but when she looked up she wasn’t sure whether to be elated or disappointed by who walked in.

  The people who walked in weren’t folks looking to pick up some desserts or loaves of bread. Instead, it was three of her high school girlfriends, only home a day or two from school. She was excited to see them, but she didn’t hold out much hope of them buying anything.

  “Kass!” Addison Gardner greeted her as she ran around the counter for a hug. Addison had been one of her best friends since first grade and spending most of their time apart for the last few years had been harder than either of them had expected it would be.

  “How are you?” Kassidy asked as she looked over her best friend. Addison had headed south to Berkley for her degree when they’d finished high school together. The tall brunette had found herself a healthy tan while in California, and Kassidy hoped that was the only major change she’d found outside of their small town.

  “Amazing,” she said. “You look great.”

  “Thanks,” Kassidy said, but she wasn’t sure if she could believe it. Her long strawberry blonde hair was held back in a loose braid and she had flour all over herself from an unfortunate sifter accident that morning. They didn’t have the money to crank up the air-conditioning and she was hot and sweaty, but she smiled all the same.

  “How’s the bakery doing?” one of the other girls, Kayla Matthews, asked. Kayla had always been a little on the quiet side, and a little too fond of the sweets that Kassidy’s family sold. Her first three years of college had only made that more obvious, but she was always friendly and kind.

  “Good,” Kassidy told her. “My mom’s working on a cake for the Anderson – Coates wedding now. It’s five tiers and each one is a different flavor. I can’t wait to see how it comes out.”

  “Speaking of weddings,” the third girl, Gillian Quinn, cut in. “Have you seen Paul lately? I heard he just got back from Yale.”

  “Um, that’s nice,” Kassidy said as she shifted awkwardly on her feet. “But I haven’t talked to him.”

  “Oh, Kass,” Addison said with a cluck of her tongue. “Why not? You know he likes you and he’s so cute.”

  “So?” Kassidy asked.

  “So,” Gillian began, “he’s a good guy. I mean, he just finished his junior year in pre-law at freaking Yale and he’s always liked you. Plus, his family has money and no offence, but maybe your family could use it. For, u
h, improvements for the bakery.”

  “Great, thanks,” Kassidy groaned, but she knew her friends wouldn’t lay off on their own. “Look, we broke up in senior year of high school for a reason. I just didn’t feel a spark with him, it wasn’t real love. You know, butterflies in your belly love. I know he’s a good guy, but I just don’t see us together. Besides, I’m sure he’s had no problem finding someone a lot more his type than me over in Connecticut.”

  “Fine,” Addison laughed. “But speaking of guys, did anything interesting happen around here while we were gone? You know, guy wise?”

  Kassidy wished she could say yes, but she only shrugged. “Not really,” she admitted. “But that’s okay. God has a plan and I need to trust in that. I can wait.”

  Her friends giggled at that. Not to mock her, but in girlish glee. They’d all prayed together for boyfriends at some point, and Kassidy just hoped that prayer would be enough for her to find ‘The One’. It would happen, she knew that much, she just had to trust in herself and in God.

  “Look, we need to head out,” Addison said. “We’re going to head down to ShopMart and get some camping supplies for the summer. If your parents will let you have some time off, you should come with us. It’ll be a good time.”

  “We’ll see,” Kassidy said. “Have fun though,” she called after them as she watched her friends depart.

  When the store was empty again, her mother poked her head out of the back. The sound of her voice startled Kassidy, who was too busy thinking about what her friends had said.

  “Honey,” Mrs. Olsen said as she wiped the sweat off her brow with the back of her forearm. “Did your friends buy anything?”

  “Sorry,” Kassidy said with a half-hearted shrug. “Nothing this time.”

  A look of concern flashed across her mother’s face, but before Kassidy could say anything her mother said, “It’s half past eleven. Can you run the dinner rolls across the street to Shady Pines?”

  “Sure thing,” Kassidy said. It would be nice to get some fresh air, and she liked going to the retirement home across the road. Three times a week her family’s bakery donated three dozen rolls to the home and the elderly residents were always happy to see her. They were friendly and she loved listening to their old stories, even if sometimes some of the residents got a little confused while they were telling them.

  Stripping off her apron, Kassidy grabbed an old basket they used for the bread deliveries. It wasn’t exactly ergonomic, but it was traditional and tradition gave their bakery something that the ShopMart’s baked goods section did not. Plus, the seniors told her that they loved seeing her coming with that basket held in the crook of her elbow.

  The sun was brighter than she had expected when she left the bakery with her delivery. It glinted off the windows of the bank across the street and Kassidy used a hand to shield her eyes, but it did little to block out the glare. She could barely see the road in front of her, and up the street she heard the deep rumbling of a vehicle, but the road looked clear and she moved to make her way across.

  She’d barely made it five feet when the squealing of tires made her stop and spin. With her back to the sun she saw the large motorcycle barreling toward her, and she moved to get out of the way, but her feet tangled together like they used to do when she was an awkward teenager. Both she and the rolls went sprawling on the street, and the motorcycle careened to the right, only to tilt too far and send its rider tumbling onto the pavement.

  “Oh my gosh,” Kassidy gasped when she realised what had just happened. The street was strewn with bread, but her focus was entirely on the now bikeless rider. Thankfully, he was wearing a helmet and a leather jacket to shield himself, but even from ten feet away she could see the tears in his jeans and she pushed herself up to go make sure he was okay.

