Page 24 of Love Songs (Harmony Lake #3)

The more I thought about teaching, the more the idea appealed. I certainly had more than enough lived experience for the job.

“Just never thought about that before,” Kirk trailed off with a shrug.

“And . . . I might’ve bought a house.”

“What do you mean, you might’ve bought a house?” Kirk leaned forward. His dark hair fell back into his eyes, and he tucked it behind his ear. “Where?”

I couldn’t help the grin that tugged at my lips. “I put in an offer on a house I saw when I was staying in Caldwell Crossing.”

“Wow.” Kirk sat back, staring at me like I was some new and strange attraction to marvel over.

Then he chuckled, a low, hearty sound, and shook his head.

“You just lit up like a Christmas tree. Like when we had our first sold out concert, and when we got our first platinum album. When you met Jaylin for the first time.”

“Everything about it feels right,” I said, and it did. I’d never felt so certain of anything before now.

Kirk sat quiet in thought for a moment, then he raised his eyebrows and grimaced.

“But that town was so small,” he said in a hushed voice laced with disbelief. “And quiet.”

Unexpected laughter burst from my lungs at the look of horror on his face.

“Spend a week there and you’ll fall in love with it,” I said when I could catch my breath.

“There’s a soul to the town that breathes life and joy.

The people are quirky and endearing and feel like they’ve always been friends.

They seem to know me more as the guy who set the stage on fire on Founders Day, or the guy who won the fire lieutenant in the bachelor auction for an outrageous amount of money and not as the lead singer for the Dallas Blade Band.

” I chuffed under my breath. I had a feeling they would never let me live either of those things down.

“And it will be the perfect place for Jaylin to grow up.”

He stared at me skeptically, then his eyes softened, and the corners of his mouth curled up.

“And might a certain firefighter have something to do with it, too?”

My phone rang, and I held up my finger as I dug it out of my back pocket to avoid answering. Nolan Kaslo’s name flashed on the screen, the realtor from Caldwell Crossing.

“Hold that thought.” I stood up, and a bubble of elation rose in my chest. “I have to take this. Nolan,” I said by way of greeting as I made my way to the kitchen. “What’s the news?”

“Congratulations, Dallas,” Nolan said brightly. “You are now the official proud owner of a fully dilapidated home on Harmony Lake.”

There was humor in his voice, prompting laughter from me.

“ Yes .” I pumped my fist, my body buzzing like a busy beehive. “This is the best news I’ve had all week.”

Holy crap . I was a homeowner. Sure, the house needed a massive amount of work, but it was going to be amazing when it was finished.

Nolan chuckled before getting down to business. “You’ll need to come to town and sign the final paperwork with the lawyer, then pick up your keys. When do you think you can get here?”

My mind whirred with excitement. I wanted to shout now , but it was late Wednesday already, and I wanted to take Jaylin with me. “This weekend.”

“Good, good,” Nolan said. A horn honked in the background, and I pictured Conor in his station wear, walking down the sidewalk to Harmony Chocolates for his truffles fix. “Be here before the lawyer’s office closes on Friday to get the paperwork done.”

“Will do,” I said, my pulse racing. “I’ll call you back with my schedule.”

Holy . Shit .

I felt weightless as I walked back into the living room, like I was floating on air, and my cheeks were aching from a massive smile I couldn’t contain.

Kirk raised an eyebrow, a grin tugging at his lips. “Good news, I take it?”

I nodded so fast I probably looked like a bobblehead doll. “I have officially bought a house.”

“Congratulations, Dall,” he said, but his smile didn’t reach his eyes.

I didn’t know what to say, so I pulled him into a hug. Our lives were about to change in a big way, and while I was looking forward to mine, I knew Kirk was unprepared for the changes to his and felt like he’d been cut adrift.

“I’m sorry,” I mumbled into his shoulder.

“Hey, no.” He extracted himself from my embrace and took a step back, his watery gaze beseeching and his smile shaky. “Don’t you dare apologize for going after what you want and what’s right for you.”

“You know this isn’t going to change our relationship, right?” I said, my voice thick.

“ Please .” He rolled his eyes. “Like you’re ever going to get rid of me.”

We both laughed and while not with our usual heartiness on his part, some of the weight of the moment slipped from my shoulders.

“Anyway.” Kirk shrugged, his jacket squeaking from the movement. “I knew this was coming the day you got that phone call about Jaylin.”

“I guess,” I said.

“Bro.” Kirk put his hand on my shoulder and gave a little shake. “We’re good. We’ll always be good.”

Kirk left a few minutes later, after scheduling a time to sit down with management and the label to officially dissolve the band.

The second the door closed behind him, I grabbed my phone.

My insides felt like they were vibrating, and adrenaline pulsed through my veins.

I couldn’t wait a second longer to share the news with Jaylin and Conor.

Whoa . Conor ?

I dropped onto the couch with the phone clutched in my hand and a fluttery feeling in my belly.

Absolutely, I wanted to see Conor again when I went back to Caldwell Crossing, see where we might go, but that he was at the top of my share-all-the-good-news-with-first person, right there beside Jaylin, threw me for a loop.

