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To her great relief, all of the kids stood and surged toward her, and she went with the fourteen of them back down the hall to the dining room. They found a spot against the tables that would be put out for the dinner buffet—and not a moment too soon.
Kyle had been put back on his own feet, and someone had found a guitar lickety split. He laughed as he tuned the instrument, and she wasn’t sure how he heard the notes at all. Blake told him to stand up on the table, and Kyle did what he said.
Maddy thought it was a very good thing the ceiling in this part of the lodge rose for two stories, or the tall cowboy would be brushing his head against the plaster. As it was, he looked like a giant—someone who couldn’t be roped, tamed, or otherwise sedated—as he began to pluck chords.
She’d never heard Kyle play the guitar. He’d told her he did, and of course, she’d watched few videos of his opening for That Little Texas Band online. Standing in his presence, though, while he moved easily through notes, from string to string, was a completely different experience.
The crowd went quiet, as if they too could feel the reverence that had come with Kyle’s talent. She barely dared to breathe fully, lest that be too loud and she missed something coming from Kyle or his guitar.
He smiled out at everyone, and she knew in that moment that he possessed the charm and charisma needed to calm rowdy crowds, crying babies, and nervous mothers. He was completely in control, and he looked down at his hands and played through one more stanza before he lifted his head and opened his mouth.
Maddy could only stare at the gorgeous man with the gorgeous voice.
“I thought a ride was worth more
Than the home we’d built together.
The call of the rodeo sounds loudly in a cowboy’s ears.”
Everything he did was rimmed in pure gold. Effortless. Like he’d been born with a guitar in his hands and that song in his heart.
“I’m alone here in Tulsa, with a bottle and a belt,
And there’s miles ahead of me before I’ll know for sure
If this life is what I wanted, or if I can beg God
To take me back to her.”
Maddy folded her arms, the air conditioning in the lodge suddenly too chilly. If she’d known Kyle could sing so well and play so perfectly, she’d have known he’d leave her here in Texas to tour the world.
The videos weren’t anything like hearing him in person. She’d known he wasgood; she hadn’t known he wasphenomenal.
He smiled, almost to himself, and played. He finished the song, the last note hanging in the silence as everyone absorbed it into their souls. Or maybe that was just Maddy. No matter what, it sure felt like time had stopped for that moment, and then catcalls, yells, yeehaws, and whistles filled the air.
She clapped as loudly as she could, unable to whistle without a little piece of metal in her mouth. If she had that, she could clear the playground in seconds. Everything in her life felt so insignificant to her in that moment, compared to how powerful and electric Kyle Stewart was.
Not only that, but he’d definitely be leaving Chestnut Springs and Texas in his rear-view mirror, which left her wondering why she should continue a relationship with him.
Parents started picking up their kids, and Maddy made sure everyone had an adult with them before she slipped out of the lingering crowd and back to her art studio. She didn’t want to think of it as a classroom, and “art studio” sounded more quaint.
She cleaned up the projects that hadn’t been taken and started gathering the pencils that had been left out. She’d just finished cleaning pu the room when Kyle said, “Mads.”
Oh, he really couldn’t say her name like that. He definitely shouldn’t enter the room and close the door behind him. Come toward her in that slow, cowboy gait that gave her time to attempt to build a wall around her heart.
He did all of that, and then easily took her into his arms. “So,” he whispered. “What did you think?”
“I think whoever didn’t sign you years ago was deaf,” she said.
He chuckled, his lips landing close to her ear. Almost on her hearing aids. “You’re not deaf.”
“Legally, I am,” she said. She pulled away from him and searched his face. “You are amazing. I’ve never heard a song so perfect.” She smiled at him, employing every ounce of bravery she possessed. She cradled his face in one hand. “Just…amazing.”
“Thank you,” he murmured. “I don’t know all the details yet. Jolene’s going to send me the contract, and I’ll have a friend look at it for me. Then I’m going to Nashville to work through some things. Probably the set list, or how many new songs they want.” He brushed her hair back off her face. “I won’t be gone long.”
“No?” She didn’t want to make things harder for him, but she wanted him to know she missed him already. Which was foolish. She shouldn’t allow herself to become so attached to this man, for he wasn’t rooted here in Texas.
“No.” he smiled. “Less than a week. I told you, most of the work is down outside the studio.”
