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Finn raised a hand towards the kid. “Hey, Lukas. Good to see you, man.”
I didn’t know what was going on, but it was too cold to stay outside. Plus, I was kind of curious what we were doing at the gym on a Saturday afternoon…until Lukas opened the backdoor of his mom’s car and pulled a guitar case out with both hands.
“Do you need help?” I asked, my heart melting at the way his little blue beanie flattened his blonde bangs against his forehead.
“No, thank you,” he said, his puffy Spiderman boots rooting him to the sidewalk. “Finn says musicians should carry their own instruments.”
“Does he?” I asked, my eyes straying back to him.
“How’s the songwriting going?” Finn asked, opening the door as Lukas approached and giving me a you coming? look.
“Good,” Lukas said, ducking under Finn’s arm to get inside. “The one I’m writing for Carly needs work, but I wrote one about the time my dog had diarrhea, and my dad thought it was great.”
The shallow wrinkles around Finn’s eyes deepened with his laughter. “Sounds like you’re making good progress.”
“I think I might write one for my mom, too,” Lukas said as we entered the main hall.
“I bet she’d like that,” Finn said, pausing at reception to sign us in while Lukas waited patiently beside him, looking on with obvious admiration.
“Is that your girlfriend?” he whispered loudly, sidling up to Finn when we started down the hall.
“No, that’s Maeve.”
“Hi,” I said, raising a hand when he glanced over his shoulder to inspect me.
He stopped and stuck his hand out. “I’m Lukas.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said, impressed by his confidence.
“You’re pretty,” he said.
I smiled. “Thank you.”
“I think so, too,” Finn added, his warm gaze finding mine before he patted Lukas on the back. “Come on. Let’s not keep the other’s waiting.”
“How many others are there?” I asked.
“Half a dozen usually,” he said, heading for a cracked door at the end of the hall. “It’s a bigger group after school on Wednesdays, but I do a Saturday session twice a month for the more advanced kids.”
Lukas beamed like Finn had draped a medal over his head.
“You are full of surprises,” I mumbled as we entered the small room, which was empty apart from a row of stacked chairs, four little kids strumming away on their guitars, and a full-bodied black woman who stood from her seat to greet us.
“There he is,” she said, making her way over in a swishy green skirt that floated over the floor.
“Mary, this is Maeve,” Finn said. “She’s going to sit in today, if that’s alright.”
“A friend of yours, I take it?” Mary asked, reaching for my hand as she gave Finn a teasing look.
“Pleasure to meet you,” I said, her warm hand a comfort after being out in the cold.
“The pleasure’s all mine, I assure you,” she said, elbowing Finn with her eyes again.
“She’s not his girlfriend,” Lukas interjected, confirming that I hadn’t imagined her cheeky expression. “I already asked.”
Mary patted him on the head. “Sure, she’s not, hon. Why don’t you go get set up? Your usual seat’s there for you at the front.” Mary’s friendly eyes twinkled at me one last time as she took me in like I was the celebrity guest. “You kids have fun.”
“Thanks for being so cool about this,” Finn added sarcastically as he pulled a keychain from his pocket.