Was it even possible to grow that attached to someone in so short a time?

Why was I even asking that question when I had a real-life example in Kirk’s parents who’d done just that?

The moment I’d seen Conor inspecting the pyro set at our Founders Day show, I’d been drawn to him.

Even after he’d ripped into me for setting the stage on fire, he’d been hot.

As hot as the flames that had licked up the backdrop curtain.

Then he’d shown me his caring side, his funny side .

. . his loving side. I wanted to know every side of Conor Holliston.

I thumbed through my contact list to Conor’s name and tapped on it. The call connected and my anticipation rose with every ring—until I got voicemail instead of him and the bubble popped.

I disconnected before leaving a message, swapping from my phone to the text app.

Me: I’ll be in town for May long weekend. Want to meet up ?

I held my breath, staring at my screen for what felt like hours, waiting for those three little bouncing dots to show because Conor was writing a reply, but they never appeared.

“It’s okay,” I told myself.

I stood and started pacing. He was at work, maybe out on an incident, and couldn’t answer yet. I didn’t even know if he could have his phone with him while on the job. Pretty sure texting while firefighting was cause for dismissal.

A glance at the clock told me it was too early to call Jaylin—she was still in school—so I distracted myself by starting the ball rolling to end the Dallas Blade Band.

It wasn’t until after nine when my phone rang, and Conor’s name flashed on the screen, that I realized he’d never texted me back.

“Hey, Conor,” I answered before my phone could ring a second time, not caring how eager that made me look.

“Hey, Dallas,” he replied, setting off a fluttering kaleidoscope of butterflies in my stomach. “I’m happy you called.”

Shit, I’d missed the sound of his voice. I knew then and there that I needed him in my life, and I was going to do everything I could to make that happen. So long as he felt the same.

“You sound tired,” I said, hoping he hadn’t been out on a call like the apartment fire when I’d been in town, where people had died and a firefighter injured.

“Long day at the office,” he joked, though even his humor carried a weariness to it. “We had to rescue a horse stuck in a tree.”

“Uhm . . . What?”

How did that even make sense?

He chuckled, deep and throaty, and the sound curled around me like a warm blanket. The only thing that would have made it better was if he were here in person and his muscular arms were the blanket wrapped around me.

“Did you know horses think they’re only as big as their heads?” he said and grunted.

Rustling sounds in the background echoed down the line and I pictured him at home, stretching out on a couch. Or maybe he’d stripped down to nothing and had crawled into bed. He’d be sitting up and leaning against the headboard, his chest bare and glowing like gold in the low lamplight.

“I didn’t know that,” I said, distracted by the mental images of a naked Conor in bed playing in my mind.

“Yeah. Couldn’t tell you if that’s true or not, but anyway,” Conor began, his voice gaining steam as he spoke. “We show up to find this massive horse. Like a Clydesdale or something. One of those big draft horses that pull the Budweiser beer wagons, you know?”

“Yep, a Clydesdale.”

“Yeah.” I could hear the smile in Conor’s voice as he continued.

“He was apparently scratching his neck on a tree trunk, only the trunk he’d found was growing off in two directions like a Y.

Turns out he was smart enough to figure out he could scratch both sides at the same time if he lowered his head, but not smart enough to realize he could get stuck. ”

“So, he got stuck,” I said with a snicker, knowing where this was going.

“Stuck real good,” Conor said, his voice so earnest I could picture the serious expression on his face and the glint in his eyes as he retold the tale.

“How did you get him out?” I asked, fully invested in the story now.

“Finally had to cut one of the branches off,” Conor said like it was no big deal.

“That damn horse stood there calm as could be while we took a chainsaw to the tree. Then stepped back and right onto Jackson’s foot.

Rookie’s got a bruise as black as night over half his foot now.

So, while Jackson is hopping around howling like a wounded cat, this big ole horse walks right back up to that tree and starts scratching his neck again. ”

Conor started laughing. The sound unguarded and free and infectious. I couldn’t help but join in with a full belly laugh that might very well have been the freest sound to come from my lungs in a long while.

“No,” I gasped while catching my breath as our laughter died down.

“True story,” he said with conviction.

“Your job is full of adventure,” I marveled.

“It’s never the same twice,” he said and yawned so loud that I once again followed his lead with my own jaw-cracking yawn.

“I should let you get some sleep then,” I said reluctantly.

“Wait,” he said, suddenly sounding more awake. “What did you call for?”

“Oh. I, uh . . . Wanted to let you know that I’ll be coming to town this weekend and I was hoping we could get together.” I quickly added, “I’ll have Jaylin with me, too.”

There was a long pause, and I swear my heart stopped. Had I been imagining that he might feel the same as me? Or was it because I’d mentioned my daughter?

“I would love that,” he said, his honeyed voice low and soft.

I exhaled long and slow.

“Great,” I said, as my heart resumed its normal rhythm. “We’re staying at the Lakeside Inn again. I’ll text you when we get in.”

“See you, Dallas,” Conor said.

“See you, Conor.”

I dropped back in my chair with a satisfied sigh, and the conviction that I was on the right path.

Friday couldn’t come fast enough.