Page 50 of Catch Yourself a Snowmance
“And tonight, I’d like to extend a special invitation. This singer doesn’t even know what I’m about to ask of her. Alyssa?”
Alyssa looks confused. She glances over at me. I nod. She looks even more confounded.
Addison lifts her hand like a visor over her eyes and scans the front tables.
“Alyssa, rumor has it you’ve got the voice of an angel. No pressure, girlfriend, but I thought it would be fun if you came on up here and took a mic next to me to singFrom Me to Youwith me.”
Alyssa points to herself, looks over at me again, and then back up at Addison. “Me?”
“Yes. You.”
Alyssa stands. A waitress walks over to our table and escorts Alyssa up the side stairs onto the stage. A guy hands Alyssa a microphone. He says something to her, points to a button on the mic and then ducks slightly and scurries off stage.
“Let’s hear it for Alyssa, everyone. And for the man who says he’s falling hard for her, Carson!”
People whistle and cheer. Alyssa smiles down at me.
Smiling’s good. She’s not mad that I put her in the spotlight without any notice.
I smile back up at her.
“Ready?” Addison asks Alyssa.
Alyssa nods and says, “As I’ll ever be.”
“No pressure. I’ll do the heavy lifting. You just join in where you’re comfortable. Okay?”
Alyssa nods. Her eyes land on mine. Sometimes she shuts them when she’s singing. This time, she keeps them fixed on me like I’m some sort of anchor. I couldn’t take my eyes off her if I wanted to.
The song starts up. Addison looks over at Alyssa and starts to sing the first verse. Alyssa misses the first two words, but then her eyes find mine again and she sings. It’s just as captivating as the first time I heard her over a karaoke machine in the living room of that drafty cabin. And she’s still singing for me, all these weeks later.
The two of them harmonize at parts, and as always, Alyssa makes it seem effortless. She starts really smiling about halfway through the song, her confidence growing with each note she hits.
When the song ends, the crowd erupts into applause. Addison looks over at Alyssa and smiles a genuinely impressed smile.
“Ladies and gentlemen, that was Alyssa Buchanan. You might want to remember that name. I’m just sayin’.” Addison turns to Alyssa. “Thank you for being brave and joining me. I’m not joking when I say it was my pleasure. Girl, you can sing.”
Alyssa thanks Addison and then she walks off stage. The crowd claps again.
Alyssaapproaches our table.
“You did that?” she asks me.
“I hope you’re not mad. It was a fifty-fifty shot at you being happy with me or wanting to give me a piece of your mind.”
“It must be your lucky night,” she says. “I’m really happy. That was … amazing.”
Addison starts into the next song. I grab Alyssa’s hand and give it a squeeze while I look into her eyes. “You’re amazing.”
We eat our dinner while Addison and the band sing their set of songs. After dinner, the waitress brings a slice of cheesecake to the table. It’s not just any cheesecake, either. It’s campfire s’mores cheesecake. And I had them put a little paper flag on the top that says, “I’m falling for you, Alyssa.”
She pulls it out, reads it and smiles over at me.
“You really outdid yourself, Carson.”
“I couldn’t get them to burn a part of the cheesecake for you.”
She laughs. “Somehow, I don’t think that would be as good as burnt marshmallow.”
