Melodies of the Heart: A Pinewood Grove Sweet Romance Read Free Page A

have. When they walked up to the old green garage, Murph himself was sitting on an old gas can reading a pulp action novel he’d probably picked up at some drug store or gas station.
    “Kassidy, sweetie,” he said as he saw her coming. “How are things?”
    “Good,” she told him. “I brought you a gift.” With that, she held out the bread bag and the middle-aged mechanic buried his nose in the paper.
    “Rye,” he sighed when he finally came back up for air. “My favorite. Aren’t you sweet?”
    She laughed at that, but then made herself turn a little more serious. “I’m afraid it’s kind of a bribe,” she told him. “My, um, my friend here needs you to look at his bike. They had a bit of a fall a few minutes ago.”
    “Hey,” Levi said as the attention turned his way.
    Murph gave a grunt in return and then meandered over to take a look at Levi’s bike. “That’s a nice machine you got there,” he said. “Did you trash it?”
    “Something like that,” Levi told him. “Any chance I could get you to look at it today? Money isn’t an issue.”
    “And neither is time, I’m afraid,” Murph told him. “I can take a look at her right now, but I can tell you for sure I’m going to need to get a part or two in. Your gas line is snapped and your front tire is leaking air.”
    “Great,” Levi said with a heavy sigh, but Kassidy had to fight to match his look of disappointment. If Murph had to order some parts in, that meant that Levi would be staying in town, at least for a couple days. It could give her a chance to get to know him better, which was something she was very appreciative of.
    “I’ll have her up and running as good as new,” Murph assured him. “Give me a few days and I’ll make sure she runs better than ever.”
    “Thanks,” Levi said and he shook the mechanic’s hand in a verbal agreement. It was when he turned his focus back to Kassidy that she nearly showed him just how excited she was about him staying.
    “So,” he asked her. “Know any good motels around here?”

Chapter Three
     

     
    Kassidy tucked a lock of her long hair behind her ear. In her fall, most of her braid had come undone and it wasn’t until then that she thought of fixing it. The thought only became stronger in her gut as they walked back along Birch Street, making their way over to Poplar Boulevard. She was suddenly very aware of how she looked, and how much she wanted to impress the man she’d only just met.
    “Is everything in this town named after trees?” Levi asked as they cut across Main Street. He had been careful to keep his eyes down and Kassidy was starting to take note of that. She thought to ask him on it, and a voice inside her told her to be careful.
    What if there is a reason he is being so cautious? she asked herself as they walked along the tree lined street.
    He’s probably just shy, she told herself. He hadn’t said much at all and spoke softly enough when he did talk. Being shy made a lot more sense than him hiding from someone or something. She couldn’t let her imagination get the better of her and she vowed to give him the benefit of the doubt.
    That, and she didn’t want him to have some strange secret. What she wanted was for him to be a nice, quiet man that she could get to know better.
    “Mostly,” she told him as they walked. They still had a few more blocks to go to get to Poplar Boulevard, and then another couple more heading south to get to their destination. “At least it’s really easy to get anywhere. You won’t need your bike or a rental while you’re here, you can walk pretty much anywhere in town in about twenty or thirty minutes.”
    “That’s good to hear,” he said. “But I don’t know if I’ll be going out much. I guess I should just hope this place has a good cable package.”
    She was about to ask why, but up ahead of her she spotted Gillian, Addison, and Kayla coming from the direction of the ShopMart. Kassidy was about to wave to her