Hello from Belgium,

As I promised, here's another chapter of The Songs of You and Me. If you missed a previous chapter, go back to your inbox and search in the promotions tab or junk folder...

If you're new to my newsletter, here's a little recap. Every week, I've been sending out one chapter of my book The Songs of You and Me. If you would like to read it from the beginning, it's available on Amazon and free in kindle unlimited.

This chapter introduces Graham. I worked a bit on how I wanted to have Graham to turn out in this book, and I’m glad how he finally did, because you’ll see more of him in another book (shh… don’t tell )

Happy Reading!

JANE

I was going to kill Sarah. I was really going to kill her! I kept repeating this like a mantra in my mind as I found myself in the high school auditorium Wednesday after school. Somehow, I got suckered into helping with the auditions for this year’s drama club play. Don’t get me wrong, I was all for the performing arts, and a huge fan of Romeo and Juliet, the chosen play this year. However, I wasn’t a huge fan of being cornered into something, especially assisting Mr. Graham Hamilton, our drama teacher.

“You spent junior year obsessing about this play. Nobody knows Romeo and Juliet better than you. You’re the perfect person to help,” Sarah defended when I tried to put up a fight.

She had a valid point. Although Sarah was my best friend, she was still the vice principal, and this was her call, whether I liked it or not.

“You do know I don’t have time for this, right?” I challenged, even though I knew it wasn’t going to fly. You couldn’t blame a girl for trying, though.

Her constant ribbing of Graham being interested in me didn’t help, either. I was used to Sarah’s antics. I didn’t think much of it.

Not that there was anything wrong with Graham. His sandy brown hair had that disheveled messy look. It totally worked for him. And his eyes…a girl could get lost in those pools of chocolaty brown. Not me, though; I wasn’t ready to get lost in another guy’s eyes. But the other female teachers spent a good amount of time checking him out. I couldn’t blame them.

It was with trepidation that I took a seat next to Graham and plastered a smile on my face five minutes later. The sooner this was over, the better.

“Hi, Graham. Do you have the list of who will be auditioning?”

He already informed me that I was to show up and help him select the most suitable leads.

“Sure do.” He smiled and handed me a sheet of paper. “Apparently, we have a full afternoon ahead of us. This play has attracted quite a few interested pupils.”

“Wonderful,” I grumbled, unable to hide the sarcasm from my voice.

He looked over, confused. I tried to hide my foul mood with a forced smile. Not a wide one, in case Sarah was right and Graham was interested in me. I didn’t want him to get the wrong idea.

He called out the first Juliet candidate, and the long afternoon of auditioning started. After about an hour, my love for the play dwindled. After two hours, I wanted to strangle the next teenager that recited, “What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.”

Finally, after three hours, we had seen all the potentials, and the students were informed that the roles would be announced the next day. I had a good idea of who I thought should play the role of Romeo, Juliet, Mercutio, the Nurse, and Friar Laurence. I couldn’t wait to quickly hand my ideas over and head home.

“I wrote down my thoughts next to each name and put a circle around my favorites.” I stuffed the sheet in Graham’s hands and collected my things.

“Thanks, Jane. This looks great.” He glanced at it. “But I thought we could discuss this over dinner.” He shoved his free hand in his pocket, and his gaze darted to mine.

His request threw me off my game. I’d put Sarah’s subtle jokes this past week down as just that, jokes.

“Graham.” My voice wavered as I took in his bright face. “I need to pick up Emma. I promised my parents I would be back by dinnertime.” I shuffled around, shifting the strap of my bag from one shoulder to the other.

“That’s too bad. I would love to take you out some time.”

I was at a loss for words, and I wanted to kill Sarah even more.

“Graham, I’m not sure that would be a good idea.” His shoulders drooped, and his eyes lost their earlier spark. I hated being the cause of that. But I couldn’t shove the memory of David out of my mind. I was a married woman. Just because my husband died didn’t make me available.

“I understand, Jane. But it’s just dinner. Hey, if we’re feeling crazy, I might throw in one of Miss Mabel’s famous sundaes.” His invitation, although unexpected, sounded appealing. Not for me. I was still not ready to move on. If I were, Graham would be a great candidate.

“Thanks, Graham, but I really can’t.” With an awkward wave, I pushed past him and left, my stomach churning all the way home.

