Melodies of the Heart

Chapter Fourteen

Kassidy

Kassidy laid on her bed in total silence, save the occasional chirp from her phone. She'd barely had the energy to work through the day, but now that she had nothing to distract her, it only made her feel worse.

Her friends' warnings and advice had only compounded in her brain when she'd gone to sleep and when she woke in the morning, the day came with the worst anxiety she'd ever known. Breakfast was impossible to even consider, despite the fact that it was fresh, fluffy pancakes – her favorite – and instead she found herself nibbling on a single muffin throughout the entire day.

At least while the bakery was open for the day, she could distract herself with work, but now that dinner was over and her parents were watching one of their crime shows in the living room, she had nothing to do but sit in bed and think. She tried listening to music or playing a game, but she could barely concentrate before her thoughts found their way back to what she and her friends had talked about the night before.

They're right, she told herself, the idea of it sitting in her gut like a rancid pebble. He'll get sick of this small town, or his band will force him to play again, or something, but they're right. He won't stay forever.

She'd barely touched her dinner and her parents had known she was upset, but she claimed a stomach ache and left without finishing what was on her plate. Kassidy hated making them worry, but she simply couldn't force herself to put the food in her mouth.

For the last two hours, she'd sat and listened to her phone chirp, but she ignored each message. Some were from Addison, just wanting to make sure they hadn't hurt her feelings, but the bulk had been from Levi, and his concern was growing more and more obvious.

The first one had come when she'd taken her lunch, but she'd ignored it. Texting him only made that horrible feeling in her gut that much worse, so she just let the messages pile up and refused to look at them.

Over the course of the day, he'd texted once an hour, then twice, and now he was sending his third message in the last twenty minutes. Each little blip was like a dagger in her heart, and she knew it was wrong to make him worry, but she didn't see another choice.

He just wanted to make sure she was okay, but she didn't know how to reply without telling him everything that was bothering her, and everything she wanted to have with him. They were such different people and the idea of having to tell him that terrified her.

But he needed to know what was important to her. Not just the spark or romance, but her town, her bakery, and her church. Telling him that may scare him off for good, so instead she kept ignoring her phone while she tried to figure out just what to do about the whole thing.

It was sweet of him to be persistent, though, and when her phone chirped again, she went to read the message just to make sure everything was okay on his end, too. It could be an emergency, she told herself as an excuse to let herself read the texts.

"I'm at your front door," the message read. "If you see this, please come see me."

Her stomach flipped and then flipped back again. He was outside, waiting for her, and she had no clue if she should go see him. Seeing him in person might make her reveal all the thoughts she'd been holding so close to her heart until then, the kind of thoughts that might scare him off for good.

But she couldn't not see him. The weather had only been getting warmer and she pulled on a pair of denim capris, a pair of flip flops, and a hoodie before she moved to head outside.