Dalton:No! Was it that bad? Are you okay?
Raleigh:I’ll be alright. I knew this would be a bad idea. I removed myself from the situation with a fake crisis… you don’t have any emergencies you’ve been keeping from me have you haha.
The dreaded three dots of terror appear and then disappear. My smile fades, and I sit up a little straighter, preparing myself to actually have to handle something.
Raleigh:You do have one don’t you?
The dots fade and then suddenly my phone rings. I answer Dalton without hesitation.
“What’s going on?” I ask, nearly hopping to my feet. I work best while pacing.
“Easy, Raleigh, I didn’t mean to panic you. I just wanted to talk to you is all.”
“So…there’s no emergency?”
When he sighs, I can practically see him rub the back of his neck. He has something important to say, and I just need to give him the space to come out with it. “It’s just something I wanted to tell you the other night.”
My heart rate bumps up but immediately tampers when he finally shares the truth. “Mitch has let on to some things that Trenton’s been doing. I guess he’s been doing them…or rather, her, since before the breakup.”
“Trenton? Cheating?” I ask with an eye roll, this news is not new to any of us. My heart twinges only a moment for Mae and whether this will be something I will need to inform her about, or if I should let it rest. “You come to me with cheatingallegations, and I thought you were about to tell me something really upsetting.” I pinch the bridge of my nose in relief.
“I wanted to bring it up at our last one on one meeting. It’s something I’ve known about since before the tour and I keep kicking myself for not telling you before. If I had said something maybe we could have saved everyone some pain. I was going to tell you the other night.”
My mind flashes back to our last meeting at the bar, and I absent mindedly bite my lip.
“But I was distracted.”
As was I. “Well, I can be distracting when I want to be.”
“You’re distracting to me, even when you don’t want to be.”
We both laugh, but I can tell he’s still nervous. “Listen Dalton, it’s really okay. They’re broken up. It’s over and done with.”
“But I kept it from you, I don’t want you to think that that’s how I operate.”
“I don’t,” I answer, cutting him off sternly. “Not even for a second, do I think that about you.”
There’s a shared silence after my confession, but not like the ones that had frequently popped up in the dinner conversation. This one is tender and full of self reflection.
“Raleigh?” he asks after a few more moments.
“I’m here,” I whisper.
“I think—”
“Stop right there!” I demand, coming back to life. “Whether you’re about to share some grand affection or tell me another secret, I want to hear it in person, not over the phone.” Whether I’ve shared my request out of fear of hearing something right now or out of bravery of wanting to act on whatever he’s wanting to say, I don’t know. For now, I just know that I want to be near him.
There’s a beat of quiet and then Dalton continues, “I know you’re a curious creature so I’ll tell you that it was going to be aconfession of affection, but if you really want to wait to hear it in person, I can respect that.”
As the conversation moves on to more mundane, but no less interesting, topics about life, the clock beside my bed ticks away. I hear the floorboards creak, and my parents poke their heads in to bid their goodnights. I can tell my mother wants to make a comment about tonight,but ever the observant one, my dad sees I’m on the phone and quickly steers her away. He waves two fingers at me as he closes the door, and I raise a pinky in reply. A silent conversation we’ve shared for years. It feels so high school and so comforting at the same time.
Chapter 34
Dalton
THE DULL ACHE THAT’S been present in my chest since Raleigh’s departure—a grand total of three days—begins to ebb away as we approach the venue. It’s the morning before the show and the rest of the crew is finally ready to meet Raleigh here for a few run throughs. Mae assures me they’ve played this stage before, and the show isn’t going to be anything special.
The way she downplays her preparedness irks me, but I don’t say anything back to her because I know Raleigh will shut that down as soon as she gets the chance.
