A Country Music Christmas by Lily Malone

Author:Lily Malone
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HQ Fiction
Published: 2024-06-07T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

‘I like bracelets,’ she said, keeping her tone light as she gave herself space, taking another sip of her beer to compose her thoughts. ‘Can I have my sunnies back if you’re finished with them? It’s a bit glary.’ She raised her hand to shield her eyes and turned from him, staring out over the glistening rocks of the quarry.

‘I think it’s more than liking bracelets,’ he said, voice gentle yet insistent as he held her sunglasses out for her.

She put them on. ‘How about we talk about something else. The view. Or maybe you? Why all this focus on me? It’s hardly fair. You wear a wristband. You said you know why you wear it. What about you?’

Reuben fingered the band on his arm. He wore his above the bone of his wrist. It was brown leather, pattern entwined with three strands to make a loose chain. It sat comfortably on him with enough chunky substance not to appear fragile or delicate on his larger bones. ‘This belonged to a friend of mine. He was in the band with me, in England.’

She curled her knuckles into her hip, challenging him. ‘So why do you wear it?’

‘His mother gave it to me after he died.’

Reuben’s Adams apple bobbed as he swallowed. A muscle in his jaw twitched, and Jo wished she hadn’t blurted the question so rudely.

‘I’m so sorry.’ Her focus fell away from the quarry, the colours, the birds … all she saw was him, and the sudden sadness draping him like a cape. She knew that cape. The weight of it. ‘That was stupidly insensitive.’

‘It’s okay,’ he said. ‘His family told me after he died that he had battled mental health issues for years, but I never knew. Mason always put on such a good show. I remember it was winter, and if you’ve ever lived through winter in the UK, you’ll know it’s nuts … dark in the morning when you go to work and dark in the afternoon when you get off. Just miserable. Mace missed a few practice sessions and the next time I saw him, probably a month later, I couldn’t believe the change. He was just foggy. Missed notes. His timing sucked. He forgot what song we were playing. He said he was just rusty, but then we went out to a pub later and he was downing shots like they were lemonade and next second he was shouting the bar and dancing on tables. The life of the party.’

Reuben sliced his arm towards the cliff, a frustrated gesture, and his gaze grew distant. ‘It’s a long time ago.’

‘No, tell me. Please. If you want to.’ Jo touched the back of his hand.

They stood very close. The heat of the afternoon was finally beginning to fade and the breeze that ruffled through her hair brought relief.

‘He missed more band practice after that. He kept telling me it was his day job getting busier and he was struggling to keep up. Had to put in the overtime on a project.

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