Page 30 of The Perfect Melody

“Yep, Pine Grove born and raised. It’s a great town and I’ve never wanted to live anywhere else. I don’t see myself workinghere forever, but it’s good for now. Believe it or not, I used to want to be a sound engineer.”

“Really?” I can’t imagine there’s much of a need for one in a town this size unless they have a theatre.

“Yeah. Not too many opportunities for that here…” she trails off with a shrug. “Austin said I can supervise the setup for any musicians who come and do gigs here, so that’s pretty cool.”

“It’s very cool. Esther mentioned something about a local country music festival in the summer, any chance you’ll get to work that too?”

“Oh, no. I don’t have the connections for that. The best I’ve managed is working as a steward a couple of times so I could see some of the shows for free, but I didn’t apply this year.”

Sensing she’s not entirely comfortable talking about that side of her work life, I steer the conversation in a different direction. Unfortunately the first thing that comes to my mind is a topicI’muncomfortable with. “You’re a fan of country music, then?”

She bobs her head in a so-so gesture. “I’m a fan of live music. The festival just happens to be for country. Molly’s the die-hard fan. She’s been obsessed with that tiny blonde singer, Melody Night, since we were in school.” I choke on my water, and Mei frowns. “Are you OK?”

“Wrong pipe,” I wheeze.

Holy shit. I glance over at Molly, who’s now leaning against the wall near the pool table. She catches me looking and glares. If there’s one thing this trip is teaching me, it’s that the universe has a twisted sense of humour. Of all the places I could have ended up workingwhydid it have to be alongside a Melody Night superfan? Thank God she doesn’t recognise me.

Mei keeps talking, telling me about some of her favourite bands and songs that she could listen to on repeat. She has interesting and eclectic taste—under normal circumstances I’ddive into the conversation with equal enthusiasm but I’m too busy wondering how I’m going to keep Molly from figuring out who I really am. Austin interrupts briefly to drop off my uniform but quickly moves away to chat with the kitchen team. I overhear him thanking them for a wonderful meal and begrudgingly admit that he really does seem to be a good boss—to everyone but me at least. Uncomfortable being the only one eating, I pick at the rest of the food on my plate, eventually giving up when people start working together to clear the table.

Molly ‘accidentally’ shoulder-checks me on her way past before sidling up next to Austin to help gather plates from that side of the table. Her attitude is uncalled for and annoying, but maybe it will work in my favour. If her pettiness means she files me as ‘unimportant’ in her brain, she’ll be less likely to figure out I’m her favourite singer. Of course, I’d rather she didn’t think of me at all. I was already planning to avoid Austin as much as possible during my first week of shifts. If I succeed, maybe she’ll drop her territorial nonsense and forget about me entirely. If not, I might need the escape plan I came up with after yesterday’s close call sooner rather than later.

Chapter Thirteen

Austin

Quill and Daggeris busy for a Thursday evening when I swing by after finishing up at Bowman’s for the day, but Jeremy still finds a few minutes to chat with Dev, Reggie, Francis and me.

“Everything all set for the big day?” Jer asks me, standing beside our table. He’s gathered his hair into a bun today, and his ripped jeans flash glimpses of the tattoos on his thighs and—judging by the lustful looks he’s attracting from a table in the corner—I’m not the only one who’s noticed. Jeremy, however, is completely oblivious to the attention he’s garnering as he eagerly awaits my answer.

“Almost. The new heater and picnic tables won’t arrive until next week,” I grumble. “At least the replacement fence panels should get here tomorrow morning, so I have time to put them up before the soft opening this weekend. It just means the outside area will be sparser than I’d planned for our first week back, but everything else should be sorted by the big reopening party next Saturday.”

“That’s great, man.”

“How did your training day go on Tuesday?” Francis asks, nudging his wire-frame glasses up the bridge of his chalky-white nose in a familiar habit.

“Good.” I hesitate, chewing the inside of my cheek before admitting, “I might have been a bit hard on Cassie.”

“The new hire?” Dev asks.

“Yeah. I thought she wasn’t taking the till training seriously and snapped at her.”

“Oh, I ran into her the other day. She’s a jumpy one—I’m surprised your surly attitude didn’t scare her off,” Jeremy says.

“Really?” I ask, surprised.

“That’s not your impression of her?” Jer asks while the others lean in like hounds scenting fresh gossip.

“No, she’s—” A frustrated huff blows past my lips. I suppose she is jumpy, but I’d put that down to her nerves being frayed after the accident rather than a personality trait. Truthfully, I’m not sure what to make of Cassie. She’s reserved but stood up to me when I was being an overbearing dick, and she smiled politely with Mum and Mei, but kept her face carefully blank with everyone else. The woman is a deeply confusing mess of contradictions, and I still have no clue what she’s hiding. How do I even begin to explain all of that to my friends? “She’s…frustrating.”

Dev and Reggie outright laugh at my misery while Francis’s lips twitch in amusement and Jeremy claps a hand on my shoulder grinning like the cat that got the cream. “I think she’s going to be good for you.”

“Yep,” Dev chimes in. “You’re too stuck in your ways—it’s a good thing this girl came along to shake things up.”

“How am I stuck in my ways? You know all the changes I’ve made at Bowman’s?—”

Dev raises a hand, cutting me off. “That’s work. Your personal life is as boring as a blank wall.”

“You realise you lot are a large part of my personal life, right?”