by C. D. Hersh
His gaze followed the direction her hand pointed. Then he dropped onto the ground beside her. “The tree wasn’t there, either, when I peeked in your kitchen window this morning.”
“You can see it?”
“Uh, yeah.”
For a second they studied the tree in silence. Then she spoke. “Remember when we first met and I asked you if you’d moved my tree?”
He laughed. “I thought you might be high.”
“I did, too, when I first saw it.” She paused and bit her lip, uncertain how to proceed. “This is going to sound crazy . . . the tree spoke to me at Woodstock. Promised me a true love.”
She watched him for his reaction as he stared at the tree.
“Sounds as nuts as my story about Gloria.”
A thousand grace notes jumped in her stomach, a chaotic song banging there. He didn’t believe her.
“But it’s true.”
“So is my story about Gloria. Do you believe me?”
She should. He’d physically showed her how much he loved her. She’d seen his proof. He said he loved her. Wanted to be her soul mate. Surely that counted for something. Besides, if the tree appeared to him now, didn’t that mean he was the one for her?
She nodded, too nervous to speak.
Facing her, he touched his forehead to hers. “Thank God,” he whispered. “I was so scared I would lose you.” She eased against him, and he slid his arm around her. “I have something to tell you.”
She tensed. “No more bad surprises, please.”
“You’ll like this, I promise.”
She heard the smile in his voice.
“I believe your story, too. At Woodstock, when I searched for you, I climbed the hill to the spot where I first saw you. Something strange happened.”
She held her breath.
“I saw your tree. This tree.”
Her heart burst at his statement. Anthony was the one! Then she remembered she’d heard music and a voice at Woodstock. She strained, listening for sounds on the air. When she heard nothing except the wind rustling in the leaves, her heart sank.
Suddenly, he pulled her to her feet, urging her toward the spreading branches of the tree.
“Listen. Do you hear that?”
Harmonic musical tones with a voice woven in the notes chimed softly on the breeze.
Touch my bark, stroke my leaves. Find the soul of their lives if they but believe.
“I believe, Rose. Do you?”
Her heart leapt with joy. He could hear the tree!
“Yes. I believe.”
As a shower of leaves fell on them, he moved closer.
“I love you, Rosemary Sterling. Will you marry me?”
He leaned her against the trunk and kissed her. The leaves rustled louder, causing them to part. Above their heads, limbs twisted and writhed into two entwined hearts.
She grinned at the tree’s confirmation of their love.
“You haven’t answered my question, Woodstock Rose. Will you marry me?”
“Yes, Dakota Anthony DeMarco. I will.”
He pressed her against the golden bark and kissed her like she’d never been kissed. In the branches above them, the tree whispered, For your trust, for your faith, keep my secrets untold, and I’ll gift you forever, to have and to hold.
As he eased her to the ground, the branches dipped to the grass, surrounding them with a curtain of green. The silvery-bottomed leaves glittered like diamonds in the sun-sparkled openings. When their souls and bodies entwined under the magic tree, she knew she’d finally found the beautiful man who would make all her dreams come true.
Forever.
Thanks for reading Can’t Stop the Music by C.D. Hersh, Book Two in THE SOUL MATE TREE COLLECTIVE! If you enjoyed the read, please consider leaving a review at Amazon.
The Collective continues with March’s release, Between Venus and Mars, by S.C. Mitchell:
A junk heap of a starship, a magical tree, and a roving gang of mutant kangaroos are just the beginning of rollicking intergalactic journey for Zana and Kyle, filled with laughs, love, and adventure.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
About the Setting:
Woodstock was probably the biggest event that happened in the counterculture era of the hippies. For the most part the festival was unorganized, having had the venue changed several times. So when you research Woodstock you can find conflicting information. Even though we lived through the Sixties, we were not at Woodstock, so our knowledge is based on research.
Many of the events in the story are based on things which happened in Woodstock, like the unexpected massive crowds; the concession stands running out of food; the free stage where Rose, Dakota, River, and Melody performed; the rains which stopped performances or rearranged the music schedules and turned Max’s land into mud puddles. Others, such as the attack on Rose, were purely our imagination, as we could find no evidence of violence at the festival. However, a good story needs conflict, so we created some.
And while there were probably some magic mushrooms floating around the festival grounds, no one reported seeing a magic tree that gave lonely hearts a soul mate. We can thank Soul Mate Publishing for that delightful addition to our Woodstock story.
Should you like to create your own playlist of music referenced in this book, here’s the list of songs we used in Can’t Stop the Music. We had a great time searching out these tunes on the internet and reliving the music from our past.
