“No problem!” Zelda swiped his credit card before handing it back. “You should stick around. Our open mic night starts in a few minutes.”
“Anyone can sing, right?” he asked.
“Anyone who wants to, right boss?” Zelda shot a look at Veronica, who had to step away from her espresso shield to meet the demands of his soft but intense look.
“Yes, that’s right. Anyone can play. You just sign up over there by the stool.”
As he turned to leave, the man’s lips curved in a playful smile that made her heart flutter. The sensation was so unexpected she actually forgot to breathe. When she finally remembered, she gasped.
“You okay?” Zelda whispered.
Veronica pressed her palms on the counter. “Yeah…”
But she wasn’t. It had been six years since she felt like this. Six years since she’d last felt that zing of attraction. She wasn’t used to it, even more so because it was for a man she would likely never see again.
“Zelda, get the open mic night started. I’ll handle the counter.”
Zelda practically bounced with energy as she rushed around the counter toward the fireplace where the stool sat empty next to a well-loved guitar.
She grinned at the audience as she picked up the mic. “Welcome to our weekly open mic night.” Her green eyes twinkled as she fully embraced the spotlight. “Who’s ready to become the next internet signing sensation? Just kidding, but seriously, if anyone gets famous after singing here, you better mention the Chi-Bean!” The audience laughed and she laid out the rules for the night.
Veronica was only too happy to hide behind her counter and listen to whatever music came from the patrons tonight. Music had saved her, offering a light in a world that had dimmed so much she feared it would never be bright again. And whenever she filled the space she worked in with those melodies, it reminded her of how much she’d survived and how lucky she was.
Over the next half hour, she listened with a smile and refilled orders from returning customers.
“Hey boss, we need more venti cups,” Zelda called out as she rang up another order.
“I’ll get them.” Veronica opened the door to the storeroom and dug through a large cardboard box until she found a sheath of the right sized cups.
The coffee shop grew quiet as the performers changed, then a deep voice came over the microphone.
“I’m Thad, and I’m going to sing ‘You Are the Reason’ by Calum Scott.” There was a moment of silence before a soothing, yet haunting, guitar melody began to play and the man started to sing.
Veronica froze. Her skin tingled with goosebumps as she listened to his words. He sang of his heart beating and losing sleep over the woman of his dreams. It was a song sung to lull a woman into a sweet hazy spell of heartache and a breathless joy all at once. Pain filled his voice as he sang about being broken and needing to fix it, if only he could turn back the clock.
But it was the line about making sure the light defeated the dark and how he would spend every hour making sure the woman he loved was safe that broke Veronica. T
he song dug into her soul, dragging her back four years to that night her life changed forever…
The flashing blue and white lights outside her window. Opening the door to a pair of officers and rain-drenched slickers. They exchanged a glance and removed their caps as they stepped onto her porch. She didn’t remember the exact words they said. It all became noise to her.
“Very sorry… There was an accident… The storm…”
She remembered the way her porch light lit up the rain just behind the officers, and she remembered the small fluttering kicks in her womb as her unborn child seemed to understand what the police were telling her.
“We’re so sorry…”More noise.
That was the day the darkness consumed her world. Only Lyra’s birth a month later brought the light back, but the shadows still lingered at the edges of her heart. How could a stranger’s haunting voice and song do this to her?
Veronica struggled to breathe while the words washed over her like the ocean battering a wild, rocky shore. It was somehow less painful to embrace the tidal wave of emotions rather than try to hold them off.
She wasn’t sure at what point she started crying, but she felt the tears roll down her cheeks, dripping off her chin and wetting the baby blue apron she wore. She sniffed and scrambled around the storeroom until she found a box of tissues and wiped her face. The man’s voice died away, and the last bit of the guitar’s notes hummed in the air. There was a heavy silence for a moment before the coffee shop erupted into applause.
“Thank you,” the man murmured. He sounded almost embarrassed.
Veronica stayed where she was in the storeroom until the next song began. After an extra moment, she emerged and handed Zelda the sheath of cups.
“Hey, Ronnie, are you okay?” Zelda asked she got a better look at her face.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” They both knew it was a lie, but Zelda was nice enough not to pry.
Veronica glanced around the room at the customers. “Who sang that Calum Scott song?”
Zelda grinned. “The Chris Hemsworth look-alike. His voice was everything, wasn’t it?” she sighed dreamily.
“Yeah.” Veronica looked for him, but the mysterious stranger was gone. Yet his words and the sound of his voice lingered in her mind long after she and Zelda closed down the shop.
She saw her employee safely out, then climbed the stairs to the residential floors of the brownstone and unlocked her apartment door.
“Mommy!” a little voice trilled. Veronica groaned as she caught the four-year-old bundle of energy as she barreled into her arms. If it wasn’t for Lyra, Veronica wouldn’t have been able to rebuild her life into what it was now.
“You should be in bed, honey.” She frowned at Lyra. Her blonde curls bounced, and her soft blue eyes were full of mischief. In those moments, Lyra looked so much like her father, especially her blond hair.
“Sorry, Mrs. Hannigan,” the babysitter said as she stepped into the hall. Katie was her next-door neighbor’s daughter who helped Veronica watch over Lyra on evenings when Veronica had only Zelda working downstairs. Veronica had two other part-time employees during the week, but on nights like this, Katie was a godsend in the form of a sixteen-year-old girl.
“It’s fine, Katie. I know she’s a handful sometimes.”
Katie laughed as Lyra spun around in her Princess Elsa costume. Lyra was at that fun age when she never wanted to wear anything else except for the Elsa dress if she could help it.
“Here you go.” Veronica handed Katie a twenty and Katie gave Lyra a quick hug before she left for the night.
“Alright, kiddo. Bedtime for real. It’s after ten, and mommy has to be up at five.”
Lyra followed her into the bedroom and leaped onto the white wood twin bed while Veronica pulled some PJs out of the dresser.
“Elsa PJs?” Veronica offered, waving the jammies in front of her daughter. “That way mommy can wash your dress so it’s all clean for tomorrow?”
Lyra studied her intently, the way all young children did when they were debating whether or not to trust their parent during such negotiations.
“Okay.” Lyra let Veronica change her into her PJs, then climbed under the sheets.