Michael kissed both her cheeks when she returned to the table. “You were phenomenal. I had no idea.”
Ryder pulled out her chair and they listened to Jim’s next song.
When the lights came back up between sets, they ordered another round of drinks and Jim made his way offstage and to their side.
“I don’t know what you’re doing working in an office with a voice like that,” he told her.
She’d probably stop smiling sometime near Christmas. “Does that mean I can keep the video?”
“So long as I have a copy.” He shook the men’s hands. “I need to pollute my lungs,” he said before he turned and left.
Meg accepted the kind words of those around them. But when she looked around, she didn’t see Masini anywhere.
When Jim finished singing for the evening, the house band continued to play.
Michael and Ryder were talking in low tones when Gabi sat next to her. “You were amazing.”
“Jim’s the pro. I’m the window candy.”
Gabi continued to deny the claim when Michael interrupted them. “We’re going to head back.”
Meg took one look at them and decided three was a crowd. “I’m going to stay here a bit longer.”
Michael handed her the key to the golf cart. “We’ll walk back.”
Gabi sat back, nodded at the retreating men. “So what’s with the friend?”
“Ryder?”
“Yeah.”
“He’s an old friend. Just went through a breakup. Since Michael has a crazy schedule, he decided to invite him down to cheer him up.”
The excuse worked. “Seems lots of celebrities like to combine friends and family when they can. I don’t think I’d want to be so busy I couldn’t do both.”
“Do you think you’re going to be busy once you’re married to a winemaker?”
Gabi smiled. “I honestly don’t know what my life is going to look like when Alonzo and I marry. He seems to think I’ll stay here most of the time while he runs the vineyards.”
“You’ll live separately?” That sounded like an Alliance marriage. “Until the California property is ready for us.”
“Won’t that be difficult? It seems you’re close to your family.”
“It’s time I found my own place. Val has had the burden of watching over both of us for years. My mother can always move close to me.”
“Alonzo is OK with that?” Meg couldn’t imagine having a parent living that close. Then again, Meg visited with her parents on occasion, but didn’t pine for their presence.
“Like I said, we haven’t really discussed it.”
Meg couldn’t help but wonder what they had talked about. For a bride-to-be, Gabi had little idea of what married life was going to look like.
“Miss Masini?” One of the waiters interrupted them. “I’m sorry to bother you, but there seems to be a problem and I’m not sure where Mr. Masini is.”
Gabi stood. “I’m sorry.”
“No, please. I was just about to step outside.”
Much of the club had cleared out. Meg stepped out into the warm Caribbean evening and headed in the opposite direction of her villa. The last thing she wanted to do was interrupt Michael and Ryder. Besides, it was too nice a night and she was still riding high from her moment onstage with Jim. She couldn’t wait to see the recording.
She itched to pull out a cell phone and text Judy with the evening’s events. That would have to wait.
Meg walked along the wide porch of the main building. The outside patio where the restaurant spilled was free of couples.
She stopped long enough to enjoy the gentle waves lapping on the shore, watched the light from the building twinkle on the water.
She understood why Val would live where he worked. The view, the temperature of the air and water, was perfect.
The piano used to entertain guests outside stood covered for the night. Meg approached it, touched the edges of the covering briefly before pulling it back.
There was something about the sound of a baby grand that no other piano could capture. For an instrument that spent many days outside, it was tuned to perfection. Meg looked over the water, let a few chords of the song she’d sang earlier play.
She wondered if Val enjoyed her performance, and wondered even more why she thought about him now.
Meg slowed her fingers and lent her voice to the song of desire and want. It was sultry and a little sad, and fit her mood. When she finished she let the piano fade and heard a lone clap.
Val leaned against the railing, his tie loose on his neck.
The man was too delicious for his own good.
Meg offered a smile and nodded a tiny bow. “Well thank you, kind sir.”
“You were brilliant tonight,” he said from the shadows.
His approval warmed her. “I enjoyed myself.”
“Everyone could tell.” He pushed away from the rail and leaned over the piano. “How long have you played?”
Not knowing what to do with his attention honed in on her, Meg plucked at the keys softly. “My parents always had instruments in the house. They were too young for Woodstock, but if they could, they would have run around naked with a guitar covering their goods.”
“They taught you?”
“More like I taught myself. Formal education wasn’t important to them.” She played a few notes of Bach, switched to Pink Floyd.
“Can you read music?”