“I don’t want to talk about Blaine right now.”

If anyone understood the need to avoid hurtful topics, it was Tobias. He tried to lighten the mood for both of them. “Maybe we should set Blaine and Carrie up on a date.”

“Maybe we should write a song about it.”

“Setting them up on a date?” he asked with amusement.

“No. How we feel about each other’s situations. We could write it together.” She shrugged. “It might help both of us.”

That wasn’t a bad idea. He picked up his guitar and began strumming the tune to “Paint It, Black,” and sang, “I see my girl hurting, and I want to take it all back. Wash away the hurt, and start over again.”

Madigan chimed in, singing, “I want to shake your sister until she lets you in. I have to bite my tongue, make the anger go away.”

They both smiled, and he felt the darker emotions giving way. He began playing the chorus. “I want to take it, take it back. Back to a clean slate that can’t be misconstrued.”

Madigan broke in. “I wanna make her listen, wanna make her see, that you did it out of love, and it was an accidental tragedy. She needs to let you in, let you in, let you in.”

They played and sang, their lyrics going from serious to lighter, changing subjects at their whims, until they realized they were singing about being starved and eating pizza. They both laughed as he set down his guitar and lifted Madigan onto his lap, gazing into her smiling eyes. “Why don’t I go pick up some dinner for us while you go through that contract you’ve been putting off?”

Her brows knitted. “How do you know I’ve been putting it off?”

“I’ve got eyes and ears. I know I’ve been distracting you from important things, and don’t even try to deny it. You have a business to run, and you told me you were expanding it. I don’t want to screw that up for you.”

“I decided to put off the expansion.”

“But you were so excited about it. Why would you put it off?”

“Because I was only expanding to keep myself busy in the evenings, and now that we’re together, I don’t want to be that busy.”

“Mads, you can’t change your life because of me. I want to help you accomplish your dreams, not hold you back.”

“You’re not holding me back. Chloe wants me to take on more clients at LOCAL, which I’d really like to do, and that’s going to eat up more of my free time.”