“Dad, I hardly know what to say.” Sailor’s eyes glistened, and his voice was thick with emotion. “That’s incredible.”
Maileah nodded emphatically, wiping away her tears. “Adrian, it’s perfect. More than I could have ever hoped for. It captures everything we’re trying to do with this charity.”
Adrian smiled, clearly moved by their reaction. “I’m glad you like it. It came from my heart. It’s about all of us.”
At once, she realized Adrian’s song was also about his family and his love for them.Unbroken.
A sense of urgency raced through Maileah. “We need to record this.”
“My buddy has a recording studio at his house,” Adrian said.
“If you have time, I’d like to film this for marketing.” She glanced around the patio, frowning slightly. “Somewhere with more atmosphere, though. On the beach or a place with a view of the ocean.”
Adrian snapped his fingers. “I know just the spot. A cave ten minutes from here opens to the ocean, and the acoustics are amazing. We used to practice there when the tide was out.”
A spark of excitement sizzled through her. “Is the tide out this time of day?”
“That depends.” Sailor pulled out his phone to check. “The tides run on a lunar day, fifty minutes longer than ourtwenty-four hours. So high tide occurs every twelve hours and twenty-five minutes.” He looked up, grinning. “We’re in luck.”
“Let’s go,” Maileah said happily.
Sailor pocketed his phone. “I have a tripod in the Jeep you can use. We should go while we have the chance.”
Adrian placed his guitar in its case. “I’ll take my car so I can head straight to Cuppa Jo’s. I like to have dinner before I set up.”
As Maileah and Sailor crossed the street to his house and the Jeep, their hands brushed. He reached for hers, clasping it firmly.
“Is this okay?” he asked. “People will talk.”
She smiled at his thoughtfulness. “They already are, but I don’t mind.”
Pausing by the door, he brought her hand to his lips, grazing her knuckles with an expression that said everything.
Maileah could hardly move; he took her breath away.
“This is a good idea,” he said, opening the vehicle door for her.
She wasn’t sure what he meant, but she climbed in. Her heart was still pounding, though, from the song or Sailor, she couldn’t tell. Both, she figured, enjoying the chemistry building between them.
Sailor pulled away from his house and turned onto the winding coastal road. He rolled down the windows.
Maileah took a moment to enjoy the sea breeze in her hair and the magnetic presence of the man beside her. She felt incredibly lucky, yet she hardly dared to imagine how this relationship might develop.
When they arrived, Sailor tucked the tripod under his arm and gestured down the hillside toward a cave that yawned to the sea.
“Be careful,” he said, helping her from the vehicle.
Maileah twisted her hair in one hand, securing it against the breeze.
“Take my hand,” he said.
Following his sure-footed lead, she picked her way across this rocky part of the shoreline. The cry of seagulls overhead punctuated rhythmic waves that lapped farther out on the broadened beach.
Adrian perched on a boulder just inside the rocky cave tucked into the hillside. He strummed a chord and smiled. “The acoustics are still good.”
Knowing they didn’t have much time, Maileah quickly noted details. The craggy wall of the damp cave. Adrian’s weathered hands cradling his guitar, his silhouette dark against the deep blue expanse of the Pacific Ocean. Waves sparkling like diamonds under the sun.
“It’s perfect,” she said, eager to capture the moment.
