“Hey!” His eyes burned at the welcome sound of her excited voice. God, he had missed just hearing her speak. “Guess what? Your cheese-carver guy? His name is Alistair, and he’s in a band . . . a band! I mean, that’s a little obvious, right? But remember, I told you I think he has a crush on Ricardo, my manager? Anyway, it looks like that’s becoming a thing. But I digress . . . I thought it would be cool to have some live music on Friday nights, and I invited Alistair and his band to play. I know, I know what you’re going to say . . . it’s a risk. What if they’re crap and all that? But they’re not. They’re really freaking good. They’re getting ready to play their next set. Listen to this!”
The band struck up a familiar poppy tune, and Harris smiled when he heard Tina squeal in excitement, sounding for all the world like a giddy teen at a pop concert. If the cheering crowd was any indication, it sounded like she had a full house tonight, and that made him so damned happy for her. She had recorded the entire song, but Harris barely listened to it; he was too distracted by her squeals and her terrible singing when she chimed in with the chorus.
This was so much better than watching those clips of her with Fletcher. This wasn’t tinged with sadness. This was sheer, vibrant joy, and he adored it. He played it twice more before responding with a voice note of his own.
“And you had the nerve to criticize my singing? I could barely hear the band above your caterwauling, woman!”
He didn’t have to wait long for her response.
“Shuddup, Harris! You wish you could sing half as good as me!”
“No, seriously, Tina. There are dogs howling on the streets of Perth right now, thanks to you.” He knew she could hear the smile in his voice.
She sent him a picture in response to that. A selfie of her with a scrunched-up face, sticking her tongue out at the lens. It was taken in terrible light and had a grainy, orange quality to it, but he couldn’t stop staring at it.
“What the hell are you doing to me, Tina?” he moaned to himself, his thumb tracing the lines of her pretty, round face on his screen.
You sound tired! Sorry I woke you. But I had to share the news. Back to text.
The band’s good. Well done. Glad the evening was a success.
She sent him a thumbs-up emoji, followed by a snoozing one.
He didn’t reply but fell asleep still staring at that beautiful picture.
“Hi, MJ! Loved the jam session last night,” someone called as Tina walked down Main Road to MJ’s. The townspeople had taken to calling her MJ and often went out of their way to greet her or chat with her when they saw her around town. At first it had been a little unnerving to have random people striking up conversations with her, but Tina felt less awkward about it now. She even knew some of them by name.
She was starting to feel a lot more integrated into the town, and after a rocky first month, the restaurant was doing well. They were heading into their eighth week of business now, and MJ’s had regained its status as the favorite eating-out spot for locals. People could not stop raving about the new menu.
Libby had been pushing to do the dessert-menu thing for quite some time, and after doing a little market research on some of their competitors in surrounding towns, Tina had decided that it was a unique enough idea to give it a go. That decision had paid off in spades. The dessert-tasting menu was a hit with everybody, and naturally Libby was happy, since it gave her the excuse she needed to continue experimenting with new flavor combinations and cutting-edge techniques. MJ’s was acquiring a reputation for outstanding desserts, and people were traveling from other towns just to sample Libby’s Wednesday-night dessert-tasting menus.
Tina was also very pleased with her decision to offer live music on Friday nights. It drew in a younger crowd, who traveled from surrounding towns grateful for the opportunity to dance and hang out without having to drive nearly an hour out of their way. Alistair and his band now had a regular Friday-night gig with them, and Tina was trying to find other acts to support them.
It was hard to believe that just a few weeks ago, she would have been petrified to make these bold decisions. She would have considered them and dismissed them as too daring, too out there, and doomed to failure. Now she was eager to try new things, happy to experiment and see what worked. She often talked things through with Libby, and sometimes with Daff. Even though the woman had had her baby—a beautiful little boy named Connor—a few weeks ago and wasn’t freely available to help out anymore, she was always happy to have a quick chat. But Tina was becoming more confident in her business acumen and was starting to make a lot of decisions without seeing the need to go to someone else for validation first.