I knew the voice I'd hear. I knew its power. Without analyzing it, I instinctively knew what it would do to my heart.

  Music is its own kind of magic. Done properly, it knows how to take hold of a soul, how to grip a heart in its vise. I didn't want this one to torture mine. Not again. I'd let this voice go two years ago. Given it its freedom. Found another love.

  I went ice cold. My heart lost a beat. My knees went weak. "Alex?"

  Chapter Six

  You Left My Heart at Will-Call

  Dex (Maker of reservations. Holder of major misgivings. Man convinced he could charm the future in-laws into, if not loving him, at least liking and accepting him.)

  I like camping as well as the next guy, but I was really beginning to hate RV camping just on the face of it. RV camping was presenting a logistical nightmare to me. As it turned out, beautiful RV parks aren't typically located conveniently next to airports. Particularly next to airports that accommodate business jets. When Shelby said her parents would be camping in Las Vegas, I thought, Piece of cake.

  Except they weren't technically camping in Las Vegas. They were camping an hour away in Valley of Fire State Park. I was going to be on fire, too, if I didn't find a way to make this round trip in twelve to eighteen hours, maximum, allowing for at least an hour or two visit with Shelby's parents.

  Renting a car for a few hours? A major pain in the butt. I was on the verge of just buying one and asking a dealer to meet me at the airport with it. Maybe Shelby's parents would like a nice, extremely low-mileage car as a gift. They could haul it back behind the RV. Was that too grand a gesture? Were they already hauling a car? Did gifting them a car because it was easier than renting one look too much like I was showing off?

  As a matter of fact, I wanted to do something nice for Shelby's parents, a simple, yet charming gesture. Less like showing up with a new car and more like bringing a nice takeout meal and flowers—

  I shouldn't have left these details until the last minute. I was known for my romantic gestures, at least in Shelby's mind. Certainly since that grand helicopter proposal. I didn't want this to be my first fail.

  While I was juggling travel arrangements and car negotiations, I got a text from Ellie.

  I'm at Shelby's booth at the bridal fair listening to the mystery musical guest. Guess who it is?

  No idea. Eye-roll Dex gif. I would have been irritated at being interrupted, but it was Ellie. She was a good friend and made delicious chocolate chip cookies that had sustained me through college.

  It's Wellston!

  Wow. She couldn't see me twirling my finger with a decided lack of excitement.

  Wow is right! This guy could croon his way to space. His voice is like a love song in and of itself.

  Enough hyperbole. I get it. The man can sing.

  I wish Christopher were here with me. He'd love this.

  I bet he would. Christopher needed to grow a taste for real men's music. But if Ellie liked it, Christopher would like it. She had him wrapped around her little finger. I wish she'd listen to me that that wasn't the kind of guy she really wanted.

  Do you think it would be too much if I tried to get Wellston to sing at my wedding? Shelby and Kayla are just as enthralled as I am. Shelby is so mesmerized, she's gone completely still since Wellston took the stage, almost pale.

  Wellston. I silently shook my fist. A plague of curses on you for turning my best friend to mush and making me read glowing texts about you. Crooner music wasn't my style. It's your money, El. You've earned it. Do what you like with it. Waste it on singers of silly love songs if you like. And any other frivolous wedding accouterments you've found at that bridal fair.

  Cynic! Wait until you're engaged. By the way, on my way to say hi to Shelby, I ran into your mom here at the bridal fair.

  Damn. And you didn't text me immediately? At least send up a warning flare?

  She was with a friend. It seemed innocent enough. Ellie laughing face with eyes watering gif.

  More fist shaking by me. I hope you told her to stay away from Shelby. She's meeting her tonight. I want to be the one to introduce them.

  I'm not your heavy, good buddy.

  I would have done the same for you. I have done the same. I've even intentionally lost video games in defense of you and your honor.

  Ha, ha. You seemed to be having fun, and she was nowhere near Shelby. But she has you in her sights, buddy. This is what comes from you never dating like a normal person. You take a girl to a wedding. You date her for a few months, and already your mom is dreaming wedding dreams. Does she know your girlfriend has a booth at the fair? I didn't mention it, just in case.

