“What?” James inquired, the news of the young girl’s untimely demise causing his voice to raise several octaves.

“Gunshot wound to the head.” Rick informed him. “The cops found her an hour ago.”

“Oh, no…” He sighed, running his hand through his hair. “Do they have any suspects?”

“Not yet. They have the murder weapon, though: nine millimeter. Listen, I have to go. I’ll call you if I hear anything else. Later.”

“Bye.”

“I couldn’t help but overhear.” Olivia’s voice tore the silence. “Who’s Laurel?”

“Some singer I was going to work with.” James claimed, tossing his phone on the couch.

“Poor girl…” She whispered. “Did you know her?”

“No.” He replied, as sadness moved over his face. “I was going to meet her tomorrow. This is exactly why I live on the mountain, Olivia.”

“What does she have to do with that?” She squinted at him.

“Humans…” he shook his head. “We are the worst beasts. We can do…” his speech faltered. “… anything to hurt each other. One would think that the species with the largest brain would live in peace with each other, but no; Wars, famine, greed. … and the list just goes on and on.”

“Well, yeah, but people are also capable of other things.” She made her voice sound sweeter, caressing the back of his neck. “Like love, devotion, tenderness, loyalty…”

“Are we?” He wondered.

“Yes!” She raised her tone, intensifying her stare. “You’ve already shown me; I don’t like to repeat myself. Now, let me show you.”

“I like you, Olivia.” James confessed in his bass-deep voice which had a hint of change behind it. “I really do. But, how are we going to make this work? I live two hours away from you.”

“You know what they say.” She winked at him. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Let’s not worry about tomorrow. I don’t know how it happened, but you ended up at the bar where I work. Some may call it a coincidence. I call it ‘fate’.”

At that moment, Rick’s words “I hear she’s a nice girl” came back to mind.

“Something tells me it wasn’t ‘fate’.” He maintained, smiling to himself. “Do you know Rick Briar?”

“Nope:” she shook her head sideways; “never heard of him.”

James was somewhat puzzled. Clearly, Rick knew her and yet, she did not know Rick. All the same, he would not voice his concern. He was still in her embrace, with her blissful eyes gazing deep into his and her soft touch was good to resist.

“Can I ask you a tiny favor?” Her polite request widened the smile on his face.

“Go ahead.” He encouraged.

“Which ballads have you written? I’m not…” She paused. “Doubting that you wrote them, I just don’t remember them all.”

“Where should I start?” He heaved a long, deep sigh.

“Just tell me which ones you like best.” Olivia added.

“That’s a lot easier.” James laughed. “Well, I’ve written all of Arlene and Ron Mitchell’s songs. They’re the ones I work with more often. They are, in ascending order, Arlene’s ‘Top of the world’, ‘Careless’, ‘Drunken heart’ and Mitchell’s ‘Funny world’ and ‘Shattered in the snow’.”

“Oh, my God…” a soft whisper left her lips. “I should have known you’d written that one. It pretty much describes your life story. I really love ‘Shattered in the snow’. In fact, it’s gotten me in trouble.”

“How come?” He got curious.

“My neighbors don’t like it so much when I play the piano.” Olivia burst into loud, sweet laughter, collapsing onto him. “I almost got arrested once.”

“You’re more than welcome to play with me.” James spoke, his voice a breathless whisper as he slid his hand up her back.

“Trust me…” She chuckled, slowly leaning back. “We’re going to do a lot more in your cabin, other than just play music.”

“Really?” He raised his eyebrow. “What do you have in mind?”

“I’d love to show you.” Olivia’s whisper gave him the chills. “But let’s just wait till we get there. I’m really tired anyway.”

“Alright,” James smiled up at her. “When’s your day off?”

“I took the weekend off; I wanted to go camping.” She said. “But, after what happened last night, I thought ‘why not work the early shift?’ Besides, I could use the money.”

“Tomorrow, then,” James muttered. “You’d better be careful, though. I don’t want to chase off any wolves again anytime soon.”

“Cut it out.” Her playful laughter sounded like music in his ears. Even her pinching did not bother him. On the contrary, he enjoyed it. “I’m going to spend a whole day with the man who wrote one of my favorite songs: lucky me.”

James did not open his mouth; he didn’t want to speak. Getting lost in her eyes, he pulled her a little closer. Olivia’s kiss sent all the warmth that he had dearly missed into him. Gentle and passionate, it gave him a good idea of what was about to follow and not just the next day. She seemed genuine, thoughtful and honest; someone he could actually rely on. Taking her into his embrace, he laid a short kiss on her upper lip and one more on the tip of her tiny nose. He buried his face into her long, curly hair, letting her scent flow through him.

“Tomorrow sounds interesting, but it’s just one day, Olivia. I want a lot more than that. Maybe you’re right; we can make this work, even though we’re a hundred miles apart. Just don’t treat me any differently than you do now. Don’t let me down…”