  Before she could get to him, he was already picking himself up off the asphalt. Unsteadily, he shook out his legs and looked around, finally spotting Kassidy as she moved toward him.

  “I am so, so sorry,” she gushed. “The sun was in my eyes and I didn’t see you coming. Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” the man said as he pulled off his helmet. “Are you hurt?”

  The moment he took off the black helmet, Kassidy froze in her tracks. His shaggy dark hair was matted down and his jeans were torn and dirty. His brown eyes were tired – too tired – but none of that mattered. All that mattered were the butterflies dancing in Kassidy’s belly.

  Chapter Two

  It took Kassidy a second to realise that they were blocking all the traffic on Main Street and needed to get off of the road before they got run over. Her rolls had already been squished by the drivers who squeezed around them, and the rest weren’t worth trying to save.

  The birds can have them, Kassidy thought to herself as she helped push the handsome stranger’s bike out of the middle of the road and onto the sidewalk.

  “Come inside,” she told him. “We have a first aid kit.”

  “I’m okay,” he tried to insist, but she wasn’t having any of it.

  “Please,” she implored him. “I feel so bad about what happened. Let me help and at least get those scrapes washed off.”

  Maybe it was the way she looked at him, or the innocence on her face, but Levi Thayne stopped arguing. Instead, he propped the motorcycle up and let her lead him into the bakery.

  “Sit right there,” she instructed as she pointed at one of the two small tables and chairs that the bakery kept in the odd chance someone ever wanted to sit down and enjoy one of their treats. They rarely came in handy, but her father wouldn’t let her or her mother get rid of them.

  “I really am okay,” Levi called after her as she stepped into the back. “It’s nothing more than a scrape.”

  Kassidy was too busy getting a clean washcloth to listen to his arguing. The first aid kid was well stocked, but the scrape on the back of his hand was full of dirt and needed cleaning before she could even think about dressing it.

  “I guess I should introduce myself,” she said as she sat down across from him and held out the wet cloth. “I’m Kassidy, Kassidy Olsen. My family owns this place.”

  “I gathered that,” he said, the corner of his mouth turning up to reveal the slightest of smiles as he spoke.

  “And you are?” she asked, leaning in a bit as she spoke.

  He was visibly taken aback at that. Deep down he knew that he wasn’t that recognisable, or at least he always assumed as such, but it had been a very, very long time since anyone had asked him for his name.

  “Levi,” he said, skipping his last name.

  “Well Levi,” Kassidy said as she put the first aid kit on the table and cracked it open. “I am really, really sorry about what happened. It’s not like me at all. I really hope your bike is okay.”

  That part was true. She was usually very attentive and careful, but her mind had been elsewhere and she’d almost gotten herself killed for it. At least the man in front of her had enough time to react and neither of them had gotten seriously hurt.

  “It’s okay –” Levi moved to say, but before he could finish his thought a third party appeared. Mrs. Olsen stepped out of the back at the sound of voices, and from the look on her face, Kassidy knew she would have some explaining to do.

  “Mom,” she said, trying to ease her into the idea that her daughter had almost been run down by a passing motorcyclist.

  “Kass, honey,” her mom said as she glanced from her daughter back to the dishevelled and mildly battered young man sitting in her bakery. “What happened?”

  “It’s nothing,” Kassidy tried to explain to her. “Levi here had an accident, it was entirely my fault.”

  “No, I should have been paying more attention,” Levi cut in, but Kassidy shot him a look to say he was better to keep quiet.

  “I basically stepped out in front of him,” Kassidy admitted. “It was stupid and I’m just making sure the scrape on his hand gets taken care of.”

  “Oh gosh,” her mother sai
d, her fingers going to her bottom lip like they always did when she was nervous. She’d always been a nail biter, but she’d taken to just putting her fingers on her lip when she fretted. “Honey, oh gosh, are you okay?”

  “Fine, mom,” Kassidy said as her cheeks flushed red. She had never met anyone who’d given her butterflies like Levi did and the last thing she needed was her mother embarrassing her. She was twenty-one now and much too old to have her mother fretting over her, especially in front of other people.

  Thankfully, the phone rang before her mother could embarrass her any more than she already had and Kassidy let out a sigh of relief once she was alone with the young man again.

  “I am honestly really sorry,” he said once they were alone. “I wasn’t paying attention at all. I was in a bit of a daze.”

  “It’s okay,” she insisted, though she could barely force herself to look at him. Every time her green eyes met the dark brown pools of his, she would tremble all over again. It wasn’t like her, and she was afraid of what that meant. Afraid and excited. “Look, let me get you a snack. It must be luck. It’s lunch time and you’re probably hungry and we have plenty to choose from, so at least it’s good you crashed outside this place.”

  “Actually, I’m more worried about my bike than anything,” he admitted. “You don’t happen to know a mechanic in town, do you?”

  She did. A couple of them in fact. One option was the automotive department down at the ShopMart, and then there was Murph’s Garage over on Birch Street. There was no question who to go to – her parents had made it clear from the moment the ShopMart started going up that the small businesses in town had to support one another or none of them would survive more than a year once the doors of the supercenter opened.

  “Sure,” she told him once she finished wrapping his hand in gauze. The tips of his fingers were rough, but not like the ones of the farmers in town. She hadn’t tried to touch them, it had just happened as she’d cleaned him up, but she couldn’t deny that she liked it.