Memory of a Melody Read online

  Memory of a Melody

  Charli B Rose

  Contents

  Title Jpg

  Memory of a Melody

  About the Book

  Note from the author

  1. Willa

  2. Trystan

  3. Willa

  4. Trystan

  5. Willa

  6. Trystan

  7. Willa

  8. Trystan

  9. Willa

  10. Trystan

  11. Willa

  12. Trystan

  13. Willa

  14. Trystan

  15. Willa

  16. Trystan

  17. Willa

  18. Trystan

  19. Willa

  20. Trystan

  21. Willa

  22. Trystan

  23. Willa

  24. Trystan

  25. Willa

  26. Trystan

  27. Willa

  28. Trystan

  29. Willa

  30. Trystan

  31. Willa

  32. Trystan

  33. Willa

  34. Trystan

  35. Willa

  36. Trystan

  37. Willa

  38. Trystan

  39. Willa

  Epilogue ~ Trystan

  Thank you

  Sneak Peek

  Other books by Charli:

  About the Author

  Let’s Keep in Touch

  Acknowledgments

  Memory of a Melody

  Charli B. Rose

  Cover design by Susan Garwood

  Edited by: Silvia Curry &

  Nathanie Serrano

  Copyright © 2020. Charli B. Rose.

  First Edition. All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  The author acknowledges the trademark status and trademark owners of various products referred to in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication / use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  charlirosewriter.wixsite.com/website

  Created with Vellum

  For all those who find the strength to hold on

  even when the odds are stacked against them.

  Memory is holding on to the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose.

  ~Kevin Arnold

  About the Book

  Nothing brings back a memory like a melody.

  Willa

  Something’s wrong. I don’t know what, but I can feel it. My best friend, my fiancée, even the hunky stranger who saved me are all hiding things from me. Which isn’t all that difficult considering I can’t remember the last six months of my life. Apparently, my purse wasn’t the only casualty of the random mugging I fell victim to. Those thugs stole pieces of my memory. Important ones. My heart is battered and bruised and … broken, and I have no clue why. How can I get married when I’m surrounded by secrets?

  Trystan

  My big break is finally within my grasp, but my inspiration has dried up. For months, I haven’t been able to write any new music. Then I meet her, and the floodgates open wide. Lyrics and melodies flow faster than I can jot them down. I never believed in things like muses, love at first sight or soulmates until Willa. But she doesn’t remember me except as her savior. If I tell her the truth about how we met and who I am, I’ll lose my one chance to make my dreams come true. If I don’t tell her, I might lose my chance at true love.

  Note from the author

  Books have always been my escape. I’ve been a reader for as long as I can remember. So it was only natural that writing was more than tapping out words on a screen. It’s an escape. When I write, I immerse myself in my characters’ lives. I feel their emotions, dream their dreams and hear their songs. My hope is that the immersive experience transfers to my readers as well. I don’t just want you to enjoy the story, I want you to feel it, to experience it. Part of creating an all-encompassing experience for you is my creation of what amounts to as a soundtrack for the story. The hero of this book, Trystan, is a musician, so music is vital to him. Many scenes in Willa and Trystan’s love story were inspired by song lyrics. Other songs were selected based on the feelings they elicited in me as I created this book. You can experience these feelings more fully as you read by listening to the integrated playlist. Songs from all walks of life and all ages have touched this story in one way or another. In addition to a link for my Spotify playlist, there are little music notes ♪ scattered throughout the book. In the e-book version of the book, if you click on the song next to the music note, you’ll be taken to the official YouTube video or the Spotify link for a song that’s relevant to the scene it’s in. (If you’re reading the paperback, obviously the notes aren’t clickable, but next to the music notes, I’ve listed the title of the song and the artist in case you want to check them out.) I do not own the rights to any of these songs. They’re added merely for reader enjoyment.

  Playlist link:

  1

  Willa

  I whipped my car into the parking garage of Cade's apartment building. My heart pounded like a drum with excitement. We'd both been so busy lately—with him taking over managing his family’s record label, Matthews’ Melodies, and me planning our wedding—that we hadn't had any time together. My trunk was filled with stuff I wouldn't need in the remaining few weeks we'd be living apart. Cade had offered to hire someone to pack up my belongings and move them for me, but it felt like a rite of passage to do it myself—packing up my single life and preparing to embark on the next leg of my journey as Mrs. Cade Matthews. It had a nice ring to it. Thinking of rings made my eyes drop to the sparkling ring which had adorned my finger for over a year now.

  A thrill shot through me as I imagined our future. Cade had promised me the world when he proposed. But I didn't need it. I only needed him. Though I'd happily conquer the world by his side if that was his goal.