  What the hell? I muttered a few choice words to myself. Ellie didn't know I was engaged. Therefore, she didn't know how on the money she was. But attending a bridal fair to scope out my fiancée before she met her? That was beneath Mom. Low blow, Ma.

  I texted Ellie. Hang on. I have to read Mom the riot act.

  I fired a text off to my mother. What are you doing at a wedding fair? Shelby's wedding fair? I hope you haven't stopped by Shelby's booth.

  Mom's response was immediate, as if she'd been expecting me to call her out. Ellie or Kayla, or both for that matter, must have ratted me out. The dear girls need to learn when to keep their mouths shut. Wait until they have grown children to spy on.

  That was Mom's sense of humor. She included a winky face.

  Lala, particularly, should know better. FYI, I'm here with a friend whose daughter is getting married next summer. We'd been planning on going to a bridal fair at some point. When she heard I was back in town suddenly, she insisted I come with her. She's one of those lucky women with daughters. She gets to plan a wedding and live the dream.

  Don't get any fancy ideas, Mom. You're one of the lucky moms who has a son who doesn't hold it against her that she loves weddings and goes to silly things like bridal fairs.

  This from a man who's engaged and whose fiancée works in the industry.

  You didn't answer my question.

  No, of course I haven't been to her booth.

  Good. Stay away. No meeting Shelby ahead of time. No spying on her and making her uncomfortable. No surprise early attacks.

  Now why would I do something like that?

  Mom…

  If my friend and her daughter need a hand letterer and want to talk to this fiancée of yours, how could I stop them? They'd be excellent clients. Plenty of money and easy to work with.

  Mom was really pulling my chain and no doubt enjoying it.

  In that implausible scenario, you excuse yourself to do something else while they talk to Shelby. Promise me, Mom. I'm serious. Stay away from Shelby until tonight. Catching her off guard while she's working isn't playing fair.

  You're no fun, son. You know I taught you to use every competitive edge. Life isn't fair.

  I hope you didn't say anything to Ellie, or Lala, about my engagement. Or dropped any hints.

  I promised I wouldn't say anything, didn't I? You know I keep my word.

  Mom…

  If I do this for you, what will you do for me?

  I let out a heavy sigh. I knew this was coming. What do you want, Ma?

  You know I've been planning our mother/son wedding dance since you were born. I've just heard the most beautiful love song about a mother's love for her son, sung by a remarkable singer with a silken, romantic voice that would move the most cynical heart. It brought tears to my eyes. So moving. I think this song will be highly danceable…

  You want to pick the song we dance to at my wedding? Fine. You got it.

  She sent her avatar with its thumbs-up gloating expression. You'd better call Arthur Murray, my boy, and arrange for some lessons. I expect you to know how to dance.

  See you tonight, Mom. And remember—I have spies everywhere. Ellie and Lala are in my camp.

  I scowled. Bridal fairs were nothing but trouble, even if my fiancée did make a good living from them. But Mom prowling around them was even more dangerous. Why had I not suspected she'd pull something like this? I was losing my prized edge. I crossed my fingers that Mom would keep her word.

  For an instant, I thought about texting Shelby to warn her. Nah. No good.

  I texted Ellie instead. Mom has been warned. She promised to stay away from Shelby. Don't let Shelby know Mom's at the fair. Make sure my mom stays away from Shelby and her booth, would you? And report to me if she does?

  Ellie sent me a thumbs-up.

  I'm going to warn Lala, too.

  Dirty pool? Mom knew I had spies at the fair. She'd better expect I'd use them.

  Anyway, I was in the clear. Mom thought she'd gotten the last laugh, but the joke was on her. There was never going to be a wedding.

  Shelby (Sudden music hater.)

