Page 24 of Paint Our Song (Cloverlily #1)
E veryone moves to the tent for the reception, including the band, and Gil switches to the drums, which have been set up there. They play at the start of the party when the couple arrives, and then take a break.
Well, not really a break. The band gets off the stage, and Calvin heads for Miles, but then the band’s suddenly crowded by a bunch of guests. The twins are still streaming, pulling close to them and getting them on screen, and Chase’s eyes bug out when he sees the viewer count.
“Twelve thousand,” he mouths at Miles. Holy shit. Miles gets dizzy all over again.
The band plays several times during the program, such as the couple’s first dance, and then several songs when guests come out to the floor to dance. They’re covering popular songs from the list they were given, but then some of the guests quickly figure out that this is pretty much a private concert and convince them to play some of their own songs. Bridget and Jeff have no complaints.
Miles keeps an eye on them as he runs around all night, making sure the buffet’s stocked up, guiding guests around, and asking some kids to stay away from the lake since it’s already dark.
He wishes he could get a chance to actually thank the band, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen anytime soon with how they’re surrounded. Calvin looks exhausted. He wipes sweat off his forehead and his damp hair sticks to his neck. He’s taken off his suit jacket, resting it against a chair, and Miles groans because it’s unfair how good he looks.
At around ten p.m., Gil steps away and whispers something to the coordinator. She nods and soon enough Calvin says they’re going to play three more final songs. There are groans everywhere, and Miles almost joins them.
“Miles!” Bridget calls. He places the tray of glasses he was holding down on the table as she runs up to him. “Thank you so much. You and your friends saved the day. I don’t even know how I can repay you—it totally makes up for how crazy this day was.”
“I’m glad it went well,” he says, genuinely. He wonders if she notices how he takes a slight step back, still kind of traumatized by how she zeroed in on him earlier.
“I am so sorry I went off on you. I was so frustrated. You did great.” She wraps her arms around him tight, and he awkwardly pats her back.
“Miles,” calls a part-timer. The kid rushes up to him as soon as Bridget runs off, and he looks worried .
“Yes?” he says, glancing over his shoulder to watch as the band starts playing another song. Oh, nice. He loves this song.
“They need you at reception. There are too many calls, and there are too many requests coming from booking sites.”
“I—what?”
Confused, Miles glances one last time at the band. Calvin runs a hand through his hair, and damn, he does not want to go.
He forces himself to rush to the reception, where Gabby and one other receptionist are on the phones, clicking around on the two computers they have. There’s another staff member there as well, scrolling through one of the inn’s laptops, looking like he might faint.
“It’s the live stream,” Gabby says when she puts the phone down. It starts ringing immediately. “It went viral and we’re getting too many requests—from all over the place. Oh my god.”
Miles stares. He circles around the counter and catches a glimpse of the long list of requests on the computers. They’re asking for confirmations, but then Gabby’s also taking calls and entering them into the system.
“This is good,” Gabby says. The phone’s still ringing. “This is really, really good… and insane.”
He gently nudges her out of the way and puts a hand on the phone. “Sort out the website requests; I’ll take this call. Hi, Hannah’s Inn.”
“Hello!” answers an excited, high-pitched voice on the other line. Gabby takes over the laptop, hunched over and her eyebrows knit, and Miles takes one of the desktop computers. “I’d like to book a room for this weekend, right away.”
“Would be glad to help you,” he says. He’s got his eyes on the door leading out to the lake, wondering if the band’s on their way back. “You can also book on Agoda. We’ve got a promo on online transactions—”
“No, thank you,” the woman says hurriedly. “This is faster. I want to confirm my booking as soon as I can, before everyone else does.”
“Okay. Can I get your name, how many guests, and how many nights?” He takes her information, inputs the dates on the computer, and he gets a wall of red text in return. No more room on these days, it says. “Apologies. We’re fully booked next weekend.”
“Oh, damn. When’s the earliest we can get a room?”
Miles books her a date three weeks from now. He wonders if he should tell her that the band won’t be around by then, but that’s not information he can give out, anyway. When he puts the phone down, it rings again—immediately. He takes call after call, and this is actually happening. The band may have saved the inn.
Miles is so focused on taking the calls that he almost doesn’t notice the band walking into the lobby, a small crowd following them.
Gil turns to the small group, says a few words with a gentle smile, and they nod, albeit disappointedly. He’s probably told them that they’re going to turn in for the night now. That doesn’t stop a couple of them from getting some last shots of their back.
He watches as Calvin approaches, his tie loose around his neck. Calvin tugs at it some more, taking a deep breath. “Busy?” Calvin mouths .
Frowning, Miles nods. He’s got a phone pressed to his ear and is listening to a lady try to figure out when she can take a holiday. Miles wants to put it down and leave with Calvin, but he can’t do that.
