Kiera had reentered the room several minutes ago, and while I loved having her in my sight again, I needed to make sure she didn’t see this exchange. Making sure she wasn’t watching me, I opened my guitar case and grabbed my steamy, do-you-miss-me-yet letter. As I picked up the folded note, I paused to smile at the photo of Kiera and me that I always left tucked inside with my guitar. Jenny had taken this one too. It was Kiera and me, outside, caught in a laugh as we looked at each other. That photo was definitely going on the road with me. Looking at it made me wish I had tons of photos to take with me, but this would satisfy the ache of missing her. I hoped.

I took a second to gently touch Kiera’s face in the photo, then shut the case, and started threading my way through well-wishers to get to the last Pete’s waitress I needed to make plans with. “Kate…Kate-Kate-Kate.”

Kate’s expression showed her amusement when she looked up from a table of customers to grin at me. “Kellan…Kellan-Kellan-Kellan,” she teasingly mimicked. Stepping away from the table, she hugged her notepad to her chest and sighed. “I can’t believe this is the last D-Bags show for…a while. It’s not going to be the same without you guys here, you know?”

I had to swallow the sudden lump in my throat. “Yeah…” Shaking my head, my vision hazing as I did, I pushed back that pain and focused on what I wanted to say. “Hey, I was wondering…could you do me a huge favor?”

Kate’s brows bunched in curiosity. “Sure. What is it?”

I glanced around the room, looking for Kiera; she was busy helping someone several tables away from us. Hurriedly twisting back to Kate, I handed her my note. “Could you give this to Kiera at exactly midnight tomorrow? Exactly midnight. Tomorrow.”

Kate’s expression softened, like she thought I was adorable. “Of course…what is it?”

Leaning in close, I told her, “It’s a secret.”

She smirked as she looked up at me. “I see…” Biting her lip, she paused only a second before asking, “Can I read it?”

I gave her a playful frown. “But then it wouldn’t be a secret.”

“I’m really good at keeping secrets,” she said, her golden-brown eyes hopeful.

I gave her a firm face for a second, then laughed. “I don’t care. Just please, don’t let her see it before midnight tomorrow. I want it to be a surprise.”

“Sure thing,” she said, safely tucking it into her apron pocket.

“Thank you so much,” I said with a grin. After secreting a glance back at Kiera, I held up my fist for Kate. She giggled as she bumped mine with hers. Phase one was now complete. Everything was in place.