  As Alex commanded the stage, romantic lighting caressed him, highlighting his high cheekbones and the strong line of his jaw. With just a few years of age and confidence on him, he was more magnetic than ever. And despite myself, I felt the pull. From the looks of them, so did Kayla, Carly, and Ellie. They were all entranced, held under his spell.

  Krater was gone. The persona who'd come between us had vanished. Alex was back, looking handsomer and hotter than ever, startlingly like the crooner I'd fallen in love with at that wedding where we first met. I was right back in time, all alone at that table, rescued by a confident wedding singer who stole my heart.

  A buzz rippled through the vendors at the booths as they recognized Alex too. There were surreptitious glances at me. Then Alex. Then me. Finger pointing and whispering behind hands. There was almost a collective breath-holding going on behind the booths. Alex and I were on display. Everyone who knew our history and remembered was watching for my reaction.

  I held my head high, looking straight at Alex, masking my expression. Fortunately, it didn't take a lot of skill to hide my feelings in the dark.

  From the very first chord of his very first song, I knew what the song would be. I knew the words by heart and from the heart. Too bad I wasn't playing "name that tune" for cash. I'd laughed with Alex when he was writing it. Held his hand. Laid my head on his shoulder while he strummed out the chords. Swooned as he sang it to me time and again, making subtle tweaks.

  When it was "finished," I'd hand-lettered the lyrics as my own kind of love poem to him, then framed it and signed it "I love you." He'd improved on the melody since then. But the words, which had always been strong and poetic, written with half a jest toward the wedding industry we were in, remained the same.

  He'd told me, back then, that this was his love song to me. Now it was his love song to the world?

  Song after song, songs I recognized, songs I didn't, all of them describing some aspect of our love affair in intimate detail. He was telling a story with this album, and it was clearly ours. Meeting at a wedding. The nights we spent tangled together after his concerts.

  I'd released him to do his screamo thing and he did this instead? The irony wasn't lost on me. And though I fought it, anger bubbled beneath the surface. I couldn't control it.

  I held my breath, praying he didn't mention my name. That none of the songs were named something like "Shelby, Shelby, Shelby, Do You Love Me?" It was enough that I jumped at any lyric that sounded even remotely like my name. Did he have to use the phrase "she'll be" so many times? It was as if he was baiting me, just trying to get me to squirm.

  I silently cursed him and his timing, coming back into my world when I was settled and finally really happy again. Coming back three fiancés later to bruise my heart with a series of love songs. Killing me softly, wasn't that the term? Climbing the battlements of my heart. How dare he.

  I was furious. I wanted to run. Out of the convention center. Down the street. As far away as I could get. But somehow, I couldn't move. I refused to give him that spectacle. I needed to hear this story, every tragic part of it, and any mention of my name. I had a morbid curiosity over the rest of the story—the poor, brokenhearted Alex after I'd returned his ring. Or was that simply fiction? How much was he milking this for?

  He was using me, and the powerful emotions of our past love, to further his career.

  He cooed and strutted and caressed the crowd with his voice. He flirted and kneeled, stretching his hands into the adulation to shake hands and receive flowers and panties and praise. He sang directly to one woman and then another as they pressed the stage.

  Damn you, Alex. I let you go. I let you go.

  He stood and scanned the audience, his voice filling the convention center ballroom, looking for who knows what.

  I shrank in my chair, hiding from him in the shadows, hiding from the glances and murmurs, remembering the silly girl I'd been then, so naively and simply in love. So full of fantasy and romantic dreams. As if Alex could see me in the darkened crowd, in my little booth. As if he knew I'd be there, hanging on his every note.

  "You left my love at will-call," he crooned. "With a note and my ring. You left my love for me to collect—"

  Damn you, Alex. If I'd ever had any doubt that these were our songs, he'd erased it now.

  His gaze swung in my direction. There was a moment, just a fraction of a second, really, when I swore our eyes met.

  Impossible. I was just a dark face, if even that, in a dark sea of faces. But he had that way about him of making each and every woman here feel as if he were looking directly at her and singing to her heart alone.

  That familiar snap of electricity I used to feel around him coursed through me. I felt like I'd taken a jolt to the heart.

