Page 68 of Doc Rock
“Can I?”
Mai hesitated for a moment, her mind racing through the lyrics she had been jotting down since Midnight Thunder came to town. Her writing had taken a turn to the wistful, thinking about loss and love, but he would have no idea the change in tone corresponded to his arrival.
“Sure.”She hesitantly handed it over.
“You stole my colour.”He examined the front before he opened it.
Mai couldn’t help the grin that crossed her face.“I did.”
She went to the shops one day to buy another black notebook, thensawa pink one—the same as Ford used—and she couldn’t stop her hand from closing around it.
“Have you written the whole time?”Ford asked as he turned to the first page.
“Yeah.”Mai nodded her head.“Not much for a long time, I was too busy. My focus was wholly on medicine, exams and training. But in the last couple of years, I’ve written a lot.”
Some of the things she wrote were only snippets of lyrics that would need a lot of work to transform into songs, a process that used to be so easy with Ford. Buttherewere also so many fully formed songs that just needed the right singer or band to bring them to life.
Ford’s eyebrows drew together as he flipped through the book until he stopped on a page, and his lips moved as he read the lyrics to himself.
Mai shuffled from foot to foot.Why was she nervous?It didn’t matter to her what he thought.
Even as she said that to herself, sheknewit wasa lie.It mattered to her.
“Play this one for me.”He tapped on the page, then passed the book back and reached down, snatching hold of her hand and tugging her toward the door.“My acoustic guitars are in the house. I need tohearthis song.”
Mai didn’t evennoticethe other four people in the shed. Her whole world had narrowed down to Ford and the hand holding hers.It wassomething they had done a million times, and then one day,it wasthe last time she held his hand, before she walked away.
In the years that went by, she never once let herself imagine that she would be standing with him again, let alone touching him.
When he tugged on her hand, she allowed him to lead her, and by the time they reached the front steps of the house, their fingers were entwined.
Chapter 26
Ford
As Ford held Sie’s hand, hefelthis future cement. This was where he was going to be. Wherever she was.
He needed to tell her what he wanted. He needed to tell her that while he would never understand why she left, hecouldforgive herif she was willing tomove forward with him.
If he were honest with himself, maybe her walking away without telling him was the only thing shecouldhave done. He would have gone with her, and then resented her for all the might-have-beens. Always wondering what hecouldhave achieved with Midnight Thunder.
He squeezed her hand and towed her into the living room.
When they stood in front of his guitars, he grumbled. He needed to let her go and give her one of the array of guitars. He trailed his fingers over her palm as he released his grip and grinned when sheshivered.
Turning to her, Ford’s head dipped toward her, his eyes searching hers, which were locked on him—just as Scotty exclaimed loudly from behind them.
“I’m having a beer and lunch while I listen to Sie. I’m starving.”Scotty strolled into the room with Donnie and Joel in his wake.
"The photographer’s gone,"Donnie said. He went straight to the fridge and started to pull the food out that he’d loaded inthereon his arrival.
Ford stepped away from Sie, his voice quiet.“Play for me.”
Sie’s wide eyes stared up at him, and she blinked. He frowned when henoticedthey were watery.
Shit, how had he made her cry?
“I need to take these stupid contacts out first. I think my eyes are on fire. Where’s the bathroom?”Sie demanded.
