She rolls her eyes. “Trust me, it’s fine. She leaves it on speaker so I can listen.”
“You guys have a strange relationship.” I don't mean it as a dig, I just want to know more.
Mae studies me for a second, but ultimately sighs and lets me in on their secret. “It’s just hard for her to open up, okay? It just makes things a little easier if I know what’s going on with her and she doesn’t have to tell me.”
Do thingsgo onwith Raleigh often?
“I don’t have an understanding like that with her,” I say, shaking my head, refusing to eavesdrop.
“You’re part of the team now,” she says with a shrug. She’s out the door, and I’m following before I can think too hard on how messed up this feels.
Stopping short of her cracked office door, we can just make out the conversation that’s barely audible on speaker. Mae steps up to the opening, still out of sight, and waves me next to her. The anxiety in my stomach tightens. All of this feels so wrong, but a sick part of me wants to know what’s going on. As Mae said, there’s no way Raleigh would tell me out right.
I wince when I hear a miffed male voice. “You honestly didn’t believe that the door was still open for us to try again, did you?”
Raleigh’s voice practically crackles with frustration. “I didn’t know what to think, Grant. I mean, I didn’t even know you were seeing someone …”
Grant cuts her off. “You haven’t exactly returned my calls the past few months.”
“That’s such bullshit, Grant. How was I supposed to do that? It wasn’t until the day you heard about what happened to Mae and me that you felt like reaching out. I mean, what was I supposed to think?”
“You’ll be home in a few months. We could meet up and talk about it—”
Enraged, Raleigh cuts him off. “I don't think your fiancé would find that very fun or appropriate.”
“I hate hearing you like this—”
“You know what?” she says through her frustration. “I’m busy. I have a colleague in the other room. I’m going to go.” Her voice calms as she finishes her piece before the sound on the other end of the line is cut off.
The silence lasts a beat and then Mae leaps from my side and pushes her way into the room. Peeking in, I see the two women embrace. To my surprise, Raleigh inquires after me. “Is Dalton with you?” she asks quietly. Mae gingerly steps to the side, and the world stops for a moment. I want to walk over to her and wrap my arms around her, but something otherworldly keeps me from doing so. “Good,” she confirms with a nod. “We’ve got so much work to do.”
The whiplash of the tender moment to the back-to-work mentality sends me reeling. Mae had said she wasn’t one to discuss anything she was going through, and that’s fine, but seeing her cry is never something I want to see again.
As Raleigh returns to her desk, she tosses her continuously pinging phone into a drawer and closes it. You’d expect her to slam it closed, but she gently latches it shut and places her hands on the desk, ready to work as if nothing had happened. As if nothing matters to Mae and me but the work.
Mae and I share a sad smile before claiming chairs at her desk. With no other choice, we bury ourselves in the tasks at hand right alongside our fearless leader.
Chapter 17
Raleigh
THE LIGHTS OF THE rehearsal arena come to life with a buzz. It’s the last day of rehearsal before the long Christmas break. Instruments and set pieces have been left in their positions by the morning crew. Today’s the day they put it all together, the last opportunity to tweak things before it all becomes real in the new year.
Peeking backstage, I confirm that I’m alone before climbing up onto the piano bench and running my hands over the keys. The Thanksgiving break was hard enough, I couldn’t go home to Arkansas with everything going on. I mean, I probably could have, but it would have been too hard. I had to settle for a Facetime call from my parents, a cold cut turkey sandwich, and aPlanes, Trains and Automobilesdouble feature. Hitting a minor chord, I try not to dwell too much on the negative of the past few weeks. I’d caught up on so much work, and Mae had rekindledher relationship with Trenton. She was right before, the stage really does bring them together.
Humming the bridge of a song I never could have written, I hit another simple chord and look out at the dead space in front of the stage. When the scene of Grant and me on a stage in a bar lit with neon hits me, I reel my hand away from the piano like it shocked me. I could’ve had this.
“Raleigh?” Pulling my blazer tighter against me as I turn, I find a curious Dalton behind me. “You alright?”
I nod. It hasn't been easy between us the past few weeks, mostly because I’ve avoided his calls and haven’t told him any details about what he witnessed in my office.
“I didn’t know you played,” he says kindly.
“I don’t anymore.”Please don’t ask questions, I beg. He motions for me to scoot over on the bench, and I oblige him. Something about him being near in this big of a space has warmed me considerably. He places his hands on the keys as if he’s about to play. “Do you? Play, I mean.”
“I think I took one lesson.” His hands slide away, and I realize he’s doing the same thing as I was moments ago: pretending to be something he isn’t. Well, I like him exactly the way he is so I change the subject.
“You brought Mae with you?”