  As I circled the parking deck to reach the level Cade always parked on, adrenaline rushed in my veins. When I got to “my spot,” someone was in it. A deep pink-colored Volkswagen Beetle occupied the space I normally used, not that we had assigned parking in the building. But Cade always insisted I park closest to the building’s entrance from the upper-level of the parking deck for safety reasons. He was so chivalrous. Over time, other people quit parking there, leaving it open for me. It must be a guest or a new tenant who didn’t know. Oh well. At least it was a cute car.

  I pulled into the empty spot on the other side of Cade’s flashy sports car. Just seeing it always made my blood race. The things we’d done in and on that car over the years... My skin flushed at the memories. The sexual tension and frustration had been building over the past few weeks. I wasn't sure how much more I could take without the very real risk of spontaneous combustion. Cade had this brilliant idea we should enact a period of celibacy in the three months leading up to the wedding. His theory was that by the time we were officially Mr. and Mrs. Matthews, we'd be revirginized, or at least incredibly desperate for each other.

  But I was desperate now. Hoping I could convince him to at least fool around like a couple of horny teenagers, I'd worn a short, sexy dress with thin straps, strappy high heels a
nd nothing else.

  I checked my reflection in the visor mirror. Pulling out my favorite shade of red lipstick, I smeared on a kissable layer. After a quick fluff of my hair, I got out of the car. With trembling fingers, I smoothed down my dress to make sure there were no wrinkles. I wanted to look perfect for him.

  My shoes created an echoing click-clack as I moved toward the elevator. Using the access card Cade had given me years ago, I called the elevator to where I waited. Once the doors slid open with a ding, I stepped into the empty car and pressed the button for Cade's floor. When his parents started talking of plans to retire, they'd turned over their penthouse apartment lease to Cade, opting for something less formal to call home. Honestly, I hoped we wouldn’t be calling it home for very long either. I wanted us to start our lives in a place of our own—a house with a yard where we could raise a family one day. But Cade loved the flashiness of the apartment on Spruce Street and the status it spoke of. Marriage was all about compromise, right?

  Within a couple of minutes, I exited the elevator over seven hundred feet in the air above New York City. I smiled at Cade’s only neighbor on the floor, an elderly business tycoon, as he stepped into the elevator.

  In the empty hallway, I tugged the bodice of my dress a smidge to straighten out a wrinkle. Satisfied with my appearance, I inserted my key in the burnished metal lock and let myself into my future home.

  Once the door opened, my ears instantly strained for the sound of the TV. Normally the first thing Cade did when he got home was turn on the sports channel. I frowned when no commentary on the merits of this quarterback over that one met my ears. Maybe I was earlier than I thought, and he was still in the shower. Perhaps I could surprise him and spend some quality time with my man. I’d been working late recently, trying to assist in the launch of my best friend’s fashion boutique. I was an investor, after all. Her success would be my success.

  I dropped my purse and keys on the entryway table but kept my phone in hand so I could plug it up later. My heels sank into the plush carpet of the gallery as I moved through it on my way to our bedroom. Light filtered into the doorway from the bathroom, but it was empty. And there was no lingering steam in the air.

  As I ambled deeper into the darkened bedroom, my gaze scanned the perfectly made bed. Cade wasn’t napping. His jacket wasn’t slung across the bench at the foot of the bed. By the looks of things, my fiancé wasn’t home yet. But his car was in the garage …

  So much for my plan to surprise and seduce him before we were supposed to meet his friends for dinner.

  Swiping my phone’s screen to life, I checked for a message from him.

  Nothing.

  I sank to the bench, racking my brain in an attempt to remember if he’d mentioned a meeting or something for this afternoon. There was nothing I could recall. But I had been pretty distracted lately, helping Sydney at the boutique and dealing with the final arrangements of an outrageously large wedding. Even after months of planning every detail from photographers to DJs to flowers to napkins, I couldn’t get excited about the lavish affair, which was nothing like me. But with Cade being the favored child and me being an only child, our parents wanted a blowout to be remembered. And like the people-pleaser I was, I gave in. It was just details, anyway. At the end of the day, I didn’t care if I wiped the gold-dusted cake crumbs off my mouth with a linen cloth or a paper towel, so long as I was married to Cade.

  The sound of voices snapped me out of my reverie. One was Cade’s. The other was a woman’s. A woman I didn’t recognize.

  I followed the sound of breathy, feminine moans, trying to make sense of what I was hearing. The moans grew louder and more frantic as a masculine groan joined in. A guttural growl followed by a grunt I intimately recognized but hadn’t heard in nearly three months.