Calvin glances around the reception, sees everyone on the phone and their computer, and understands what’s going on.
Muting the call, Miles leans over the counter and says, “I can’t thank you enough.”
“It’s nothing.” The clear exhaustion on him says it’s not nothing. Calvin stretches his neck and yawns. Behind him, Chase and Gil head toward the elevator, nodding at Miles when they catch his eye. “I’m heading to my room.”
“Okay,” Miles says. He’s about to say more when the woman finally settles on some dates and he’s forced to pay attention again. Unmuting the call, he says, “Let me check that for you.”
Calvin smiles at him, all soft and slow, and Miles uses all the willpower in the universe not to reach over the counter and kiss him right there.
It’s almost eleven p.m. when Gabby says she’s starving and asks someone to bring them sandwiches, and they have a working dinner. Matthew and Megan pass by the reception on their way out, and Megan gushes about how unbelievable that stream was. She jokes about getting the twin’s number, maybe offering them a partnership.
“There are clips circulating everywhere!” Megan grins wide. “They even did a story time post on TikTok, summarizing the night, talking about how Cloverlily stepped up and played at a wedding for free… It already has a hundred thousand views in the last hour. Geez. They’re going to run me out of a job.”
A hundred thousand views? Miles’s jaw drops.
“You did great,” he tells her. Miles turns to Matthew. His stare drifts down to his hand, where there really is a ring. Why the hell he didn’t notice that before is beyond him. “Thanks, Matt.”
“No problem.” He puts a hand on Megan’s back, nudging her toward the door. “Let’s go, Meg.”
“We’re fully booked for two months,” Gabby says, stunned. The phone rings again, and she ignores it for now as she takes another bite of her sandwich. There are bread crumbs on her chin, but before Miles can say anything about it, she wipes it away with the back of her hand. “Holy shit?”
“Holy shit, indeed.” His mind’s not here. It’s all on Calvin. He needs the calls to stop so that he can head up to Calvin’s room before he passes out for the night—he probably already is. “Do you mind if I leave? I want to thank Calvin.”
“Only Calvin? What about his friends?”
Miles gives her a look.
She grins. “Go ahead. I’ve got this.”
“Thanks. You should be the general manager with all you do.”
“Keep saying that.”
“I mean it,” he says. “I’m going to get it sorted out, get you that position, as if it shouldn’t have been yours years ago. Mom agrees. This place would fall apart without you.”
“Hey!” Gabby protests when he presses a huge kiss on top of her head.
“I need to thank Calvin.” Gil and Chase, too, but not at this hour .
“That’s okay. The calls have slowed down and I can handle it.” She winks. “Go thank him.”
Before heading to Calvin’s room, Miles figures he should check up on Mom first. He finds her in the outside tent, keeping a close eye on the clean-up. The chairs have been stacked up, the band equipment has been put away, and the crew’s cleaning up the tables and the buffet line.
Mom lights up when she sees him, and puts a hand on his cheek.
“I heard we’re booked for two months out,” she says, smiling. “And that the calls are coming in. You did a good job.”
“I didn’t do much.”
“You did.” Mom tuts and shakes her head, rolling her eyes.
“This is good,” he says, stating the alarmingly obvious but wanting to emphasize it, anyway. “You can finally take a holiday.”
“Slow down, honey. We need to make sure it stays this way first.” The corner of her eyes crinkle and she chuckles. “Will I see you back in the house?”
Oh. Uh. Miles blushes—no, he doesn’t think so, if he has a choice.
“Staying in Calvin’s room again, I see?” she asks with a twinkle in her eye.
“Please don’t tease me like that,” he says, mortified. “How do you even know about that?”
“Miles, I’m your mother. What kind of ridiculous question is that? Why are you even so embarrassed? You’re young, and Calvin’s a great guy, and you’re clearly very into him. Just remember to make good choices—”
His face flames. “No, nooo, please stop.”
She pats him on the arm, smiling.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he says.
“Yes,” she says. “You did good. I’m proud of you, and I’m sure your dad is, too.”
That makes him beam. “Okay, but seriously… If these bookings keep up, you can take a step back from the inn and travel like you wanted to. Gabby will be here to take care of everything.”
“She does deserve the general manager position, like you said.”
He nods, glad that she’s never disagreed with him when it came to that.
Mom fiddles with the pendant Dad gave her, and she looks toward the lake with a forlorn expression. “I’ll be able to visit all the places your Dad and I talked about, once everything’s sorted out.”
“Oh… is that why you wanted to travel?” Why has he never asked this before?
“Yes. We’ve always had places we wanted to see, but he was taken from us too early.”
Miles’s chest hurts suddenly, and he rubs his sternum, frowning. When Mom looks back at him, he drops his hand and plasters on a smile. “I’ll make that happen, Ma.”
“I’ve no doubt,” she grins, ruffling his hair.