Page 60 of The Perfect Melody

Phoebe waves her off. “You know what I mean—he’s the cautious type. It takes him a minute to warm up to people.”

“Well, it looks like he’s warmed up to Cassie plenty.” Mei does a little shimmy, making me laugh.

“I really don’t think it’s a date.” Austin’s a straightforward guy—it’s one of the things I like most about him. If he were asking me out, he’d have made that clear. Then again, hewaskind of flirty…Oh good, I’m going to overthink this until Thursday, aren’t I?

“There’s no convincing you, is there?” Mei asks.

“Nope,” I reply, obnoxiously popping the ‘p’ because I need us to stop talking about this before my head explodes.

Sighing with enough force to flutter the strands of blue-black hair framing her face, Mei flops back in her chair dramatically. “Fine, I’ll drop it for now, but don’t worry, I’m patient. I’ll keep my ‘I told you so’ card in my back pocket for as long as it takes.”

Chuckling, I pick up my mug to take another sip of my now lukewarm latte. “You do that.”

The conversation shifts to how Gem’s garage has been doing, and I marvel at the group of women who’ve welcomed me into their circle without hesitation. I’ll always be grateful for my friendship with Liam and, by extension, Bailey, but this is different. Not for the first time, I wonder what it would be like if I were to stay in Pine Grove.

Obviously, I’d have to reveal my secret—there’s no way I could live here for real without it coming to light—but once the truth was out, could I still have this? Or would everyone be too upset about my lying to them? There’s only one way to find out, but we’re not there yet. I have time before I need to decide if I’ll go back to Nashville like I planned or if I want to stay here. Emerald-green eyes invade my thoughts, but I shut down that line of thinking immediately. If I stay in Pine Grove, it won’t be for Austin. If I stay, it will be because it’s what’s best forme.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Cassie

I’ve not seenAustin since our encounter on Monday morning—I only worked Tuesday evening, and he had the night off. It’s almost one thirty, so I grab my water bottle, lock up my room and head downstairs to wait for Austin to arrive to go on our walk. Despite what I said to Mei and the girls, I dowantthis to be a date—I’m simply not convinced that it is. When I texted Liam, he said this little outing is the perfect opportunity for me to tell Austin I’m interested. We’ll see.

Call me a coward, but I’m inclined to let Austin set the tone for today and go from there, especially since he’s already rejected my advances before. The last thing I want is to make him uncomfortable. It’s best I approach this afternoon as if I’m hanging out with a friend. If it feels like there’s potential for more than that, great. If not, I’ll put whatever feelings I might be developing for Austin into an airtight box in the back of my mind until they’re snuffed out for good.

The door to the reception area of the B&B opens, and Austin steps inside looking every inch the outdoorsman in his brown walking boots, jeans, and navy waterproof. He even has a small backpack with him. Beneath the brim of his grey ball cap, his eyebrows pinch together slightly when he takes in my sneakers.

“I didn’t come prepared for a walking holiday. These are the best I’ve got,” I say, rocking back on my heels.

“They’ll do. The route we’re doing is fairly flat with decent paths. Have you got a coat?”

I shake my head. “Nothing waterproof, so I figured this would do,” I reply, tugging at the hem of my forest-green sweatshirt. It’s cooler today than it’s been the past couple of days, and I wanted the extra layer over my t-shirt.

“Fair enough. It’s not forecast to rain until six, and we’ll be back well before then. Do you have water?”

“Yep.” Jauntily, I shake my water bottle at him.

The corners of his full lips twitch. “Alright, let’s go.”

Pine Grove and the surrounding area are beautiful, and I haven’t explored anywhere near enough of it yet. The further we walk out of town, the more excited I am to change that—with a local no less. A hot local. When Austin led the way out of the B&B, pausing to hold the door open for me, I couldn’t help noticing that he wears the hell out of a pair of jeans.

I worried I would have trouble keeping up with Austin, but he’s shortened his stride considerably without me even having to ask, meaning I don’t have to speed walk to keep up with him. The sky isn’t the bright blue we’ve been graced with for the past few days, but there aren’t any dark clouds marring the light grey above, so it’s still acceptable weather for a hike. Well, from what Austin’s told me, it sounds like the circular route is more of a long walk, really. Just as well, since I don’t have the proper footwear for anything more arduous.

Cool, fresh air fills my lungs, and I already feel lighter as we make our way through town and out past the closest lake in comfortable silence. After about an hour, I’m surrounded by rolling green hills on all sides, and it feels amazing. I can’t remember the last time I saw this much green all in one place. The only sounds are distant birdsong and the quiet rustle ofleaves as tree branches dance in the gentle summer breeze. We keep walking, enjoying the peace and quiet, pausing to take occasional sips of water. A few couples and a lone hiker pass us, and we all exchange polite nods as we go.

The peaceful surroundings give my brain space to think about all the things I’ve been so determined to ignore. Miranda. My record label. Whether I want to record another album. If I should stay here or return to Nashville. I don’t want to think about any of that yet. I’m not ready.

Before I would have said there’s no way I want to record another album full of songs that I didn’t write, and that’s still the case, but performing at Bowman’s made me realise there might be another option. Liam’s right. I don’t owe my label anything now that I’ve fulfilled my contract with them. There’s nothing stopping me from recording an album of my original songs on my terms. Still, I’m not prepared to delve into what that would look like. There are too many other decisions to be made before I can come up with a solid plan, and I’m not ready to face what choosing myself for the first time in years will mean. Ending my relationship with my mother. Leaving behind my life—as unfulfilling as it is—in Nashville for good.

The jumble of thoughts becomes too much for me. Usually, I would put my headphones in and drown out all the noise with music I love, but I can’t do that with Austin walking right beside me. Unable to stand the racket of the thoughts clamouring for dominance inside my head for a moment longer, I resort to cracking a joke to end the silence between Austin and I. “Be honest, did you lure me out here so you could murder me where there’d be no witnesses?”

A bark of surprised laughter flies from between Austin’s lips. “I can’t say my intentions are entirely honourable, but my motives are more amorous than murderous.”

I stop dead in my tracks. Did he just make a jokeandhit on me using a word that must be worth at least nine points in a game of Scrabble? “I— What?”

“Come on, we’re about to reach the side of the loop that takes us back home.” He keeps walking, leaving me blinking at his back with my jaw hanging open. If my brain were a computer screen, there’d be a little swirling circle of doom on display as I try to work out what the hell just happened.

My body comes back online before my brain does, and I inelegantly stumble over my feet to catch up to Austin. I can’t believe he said that then strolled off like it was nothing. Surely that was flirting, right? Then again, if it was, why would he saunter off instead of waiting for me to form a proper reply.Oh. What if he took my surprise the wrong way? Of course he’d immediately change the subject if he thought he’d made me uncomfortable.