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Skylar ended a song and waited for the applause to die down before smiling out at the crowd.

“You all are awesome,” she laughed as she soaked up another round of applause. No matter how many times she’s performed for an audience, Skylar would always bask in the feeling of people loving her art. “How about we do something new tonight?”

Skylar had been tossing an idea back and forth in her mind all night. It wasn’t uncommon for her to throw in a Maine Event song into a set list. The audience always loved it, and it gave Skylar a chance to plug the fact her record store had signed copies of albums if anyone was interested.

And tonight, a special guest might actually help boost the record store’s sales.

“As you all know, I was once a part of Maine Event.” Another round of applause, another glance at Elena across the room. “So, I’m assuming you all might like to hear a song from our hit album, Moonlight, right?”

Skylar strummed a few chords on her guitar as she watched Elena sink into her seat a little more. But there was no way she was getting out of it. If Elena could just show up out of the blue in the Cove, then she could sing a song with Skylar.

“And judging by your enthusiasm, I’d bet you’d really love it if Elena Cruz were here to sing with me.”

The crowd’s cheering and clapping intensified to a level Skylar hadn’t heard in years. She watched as nearly everyone in the bar looked around to see where Elena was. But Skylar knew exactly where she was. Elena was staring right at her with daggers in her eyes.

“Elena, why don’t you come on up here and sing a song with me?”

Oh, she’s pissed. Skylar tried to keep herself from enjoying the fact she’d embarrassed the glorious Elena Cruz.

She watched as Elena sulked out of the bench seat and transformed into her onstage persona. Casual Elena was different from Stage Elena, and the latter would have never been caught dead in a hoodie and jeans. It made it that much better for Skylar, even if she knew that made her a bitch. She was still pissed that Elena had shown up in the Cove unannounced.

“What are you doing?” Elena hissed through a poised smile. She waved around the room, seemingly enjoying the attention.

“We better make sure we can still sing together before a tour.”

Elena snapped her head toward Skylar. “Are you being serious?”

“As a heartbreak.”

Skylar didn’t have to explain her response. The look on Elena’s face told her she knew exactly what song they were about to sing. Motioning a microphone behind her, Skylar watched Elena take it and turn it on.

“This is a song called ‘Heartbreak’.”

Elena smiled—the legitimately sexy smile—and Skylar started playing the song. Even after years apart, their voices still sounded amazing together. As Elena belted out the bridge about how she wished she had a roadmap to deal with the heartbreak, Skylar felt chills all over her body.

Dammit.

Skylar wanted to do this every night again. She wanted to share the stage with Elena again.

But could she handle that? Could she deal with being mere feet away from Elena as they sang the songs they wrote for or about each other? Skylar honestly didn’t know. A part of her still loved Elena; part of her always would.

Skylar just had to figure out if she could handle keeping her feelings bottled up for the tour.

If she agreed to do it, that is.

Oh, hell. Who am I kidding? There’s no way I’m saying no to Elena.

“What do you say? Do you want more?”

Elena was playing in the audience now, which had legit turned into a crowd. People had left their seats in the restaurant for a chance to get closer to Elena. Skylar wasn’t naive enough to think her hometown had suddenly gained more interest in her career. She knew they were there for Elena.

“Let’s do ‘Moonglow’,” Elena whispered, and Skylar nodded. Skylar tried not to overthink why Elena chose that song. They’d written the song for the first album while on the deck of Skylar’s back porch looking up at the stars. Elena’s voice was just as beautiful singing the song now as it was over a decade ago, singing it for the first time.

Kissing in the moonglow

Feels like we’re the only ones who know

The magic that surrounds us now