  You left my love at will-call…

  The crowd was transfixed. Women dabbed their eyes.

  There are moments when you come in contact with undeniable magic. This was one. This song was spellbinding. Of all the wedding songs he'd sung today, this one was going to be his hit. I just knew it. I could feel it.

  His voice broke at the end of the song. He bowed his head, taking a moment to compose himself. When he finally looked up, his eyes sparkled with tears.

  He was a showman. I'd give him that for sure. He always had been.

  Alex took his bow. But rather than exit, he began speaking. "I wrote that song for a very special woman in my life. I should say, who was in my life. Until I foolishly let her go so that I could pursue a career that, as it turns out, is nothing without her. The song is true. When she left me, she left my ring at will-call and walked out of my life. And I let her. It was the worst mistake of my life. Don't ever let your true love go. Not for anything."

  I went cold. No. No! What are you up to, Alex?

  "Have a great time here today. I love you all!" He left the stage, waving and blowing kisses.

  I relaxed. The devil was gone. Damn him.

  The emcee came back, clapping. "That was Wellston, ladies and gentlemen! Don't forget—your ticket is your entry into a drawing to have Wellston sing at your wedding. You can get his new CD at our booth…"

  The applause drowned the emcee out. People began calling Wellston's name, stomping and clapping for an encore.

  Ellie had a hand to her heart. "Wow." She fanned herself. "I want that guy." She laughed almost girlishly. "For my wedding singer."

  Carly turned to me, looking nearly as stunned as I felt. She whispered in my ear over the crowd noise, "I can't believe Alex is back. Who would guess he'd be the surprise musical talent? How are you doing, sweetie? Are you okay?" She put her hand on my arm.

  We caught Kayla's attention. "Something up?" She had to yell. "You look shaken, Shelby. Like you've seen a ghost. Are you okay?"

  I nodded, a little too vehemently, as I asserted my fineness. "Carly and I are just surprised."

  Wellston refused to come out for an encore, but his fans were equally determined to scream until he did.

  I mimed toward the stage. I cupped my hand around my mouth to amplify my voice. "We know him. Knew him. Back in the day. He was a local wedding singer. We worked weddings with him from time to time."

  Carly took my cue, realizing the other women must not know about my past with Alex. She nodded vigorously. "Alex gave up wedding singing to pursue his screamo career."

  Ellie pointed to the stage too. "With a golden voice like that, why in the world would he ever do screamo?"

  Carly shrugged and adjusted her apron. "It was his passion." She shot me a compassionate glance.

  "I can't believe you know Wellston." Kayla shook her head in disbelief.

  "It's no big deal. He was just Alex back then."

  I debated whether I should tell her the truth. Practically everyone here who was in the wedding business, particularly two years ago or more, knew about our engagement. It had sent shock waves through the community when Alex had given up his wedding singing career and I broke our engagement.

  Yelling the news over the noise of a crowd didn't seem particularly appropriate. But if I didn't tell them now, they were certain to hear the whispers and rumors. Soon they would notice the curious and sympathetic stares from people in the booths around us.

  I wanted to scream at them that I didn't need sympathy. I was the one who ended things. There's no reason to pity me.

  Everyone should have known that. But they also saw Alex leave and me remain, brokenhearted. I reminded myself—these were my friends and colleagues, people who'd been sympathetic and supportive when I needed it.

  It was only a little over two years ago, but it seemed like a lifetime ago. I'd matured in the intervening few years. Funny what a couple of years could do to a person. The younger, insecure me had grown in confidence—into a person who preferred fake relationships to the real thing, apparently. I had Alex, in part, to thank for that.

  I sucked in a big breath. "No big deal at all. Alex and I were engaged for about five minutes a few years ago." I forced a smile, shoving away the younger version of me, the one who'd been naively in love with Alex, head over heels.

  Ellie and Kayla's faces fell into lines of surprise.

  Ellie recovered first. "You were engaged to…?" She pointed to the empty stage again.