The Rocker's Muse

“Tristan is in between music stuff and staying in town for a little while to learn more about Jacob. He’s renting a house here with two of his bandmates.”

“What does that have to do with you being in his car?”

I shrugged, hoping to diffuse the situation. “He wanted to talk to me. He asked me to be his tour guide, help him learn about Jacob, since I was the person who knew him best.”

“I don’t know how I feel about that.” He placed his hands at his hips. “You sure he doesn’t have an ulterior motive?”

My face felt hot. “Like what?”

“Don’t be naïve, Emily.”

“You think he’d be making a play for his son’s ex-girlfriend?” Not knowingly, at least. I laughed nervously. “It’s not like that. Plus, he has a girlfriend.”

Ethan’s expression relaxed. “Okay. Sorry for overreacting.” He sighed. “I just wasn’t expecting this and didn’t know what to think when they told me you left with him.”

“I don’t blame you one bit. If I’d known you were coming to the restaurant, I would’ve texted so you weren’t concerned.”

“Anyway…” He leaned in to kiss me on the cheek. “I missed you today. When I went by your mom’s, she said you hadn’t come home from work yet, which is why I stopped by to catch you here.”

“I missed you, too,” I said, praying he wouldn’t continue to be suspicious, even if based on my reaction to Tristan today, he had every reason to be.

CHAPTER 27

EMILY

“I’ll have the banana waffles.” I put my menu down and slid it over to the edge of the table. “And he’ll have a special order of waffles with pickles and bacon. And could you drizzle some mustard on top? I know that’s a strange request, but if Chef Carl is still here, he’ll know. He calls it the Jacob Special.”

“Okee-dokee.” The server smiled. “Carl is on today. Coming right up.” The older woman didn’t seem to recognize Tristan, which was a nice break from the norm.

Tristan’s mouth hung open. “Are you serious? My tongue feels tangy even thinking about that. And not in a good way.”

His tongue. The thoughts that elicited… “You said you wanted what Jacob would’ve had. That’s what he ordered when he came here.”

“Wow. Okay. Then that’s what I have to get.” Tristan looked around. “I guess I can see why he liked this place. It’s old school.”

Sparky’s was a Shady Hills staple. It was warm and inviting with décor that combined vintage memorabilia and local artwork. There were mismatched, vibrantly colored upholstered chairs at each of the distressed wooden tables. Regular patrons occupied the counter.

Tristan and I sat across from each other at one of the tables. I’d been nervous to see him, but now that he was in front of me, it almost felt like old times. He had a way of making me comfortable even when I should’ve been nervous.

As he looked me over, I felt the room fading away.

“You look beautiful, Emily.”

“Thank you.” I cast my eyes down, feeling oddly shy. “You look good, too.”

His gaze fell to my lips, causing my nipples to stiffen.

I cleared my throat. “You said you read all of Jacob’s journals?”

“I did.” He nodded. “Not right away. I hung on to them for months after you gave them to me. Toward the end of the tour, when I saw a light at the end of the tunnel and was confident I’d be able to finish my obligations without risking a nervous breakdown, I couldn’t hold off anymore. I was blown away by a lot—namely that he wrote music. That twisted me up the most.”

“Yeah. You have no idea how many times I’ve thought of that.”

“It was clear how much he cared about you, too.”

Jacob had written about how difficult our breakup was but that he knew we’d be in each other’s lives forever. That had touched me. Jacob had just started dating a girl from his college in the months before he passed. He’d told me about her during one of our last phone calls. I remember feeling relieved because it had lessened my guilt about the end of our romantic relationship. But that’s all I knew about her, because the date on his last journal entry was before he’d met her. Not sure why he’d stopped writing.

“What did you think of what he wrote about you?” I asked.