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water, and she knew without it being said that he wanted to avoid people as well.
    “How about some ice cream?” she asked, thinking of the old shop a few blocks away. “I can meet you at Mary Alice’s.”
    “Sounds good, Kassidy,” he told her, and she savored the way he said her name. It was just a name, but the way he said it was music in her ears.
    She barely hung up the old rotary phone that her parents refused to upgrade when her mother popped out of the back. “Who was that?” she asked.
    “Oh,” Kassidy mumbled, realising she’d have to lie to her mother. “It was Paul.”
    A look of relief washed over her mother’s face before she said, “Oh, good. And what was he after?”
    “Just seeing if I wanted to do something tonight,” Kassidy told her mother. “I thought maybe we could go get some ice cream seeing as it’s been so warm lately.”
    “That’s a lovely idea,” her mother agreed. “It’s almost closing time anyway, so why not go get ready now.”
    “Thanks,” Kassidy said with a too-forced smile. She hated lying, especially to her parents, but it was a necessary evil. It would take a lot more than listening to some of Levi’s older music to convince them he wasn’t all bad.
    The May weather had been unseasonably warm the last few days, and after a quick shower and blow dry to her long hair, Kassidy pulled out a soft yellow sundress and sandals. Just to be safe, she grabbed a light sweater to wear over her shoulders in case the temperature dropped.
    With a quick good-bye to her parents, Kassidy made her way down Main Street in the direction of Paul’s house. He was back with his parents for the summer and they owned one of the larger houses on Oak Avenue, but that wasn’t her destination. She just needed to make sure her parents thought it was.
    This is so silly , she told herself as she walked. You’re twenty-one years old.
    It did make her feel like a child again to go sneaking out against her parents’ wishes. Gillian had a habit of convincing her and Addison to do so when they were kids, but Kassidy really thought she had grown past that.
    Once she hit the first major intersection in town, she turned right instead of left and made for Poplar. Levi was expecting her and she had no intentions of making him wait.
    Levi was waiting for her on the wrap around porch of Mary Alice’s old Victorian and a blast of butterflies and nerves swelled up within her as she made her way up the walk. Actually meeting him with the intention of doing something together was more stressful than she could have imagined, but she refused to let it slow her down and she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear before she said, “Hello.”
    “Hey,” Levi said as he stood up to greet her. That touch of smile was missing from his face, but he didn’t look unhappy to see her. “So... ice cream?”
    “Sure,” Kassidy agreed, though as the sun set behind the trees the temperature in the shadows was lower than she had anticipated. The breeze was cool on her bare legs, but she didn’t mind. All she cared about was walking side-by-side with Levi as they made their way to the ice cream shop.
    There was nothing but awkward silence as they walked together and Kassidy knew her nerves were to blame. Everything she thought to say to him sounded immature and childish. He’d travelled the world and was famous, she doubted he would find any interest in the goings on of some small town girl’s life.
    And yet he had been the one to call her. She couldn’t let herself forget that and she smiled to herself as they strolled through the small parking lot of the ice cream shop.
    “Looks like we have the place to ourselves,” he said as he held the door open for her.
    Kassidy nodded and said, “Yeah. It’s a little early in the summer season for ice cream, I guess.”
    One girl was working the counter alone and her eyes went wide when she saw Levi, but she didn’t say anything. Kassidy wasn’t sure if it was