Music List
SIXTIES Woodstock Music:
Tim Hardin’s ‘If I Were a Carpenter’
Incredible String Band:
‘Invocation’
‘Gather Round’
Woodstock: Music from the Original Soundtrack and More
Jimi Hendrix ‘Medley’ including:
‘The Star-Spangled Banner’
‘Purple Haze’
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s ‘Sea of Madness’
Sly and the Family Stone’s ‘I Want to Take You Higher’
Jefferson Airplane’s ‘Volunteers’
The Butterfield Blues Band’s ‘Love March’
Santana’s ‘Soul Sacrifice’
SIXTIES:
Peter, Paul, and Mary:
‘Puff, the Magic Dragon’
‘If I Had a Hammer’
Iron Butterfly’s ‘In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida’
Oliver’s ‘Good Morning Star Shine’
SEVENTIES:
Joseph Kosma’s ‘Autumn Leaves’
Barry Manilow’s ‘Ready to Take a Chance Again’
CLASSICAL:
Bach’s ‘Minuet in G’
Rossini’s William Tell Overture
John Cage’s ‘4’33”’ (four minutes and thirty-three seconds of silence)
Disney’s Fantasia
Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker Suite
Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring
Bach’s ‘Toccata and Fugue in D Minor’
Schubert’s ‘Ave Maria’
Also from C.D. Hersh and Soul Mate Publishing:
THE PROMISED ONE
(BOOK 1 of THE TURNING STONE CHRONICLES)
In the wrong hands, the Turning Stone ring is a powerful weapon for evil. So, when homicide detective Alexi Jordan discovers her secret society mentor has been murdered and his magic ring stolen, she is forced to use her shape-shifting powers to catch the killer. By doing so, she risks the two most important things in her life—her badge and the man she loves.
Rhys Temple always knew his fiery cop partner and would-be-girlfriend, Alexi Jordan, had a few secrets. He considers that part of her charm. But when she changes into a man, he doesn’t find that as charming. He’ll k
eep her secret to keep her safe, but he’s not certain he can keep up a relationship—professional or personal.
Danny Shaw needs cash for the elaborate wedding his fiancée has planned, so he goes on a mugging spree. But when he kills a member of the secret society of Turning Stones, and steals a magic ring that gives him the power to shape shift, Shaw gets more than he bargained for.
Available on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/nenshjz
BLOOD BROTHERS
(BOOK 2 of THE TURNING STONE CHRONICLES)
When Delaney Ramsey is enlisted to help train two of the most powerful shape shifters the Turning Stone Society has seen in thousands of years, she suspects one of them is responsible for the disappearance of her daughter. To complicate matters, the man has a secret that could destroy them all. Bound by honor to protect the suspect, Delaney must prove his guilt without losing her life to his terrible powers or revealing to the police captain she’s falling for that she’s a shape shifter with more than one agenda.
The minute Captain Williams lays eyes on Delaney Ramsey, he knows she’s trouble. Uncooperative, secretive, and sexy, he can’t get her out of his mind. When he discovers she has a personal agenda for sifting through all the criminal records in his precinct, and secretly investigating his best detective, he can’t let her out of his sight. He must find out what she’s looking for before she does something illegal. If she steps over the line, he’s not certain he can look the other way for the sake of love.
Available on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/p7nrsn9
SON OF THE MOONLESS NIGHT
(BOOK 3 of THE TURNING STONE CHRONICLES)
Owen Todd Jordan Riley has a secret. He’s a shape shifter who has been hunting and killing his own kind. To him the only good shifter is a dead shifter. Revenge for the death of a friend motivates him, and nothing stands in his way . . . except Katrina Romanovski, the woman he is falling in love with.
Deputy coroner Katrina Romanovski has a secret, too. She hunts and kills paranormal beings like Owen. At least she did. When she rescues Owen from an attack by a werebear she is thrust back into the world she thought she’d left. Determined to find out what Owen knows about the bear, she begins a relationship meant to collect information. What she gets is something quite different-love with a man she suspects of murder. Can she reconcile his deception and murderous revenge spree and find a way to redeem him? Or will she condemn him for the same things she has done and walk away from love?
Available on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/guphz45
THE MERCENARY AND THE SHIFTERS
When mercenary soldier Michael Corritore answers a desperate call from an ex-military buddy, he finds himself in the middle of a double kidnapping, caught in an ancient war between two shape shifter factions, and ensnared between two female shape shifters after the same thing . . . him.
Shape shifter Fiona Kayler will do anything to keep the shipping company her father left her, including getting in bed with the enemy. But when she believes the man trying to steal her company is involved with kidnapping her nephew, she must choose between family, fortune, and love. The problem is . . . she wants all three.
Available on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/z38sok2
