“Keep the invite, please. You can at least think it over.” Squeezing it in her palm, she pockets it and the two of us are left facing each other, inches apart. Being able to look at her eyes from here is everything. She has me wondering how long we can pretend whatever’s between us feels like friendship.
The double doors to the auditorium burst open, and Mae enters the lobby, flanked by her band members. The musicians have been incredible to work with, and I get more excited for the show at every rehearsal because of their ingenuity when it comes to on stage performances.
“We’re going out for a little lunch before we return for one more run through,” Joe, the drummer, calls.
“Raleigh, Dalton, will you join us?” Theresa asks, her arm draped over Mae’s shoulders.
“I’m personally not taking no for an answer.” Mae giggles, dragging Theresa forward. The girls gather Raleigh, breaking apart so she can walk in between them. She’s a head taller than the performers, but they don’t seem to mind.
Nobody asks for my answer or gathers me into their arms for a craft services lunch. When Raleigh looks over her shoulder, I give her a reassuring wave and let her go off with her performers. Like a tornado, the group is off to the trailers in the courtyard.
Trenton’s muffled performance leaks into the lobby, and suddenly, I’m curious to see how he handles a practice. The moment I crack open the doors, the music fills in every space. Trenton has always been talented. A complete prick, but talented. Crossing my arms, I lean against the back wall and observe for a few songs.
After a brief break, someone points out a change that needs to happen. The group moves on to a new song. It’s clearly about his relationship with Mae, but it’s also strangely genuine. Growingup around country music, you don’t realize how much it can draw people together until moments like these. Trenton has a unique enough voice, but his lyrics are what made him famous initially. If he’d stop hiding behind his frat boy image and step up when it came to respecting women, he’d be a lot easier to root for.
“Hey.” Mitch siddles up next to me. “How’s it going?”
“You tell me. I haven’t seen his set yet.”
Mitch begins to explain the setlist and how the practices have been going, but my thoughts quickly turn to red hair and the hum of a bright voice alongside a piano. Raleigh had looked like she belonged there. She’d also fallen quickly in step with the band. I don’t know much about Raleigh’s history, but in another life, she could’ve been the one on stage.
“ … It’s been nice to be so busy with these rehearsals. It's definitely cut down on PR work for our team for sure.”
At the mention of Raleigh’s role I’m pulled back to the conversation. “I’m sure he’s been focused on this over his…other issues,” I agree. Mitch shifts next to me, and when I look at him, it seems like he has more to say. “Something else on your mind?”
“I should tell you something, but I don’t want it to be an issue.” He shakes his head. “It’s not an issue, I just would like you to know since you and Raleigh are trusting me with Mae over the Christmas break.”
Trenton’s band shifts from the slow love song to an upbeat romp, a perfect cover for whatever hell Mitch is about to unleash on me. I already know it’s not going to be good. “Tell me.”
“Trenton’s been seeing another woman.” Before I can explode in anger, Mitch hurries to finish. “It was only a few times, and it was only when Mae and him were on a break.”
I wouldn’t call the couple’s recent fight a break, but it’s not like I’m made privy to conversations. “Why are you telling me this now?”
“Because we’re friends, and I think we both don’t appreciate how he treats women.” Flicking my eyes from the pig on stage to the man before me, the tension loosens slightly. Mitch and I have been friends for years. I know the kind of house he grew up in, how his dad treated his mother and siblings. As nauseating as the news is, at least I’m hearing it from him and not a newspaper article that Raleigh had to spin.
The doors next to us open once again, and the woman in question emerges. On stage, Trenton smirks and crooks a finger at Mae. She takes off in a jog, and when she reaches the stage, her boyfriend hoists her up beside him. Hopping right back in time on his guitar, the two of them lean into the mic.
The rest of Mae’s entourage makes their way to the stage, but Raleigh stays behind. She just smiles at me and leans her head back against the wall, seemingly taking a moment. Even in the crash of the electric instrumental on stage, she looks entirely serene.
“Listen, I’ll let you know if it happens again.” With a discreet grip of my bicep, Mitch slinks away, leaving me to juggle the information I’ve been given and the fact that Raleigh is standing feet away from me, alone.
While my mind flies a million miles a minute, the group along the stage and the lovebirds behind the mic scream out into the empty sound stage in sync, finishing the set with as much power and excitement as if closing a show at Red Rocks.
“They seem good!” Raleigh calls over the music. “Maybe the vacation isn’t such a bad idea!” She finds a smile to give me before turning back to the performance. I know it’s not my place to tell her anything, but how come I feel as guilty as if I’d actually been the one to cheat?
Chapter 19
Raleigh
STUPIDITY. THAT’S WHAT this is.
Dalton’s Christmas invitation had sat on my counter since the moment I returned home from that final rehearsal. I made myself stare at it every meal, and yet, I still didn’t make any sense of it until the last possible second. He’d said it was just a friend thing, but the connection between us when our fingers brush in passing has been nothing short of electric.
Hands overflowing with a bottle of wine and a collection of chocolates for the party, I knock twice on the door and then proceed to pull down my skirt slightly. I only barely manage to straighten before a man greets me. Standing here in the doorway is a slightly less built version of Dalton. An eerily similar smile spreads across his lips before he introduces himself and makes way for me to enter. Dalton’s brother.
The warmth of Christmas music, lit candles, and gentle conversation meets me as I cross the threshold. Dalton looks upfrom his glass and grins. “Raleigh!” he exclaims, immediately hopping from his spot to come greet me. Merle, who I’ve heard so much about, follows suit.
“I brought wine,” I start, delighting myself in his hug. “But I see that I wasn't the only one who thought of it.”
