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“She sounds like an amazing woman,” I said. He looked at me, and it took him only a few seconds before I knew he saw something in my eyes that said we were kindred spirits.
“I’m sure whoever you lost was, too, honey. She’d beat my ass if I gave up, and I’m going to bet that whoever you lost would, too. Sometimes the first step in moving ahead is knowing that you have to. Then you slowly realize that the world keeps going, and you can keep growing as a person. We’ll meet them again someday.”
“We will,” I agreed. “Until then, we build a family however we see fit, and we find a reason to smile, right?”
Kat gave Walter’s arm a squeeze, and he turned one of his rare smiles toward her and nodded.
“Agreed, young lady. That’s exactly right.” He stood up and started walking away, letting out one last bark of an order. “Now, get these people a drink.”
“He’s always so bossy,” Kat said louder than necessary, just so he could hear her. I heard him grumble something but couldn’t make out the words, and she just laughed to herself as she took our order.
We didn’t linger at the coffee shop this time, and the moment I had chugged down my coffee, I looked at the others. “Riven and I have a little something to do. We’ll meet you back at Micah’s.”
They asked for details, but Riven wasn’t having it. He stood up, ignoring them all, and started walking out. I gave a quick wave before hurrying out after him.
He grumbled at me as I took his hand. “You’re relentless, you know that? And infuriating.”
“So are you,” I said.
He rolled his eyes before they locked on me again, and I felt that familiar heat spread through me. The one that did anytime he turned his full focus to me.
God, I wanted to give in, and I would soon, but right now this was about him.
I snapped my eyes away from his and hurried into the music store, staring him down until he followed me inside.
I’d never seen Riven light up the way he did when he stepped in and heard the first chords of somebody playing as they tested out a guitar. His mouth fell open as he stared around, eyes widening at all the choices.
As a kid, he probably had a hand-me-down. Some shitty guitar that his dad had found somewhere.
I wanted Riven to have one that was all his, to reclaim something that he really did care about at one time. One that didn’t have shitty memories attached to it.
“Can I help you folks find anything?” a salesman asked.
Riven shook his head, but I gave the man a smile. “Let us look around first, and we’ll come find you when we’re ready. We just want to browse right now.”
“Sure thing,” he agreed before moving on to another customer.
“I can’t let you do this.” Clearly Riven hadn’t accepted his fate yet. Silly alpha.
“And why not?” I demanded, putting a hand on my hip and staring him down. I watched him take a deep breath as he looked at me.
“As much as I love when you stand up to me and fight back with all that fire you’ve got hidden in there, this is too expensive.”
“Yeah, and I’m not worried about the damn cost. Let me do this for you.”
I could tell he didn’t want to, that it went against everything he stood for, but I wasn’t giving up.
“Trust me, give me this.” I was begging shamelessly, and I didn’t care.
“Fine,” he said as he stomped off. I bit back my cheer of triumph and followed after him.
I expected him to go toward the electric guitars and amps, but instead, he went for the acoustic guitars. At first, I was going to argue, thinking he was doing it because it was cheaper, but he was like a man on a mission.
As he stepped closer, his eyes honed in on a single one.
Riven was tall, but even he had to stand on his tiptoes to reach the guitar he wanted. I knew nothing about guitars, but it was beautiful.
It had a vintage feel to it, between the slightly faded teal and the deep-wood tones. The tags indicated that it was good for beginners and people who travel, and I felt like that would be perfect for Riven. He could take it outside for campfires or out to the cabin when we visited.
