The Christmas Scarf(6)

“You’ve got that look that everyone gives me.” Shawn leaned back and rested his arm across Belinda’s shoulders. “The I-never-pictured-you-as-a-dad look.”

“No. I… I didn’t think that.”

Belinda laughed. “Sure you did. Everyone does. But Shawn is a great dad.”

“That’s because we have such a great kid.” Shawn pulled out his phone. “Want to see a picture?”

Missy didn’t want him to know she’d been watching him with his son today out on Main Street and already knew how adorable he was, so she nodded.

Shawn scrolled through the photos and showed them to her, one by one.

“He’s a cute kid,” Missy said.

Belinda waved at someone across the room. “Hey, there’s Jill. I’m going to pop over there and say hi.” She got up and walked away from the table.

“So. You’re back in town for the holidays.” Shawn fiddled with a coaster on the table.

“Yes.” Which was kind of true. No reason people had to know yet that she was planning on staying longer than that.

“Things going okay for you in Nashville?”

“Nashville is great.” That wasn’t a lie. Nashville was great. Just not for her. There was no way she was admitting to Shawn she’d come home in defeat. Not after seeing how he’d figured out his life like some kind of picture perfect photograph of the ideal family.

“Good, I’m glad things have worked out for you, too.” Shawn smiled and looked relieved. “So, we’re all good here? Nothing awkward? We can still be friends?”

“Of course we can.” What did he want her to say? But to be honest, she’d seen the way Shawn looked at Belinda, and he’d never looked at her in the same way. It was obvious the two of them were nuts about each other and their son.

Dylan walked up to the table and put her beer on the table. “I’ve got to go do another set. I’ll catch you afterwards?”

Missy nodded.

Belinda came back and perched on the chair next to Shawn, leaned over, and whispered something to him. Shawn smiled at her and squeezed her hand.

They did kind of look like the perfect couple.

Missy turned her attention to the stage in the corner. Dylan sang a couple country songs. She sat and watched him and the people in Frankie’s. Someone called out a request, and Dylan sang it. He stood up after the song and tapped the microphone.

“We have a special guest with us tonight at Frankie’s. How about we give our own country singer, Missy Sherwood, a round of applause and see if she’ll come up here and sing for us.”

Missy was pretty sure she was about to kill Dylan. She looked around for a way to exit quickly.

“Go, on, Missy. Go join Dylan.” Shawn nodded towards the stage.

Missy sighed and stood up. She put on her best performance smile and crossed over to the stage. Dylan handed her his guitar and she perched on the stool by the microphone. “How about you join me Dylan? We can sing our duet we did back in high school days.”

The crowd clapped enthusiastically. Dylan grabbed another stool and sat next to her. She started out strumming the intro and started in on her part of the song. Dylan joined in on the chorus. For a while she lost herself in the moment. A crowd out front. Singing the lead instead of some vague backup singer. Their voices wound together and finished up with the ending of the song.

The crowd clapped and she heard Shawn’s whistle from across the room.

“Thank you. Thank you. Now I think we’ll persuade Missy to sing us one of her songs she’s written. What do you say, Missy?”

She’d say she wanted to smack Dylan about right now, but another part of her was so darn glad to be able to perform one of her songs. She nodded and started a slow melody on the guitar. The words of the song drifted around her, lyrics about making choices in life and the roads a person takes. The crowd grew silent as she sang the song. Even the people playing pool across the room stood quietly and listened. Listened to the words she’d written for the haunting melody she’d created. She finished the song and Frankie’s patrons burst into applause.

The sound wrapped around her like a familiar, comfortable quilt. She’d missed the applause. The applause for her, not some other singer. She smiled at the crowd and let the feeling wash over her. The day had certainly turned out better than she expected. Tonight was just… wonderful.





CHAPTER THREE





“Wow, you sure haven’t lost your voice.” Shawn leaned across the table as Missy sat back down.

“That song was beautiful. You wrote it? You have such a talent. Both music and words.” Belinda smiled at her.