A Valentine for Kayla (20 page)

“Sorry.” Jill pressed her lips together.

They turned onto the block with the park, and Kayla gasped. “Oh my goodness. I'm in big trouble.” The hillside surrounding the stage was a sea of people both young and old. “I've never seen this many people in town before.” She was not equipped to deal with this. Her pace slowed.
Lord, I can't do this without You. Please help!

Jill patted her arm. “It's going to be fine,” she said in a motherly tone.

“Easy for you to say,” she mumbled. “Come on. We need to work our way around to the back side of the stage.” Five minutes later they spotted Charlie and he waved them through security.

“Please tell me Derek is on his way? His note in the instructions he overnight-mailed to me said he thought he'd make it, but it would be close.” Charlie looked from Jill to Kayla.

“He did?” Kayla wrung her hands. “Pray.” She moved to stage left and stood in the wing while running through a few vocal exercises to warm her voice. She took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm her racing heart.

Voices chanted “DJ, DJ, DJ” over and over. She poked her head out just enough to see the crowd standing and clapping to the beat of their chant. Jill and Charlie moved up beside her.

Jill took her hand and squeezed. “We won't leave you. We'll be right here.”

“Thanks.” Kayla squared her shoulders as a sound technician slipped a microphone around her ear and adjusted the placement.

He covered the mouthpiece. “It's hot.”

She nodded, then strutted onto the stage wearing her most confident smile. “Hey, everyone! How's it going?”

The chanting stopped, and the crowd erupted in applause.

“It seems DJ Parker has been delayed, so I'm hoping you will allow me to step in.”

“We want DJ!” some woman shouted.

Kayla pushed down rising panic. Sweat trickled on her forehead. “Me, too, lady.”

The crowd laughed. Kayla moved to the keyboard and struck a chord. “DJ and I worked on this together. It sounds better with him, but I hope you'll enjoy it. I know I do.” She played the delicate intro to the ballad. The crowd quieted and a hush hovered over the park. She started into his verse, then noted a commotion in the crowd. They hated her. She hit a wrong note, and her voice cracked.

Suddenly a rich baritone joined her. She whipped her head to the side. Derek strolled onto the stage wearing dark-wash jeans. His acoustic guitar hung from his shoulder. He stopped center stage, plugged his guitar into the amp, then adjusted the instrument and seamlessly joined her.

When the song ended, the audience erupted into applause. “Give it up for Oak Knoll's very own Kayla Russell!” Derek strode to stand directly in front of her, then placed a hand over each of their mikes. “Thank you. I'm sorry you had to come out here alone.”

Kayla's knees weakened, but her insides were bubbling with happiness. He'd come back! “It's okay. I'm glad you're here.”

He winked. “Me, too. You mind accompanying on keyboard for the rest of the concert?”

“Happy to.”

He got close to her ear and spoke quietly. “Charlie has all the music lined up the way I'm performing. I wasn't allowed to call, but it occurred to me last night no one ever said I couldn't send something by snail mail.”

“You couldn't call?”

“Long story, but right now we have a concert to do.” He removed his hand from their microphones. Strumming his guitar strings, he sat center stage on a stool and crooned out melody after melody. “This next song is one I wrote for a very special lady who once shared with me why she doesn't like Valentine's Day.”

Kayla blinked and searched through the music. There was nothing there. Wait, what had he just said?

Derek faced the side of the stage she was on and chuckled. “You won't find any music for this song, Kayla. This one's for you. ‘Valentine's Day 3-6-5.'”

“Until I met you, I didn't have a clue, No, I didn't have a clue about love.

Be my valentine—three-six-five.

E-ver-y day of the year.

Be my valentine—three-six-five.

Celebrate all through the year.

My valentine, oh, my valentine

Three hundred sixty-five days of the year.”

* * *

Kayla's gaze locked on Derek as the song flowed from his lips. Her stomach flip-flopped when he shot her a dashing smile as the song ended. She stood and clapped.

Whistles pierced the air as the audience leaped to their feet and applauded.

* * *

Derek waved and bowed. He spotted Kayla drifting to the side of the stage and ran to her. “Kayla?” Had he blown it with the song? Maybe it was too much. “Are you okay?”

She turned to him with shining eyes. “I'm perfect. I loved the song.”

They were out of view of the audience. He gently removed her microphone and then his own and passed them off to a sound guy. “I'm glad you liked it. I meant those words. I want every day for us to be like Valentine's Day. I don't want to express my love for you only one day a year.”

Her grin widened. “You love me?”

“Duh.” He playfully rolled his eyes and pulled her close. “Kayla Russell, all I've wanted since I left for LA was to see Jerry locked up and get home to you.”

“Home. I like the sound of that.”

“Me, too.” He lowered his head and claimed her lips.

A dreamy look lit her eyes when she opened them. “I love you, too.”

“I'm glad, but what about your list? Do I pass muster?” He raised a brow.

“I burned that silly thing. God showed me that I had placed my trust in the list rather than in Him.” A half smile touched her lips. “But for the record, you passed with straight A's.”

He leaned forward until their foreheads met. “I didn't realize it was a graded thing.”

She shrugged and pulled away slightly. “What happened to you? I've been trying to call all week. I all but gave up on you, until I got here and saw that you had everything under control. Charlie said you'd be here, or at least you were going to try, so I figured you had to have a plan.”

“I had a plan, all right, but it didn't turn out at all like I expected. I thought I'd be an hour late, but the plane the FBI sent me home on was fast, and I mean fast. It helped that the plane could land at the airport in Salem. It was only a short drive from there.”

“Good. Because I don't know what would've happened if you hadn't shown up when you did.”

“They would have fallen in love with you just like me.” He claimed her soft lips and drew her close. This was exactly how he wanted to spend the rest of his life.

Epilogue

One year later

K
ayla leaned back in the gondola and listened as her husband sang a song to her in Italian. Their gondola glided along the canal in Venice, Italy, where they were spending their two-week honeymoon.

She thought back over the past year and what a whirlwind it had been. First her mother's elopement in Las Vegas, which had turned out to be an even bigger surprise than she'd expected because Jill and Charlie had decided to follow Kayla's mom's lead and elope as well in Las Vegas—one wedding right after the other.

Kayla fondly remembered her church wedding in their hometown seven months ago. Mom and Stan had come home. The biggest surprise guest, though, was Estelle Rogers, who told them she'd retired from showbiz and was opening a restaurant.

If anyone had told her a year ago that she'd be married to the man of her dreams and that she'd be riding in a gondola in Italy while he serenaded her, she'd have laughed. Now all she could muster was a sappy smile.

It was nice to have Derek all to herself after having been on his farewell tour with him for the past six months. He'd signed the record contract with the stipulation he'd have to do only one tour and then he was done with the business. Her man was officially retired, and he was looking forward to returning to his old position as the music pastor.

“What's that grin for?” Derek tucked her close to his side.

“Just reminiscing. We've had a pretty amazing beginning to our life together.”

“That's an understatement.” He tilted his head and whispered, “Did I tell you today how much I love you?”

“Only a half dozen times.” She caressed his face. “I love you, too.”

He claimed her lips, and she melted in his arms.

Love was good. Very good indeed.

* * * * *

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ISBN-13: 9781460379103

A Valentine for Kayla

Copyright © 2015 by Kimberly R. Johnson

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereinafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Love Inspired Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

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