  There had to be an explanation. I was just too tired and emotional to figure it out. My feet carried me sluggishly down the hallway toward the other side of the apartment.

  I always wondered why people slowed down as they approached a car accident, unable to comprehend their morbid curiosity. But even now, as I was on a collision course with potential disaster, I still kept moving forward. One foot in front of the other.

  As I got closer, I was able to make out the words.

  “You feel so good wrapped around my cock,” Cade said with a moan.

  “Don’t stop,” the female voice panted.

  The sound of flesh smacking flesh intensified with her demand.

  I really should’ve just turned around. I didn’t need to see for myself something that could never be unseen. Yet my stubborn body continued in the direction of the far bedroom.

  The door was ajar. And like the onlookers at the scene of a car crash, I turned to view the carnage. Instead of twisted steel, I saw twisted flesh when I peeked around the corner. My fiancé was buried to the hilt inside a woman who wasn’t me. One of his hands gripped her waist as he drove into her from behind. Each finger pressed deeply into the meat of her hip. I bet his hold would leave a bruise on her pale skin. His other hand fisted her long, black hair, tugging her head back. Her lips parted in a moan of ecstasy as her body convulsed around him.

  Knowing he’d deny it when I confronted him later, I quietly unlocked my phone. I hit the camera icon and recorded the lowlife cheater as he pumped into the raven-haired beauty. I snapped a few pictures too for good measure. I lowered the phone and stood still, continuing to stare.

  Why did I keep watching? Was I that much of a glutton for punishment? I’d certainly seen enough. What did I gain by watching the man I loved and had pledged my life to, pour himself into someone else?

  ♪ Cheater Cheater by Joey and Rory

  I was frozen in place. The sight before me like Medusa, turning me and my heart to stone.

  His thrusts became more frenzied. With a roar, Cade shouted, “I’m coming.” I snapped one more image, his face in ecstasy, mirroring hers.

  I should’ve left. I’d seen all I needed to. And I had evidence. That should be enough to prevent any issues with his parents … or mine.

  But I stayed.

  Cade collapsed against her back, completely spent. “That was amazing, babe,” Cade rasped out. Babe, the term of endearment he called me. The word that had always made me melt before.

  With one final grunt, he withdrew. He moved from the bed to the trash can. At least the bastard wore a condom.

  “Yeah, it was. Come back to bed.” She scooted up onto the pillows, moving out of my line of sight except for her legs.

  “Just for a minute. Then you’ve got to go so I can get ready before Willa gets home,” he consented, slipping back onto the mattress with her, his legs tangling with hers as he settled next to her. Unashamed of their nakedness, they lay on top of the rumpled blue sheets. Blue sheets I picked out last year to match the floral bedspread my grandmother gave us when we got engaged. She’d said she would need a bed to sleep in when she came to visit us in the big city. The bedspread lay in a crumpled pile on the floor, much like the pieces of my heart.

  “I can’t believe this is going to be our last time here. You have a lot of usable surfaces in this place,” the female voice whined. “Besides, we haven’t tried out that big bed in the master bedroom or that huge shower.”

  I supposed I should be grateful he hadn’t slept with her in our bed, our room.

  “I know, but it’ll be too hard once Willa is officially living here. But you’re right … We’ve certainly had our fair share of fun in here. I promise I’ll find some place new to screw you senseless,” Cade vowed.

  “But you’re marrying her.”

  I could hear the pout in her voice.

  “I know. But that doesn’t have to change things between us,” he murmured, shifting his body.

  I’d heard enough, seen more than enough.

  Though my insides shook with the pain of ending our three-year relationship and the rage of betrayal, I forced my outsides to remain calm. With a deep inhale, I straightened my s
pine. Standing tall, I strode into the room containing the source of my heart’s destruction.

  Her dress was in a heap by the door, discarded like they were in a hurry to get naked when they entered their love nest. Stooping quietly, I picked it up.

  The naked couple was oblivious to my presence looming over them by the side of the bed. Their lips were fused in a passionate kiss, arms wrapped around each other. My hands fisted the fabric of her blue dress while I waited for them to finish driving the nails into the coffin of my relationship. When he finally tore his mouth from hers, his eyes met mine over her shoulder.

  His jaw dropped, and at least, he had the decency to look ashamed and guilty.

  “What’s wrong, babe?” the woman asked, running her hot pink fingernails down his torso.

  “Yeah, babe, what’s wrong?” I sneered, my voice dripping with venom.

  The woman turned with a gasp and covered her naked breasts with her arm. I threw her dress at her, hitting her in the face.