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She hesitated, a question in her eyes.
“They’re for you. All of them are for you. They always were.”
Her throat moved as she swallowed. Her lips parted, but Leo dragged him away. Xander closed his mouth on his frustration. Now wasn’t the time.
“We have to clear everyone out, Xan.”
Xander could only nod, hoping she got the message as the visitors were herded from the room. He had to focus. There was more hanging on this concert than the funds for the charity.
*
Bonnie wished she’dhad a moment longer with Xander. She had a feeling he was trying to say something important. In the meantime, she showed the Tinknells the way back up to the auditorium. She knew it well, from ballet concerts and school events over the years. Tamara was equally confident for the same reasons, keeping hold of Colin to prevent him heading for the stage with all its expensive equipment.
Bonnie pointed the older couple to the row of seats near the front where Flo and Don already sat. Cat was at the far end of the row with Trudie and another couple of friends. Looking around, it seemed like the whole town was here, interspersed with strangers who’d come for the concert from out of town.
She ended up sitting between Mrs Tinknell and Flo, with Tamara and Colin between his grandparents. The two older women knew each other from years back and Bonnie found herself in the middle of a conversation between the two of them, catching up on each other’s lives.
“I can swap seats so you can be together,” Bonnie urged under the onslaught of town gossip.
Mrs Tinknell shook her head, resting a hand on Bonnie’s knee. “We’ll stop buzzing around you. Kevin and I will be moving back to town, so there’ll be plenty of opportunities to catch up.”
Assuming Kevin was Tinker’s father, Bonnie forced an interested expression. All she wanted to do was ponder Xander’s words, but even without the conversation going on, the auditorium was full of people chattering.
“I’m Pamela, the same as my daughter. I believe you know Pammie.”
Seemed like the family went for passing on family names. Except for Kevin. “She was older, but yes. I heard she got married.”
Pamela pursed her lips. “It didn’t last. Her husband wanted a family of his own.”
“Will she be coming back to the Crossing?”
“If she can find work. She’s a physio. Xander seemed to think there might be something available locally.”
Bonnie murmured something vague.
The other woman beamed. “Yes. We’ve been so lucky. Alexander, I mean Xander, has been helping us out for years. Since before…” The smile wavered. “Col… Tinker wasn’t very organised with his money. He bought us this wonderful house on the coast but we didn’t realise at first he’d only paid the deposit plus what we received for the house here. Xander took over the mortgage so we wouldn’t lose everything. Not that we knew straight away. It wasn’t until the accident, when we lost our boy, we found out what was happening. Naturally we couldn’t keep going. We talked it over last weekend with Tamara. It makes sense for us to move back here and with houses so much cheaper, and the value going up on the one at the coast, we won’t end up owing Xander anything.” Her eyes brightened. “It means we’ll be close to our grandson. Such a wonderful surprise. I only wish…” She squeezed Bonnie’s knee. “Still, we mustn’t complain. It was more than we’d ever hoped.”
Bonnie kept up the soothing noises while her mind buzzed. Xander had taken over not only the responsibility for Colin, but also Tinker’s parents? For all his protestations, he was capable of dealing with the hard stuff. Not just throwing money at whatever needed fixing, but also the emotional side of things, convincing Tamara to make the approach to her son’s grandparents. Gordo probably had an input too, but it seemed like Xander had taken the responsibility for years.
The lights dimmed and the noise of the crowd trickled away. After the Welcome to Country by a local traditional leader, Mayor Roland Suffolk emerged on stage to a vigorous round of applause. His speech covered the usual thank you mentions directed to the audience for paying to come and the musicians for performing, followed by a moving testimony about the work done by the charity. He was always a little longwinded, but it was part of the entertainment. He finished with a mention of Tinker and the connection between his tragic death and the choice of charity, leaving the stage to a rousing drumbeat from Connor O’Brien on his bodhrán before the band burst into a flurry of music.
They kept it all upbeat with their foot-tapping Celtic rhythms, keeping the crowd entertained with joking asides between the songs. Zac Hart and his band got the audience clapping along with the heavy beat, with a smooth change of mood at the end of their set, their award-winning ballad bringing on all the emotions. Such incredible talent already and the night wasn’t over.
By the time the crew were setting up the stage for Xander Mac and the Highlanders, the anticipation in the audience was palpable. Some had taken advantage of the break to stock up on drinks and snacks, but most of them were sitting expectantly.
It had been years since the band had done a local concert. Probably the inaugural Christmas in July festival five or six years ago. For some reason, Bonnie had never travelled further afield to attend a performance. She’d seen clips on the internet and had his albums. But there was something special about a live performance.
Colin bounced up and down on Tamara’s knee, trying to see what was happening. Pamela and Kevin were silent, watching with sombre expressions she found hard to read. Maybe they’d not seen Tinker perform for years either, and now they were here because of his death. Xander and the boys in the band must feel the same ambivalence, having lost a founding member after all these years.
She clasped her hands on her lap, suddenly edgy about what might be coming. Which songs were for her? Old habits had her tempted to think he only said that to impress her, but he wasn’t that guy. She knew it now. Not like Tinker, who’d had a smooth patter for fans he hoped to bed.
Leo appeared at the side of the stage and the spotlights flicked on, picking out the different band members as they took their places. Xander would be last on as they kicked off with the trademark opening, the distinctive lick of “Tomorrow’s Girl”. The main spotlight was circling the auditorium, coloured lights bringing the stage to life. The audience began clapping again, stomping their feet as the intro kept going.
When she’d almost started to worry, Xander flung himself onto the stage, jogging into the centre to take up his place beside Leo, picking up his already plugged-in acoustic guitar from a stand. The head mic cut across his cheek, ruffling his chin-length hair. He was in uniform again—denim, white tee and tartan shirt—the glint of the buckle she’d given him years ago catching her eye before he settled the instrument in place. It hung low on his waistline, the tartan guitar strap echoing the theme on the band’s logo.
His clear voice rang out with the words and for the first time she really listened, seeking meaning in the simple lyrics. Did Xander mean her to be the woman for tomorrow? It made sense, somehow, with their history.
She watched him perform, wrapped in the sudden warmth of a new conviction about where she stood in his life.