As I was ready to get into bed, my phone dinged.

Sarah: How’d the auditions go?

Jane: Great! Three long hours of the same scenes over and over. =(

Sarah: How’d it go with Graham?

Jane: Fine.

Sarah: Just fine?

Jane: He asked me out to dinner.

Sarah: HAHA… I told you. Serves you right!

Jane: How is any of this my fault??? A couple of jokes hardly count as proper warning.

Sarah: Aw, poor baby. It’ll do you good. Get out of your comfort zone.

Jane: Seriously?

Sarah: It’s time…

Jane: Don’t start!

Sarah: Or… You could always ask my hunky brother out? =)

Jane: Goodnight!

Sarah: Touchy, touchy! Only teasing.

Jane: Your teasing always ends up with me getting into trouble.

Sarah: Goodnight, Jane. Love you.

Jane: Love you 2. See you tomorrow!

JACKSON

After meeting with the main contractor and the plumber, everyone was up to speed with the latest changes for the extension of the new wing of the high school. The positioning of the drain piping was a concern. If that got messed up, we wouldn’t be able to connect to the existing drains. This would cause more work, meaning a higher cost.

This job wasn’t as complex as the work I’d done in Boston, but there I had a backup team to support me. Now I worked solo, doing all the paperwork, filing the right reports, setting up appointments, handling all of the calls. The flexibility was great, but it came tied to a lot of grunt work. The hours weren’t much different from my associate’s job. The difference was I didn’t have someone waiting for me at home.

As I walked to the parking lot to load up my plans and hard hat, I noticed Jane getting out of her car. I raised my hand to wave at her, but before she saw me, a guy walked over to talk to her.

I made my way over. I was interested to see who the guy with the confident swagger was. I also wanted to see Jane. After bumping into her the other day, I hadn’t been able to think of much else.

I couldn’t make out their conversation, but this guy seemed awfully familiar with Jane. The way he touched her arm, his hand lingering on her like he was used to touching her like that, had me picking up my pace. My shoulders bunched as I heard her chuckle at a joke he made. He leaned in closer, and I heard him say, “Jane, you’re fine.” Hiding her pink cheeks, she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and averted her gaze.

The movement caused our eyes to meet and lock. Her face darkened to a deeper shade. That simple act had me puffing out my chest and lengthening my stride. It settled some of my anxiety that this fool had caught her attention.

“Hey, Jackson.” Her voice sounded breathy. I wasn’t sure if I was to blame, or this dork was.

“Hey, Jane.” I surprised us both by leaning in for a quick hug. As I glanced over her shoulder, I sized this guy up and gave him the look. The one that said he better leave well enough alone.

“I better get going,” he said.

I had to give him credit. He took the hint and moved along.

“See you later, Graham.” Jane waved, but her focus returned to me.

“So, who’s that?” I tried for casualness, but the glint in Jane’s eye told me she wasn’t fooled. This woman knew me so well.

“That’s Graham, a colleague.”

“Huh. Seems like a nice guy.” The words sounded like a lie, even to my ears.

Jane smiled and shook her head. “You’ve always been so protective of me. I’d forgotten how that felt.” Now Jane sized me up, and her scrutiny made me squirm. Did she sense the real reason I disliked this guy?

“I better get going,” she said. “It’s bad form for the teacher to be late to class.”

Jane walked off but stopped and turned back. “Thanks for looking out for me, Jackson.”

It hit me that Jane always thought I had been looking out for her, but my intentions were never that altruistic. I might be as lost now as I was all those years ago.

Stay tuned for Chapter 4 next week...

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I hope you have a wonderful day, and stay tuned for more next week. 😊

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I want to read the whole book

Lots of love,

M

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AUTHOR CORNER

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The only thing worse than being stuck in an RV with your enemy? Having to pretend you're madly in love.

She already took over his ranch. Will she take over his heart, too?

How will she get past these feelings without her father’s guidance? Will this couple solidify their relationship by Pioneer Day or are they better off as family friends? Join these two as they reconnect.

Mylissa's Books

The Rules Series

Rules are made to be Broken (Book 1)

Rules are made to be Ignored (Book 2)

The Rules Novella Series

Rules Don't Apply

Playing by the Rules

The Songs Series

The Songs of You and Me (Book 1)

The Songs That Brought Me Back (Book 2)