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"Don't forget, Birdy, I'm not entirely sure it's Micah's. Only Micah can confirm that."
I set the case on the table and slid it in front of him.
"Different case, but that doesn’t mean anything," he said. "Oh, dang, Claire," he added, peeking in. He closed the box as quickly as he opened it, and his steel-blue eyes met mine. He was so different than the man who first told me about this guitar, and yet entirely the same. My face fell.
"Wrong one?" I said.
"No. Right one," he answered, his eyes not leaving mine.
I grinned instantly. "It is? Seriously? It's yours?"
"Yes, Claire."
"Open it!" I said excitedly.
"Open it!" other people added.
Micah shook his head and gave us a disbelieving smile as he opened the guitar case again. I felt nervous and excited, and I watched his face the whole time. He had taken guitars out of cases thousands of times before and his movements were smooth and practiced. He effortlessly took it out and turned in his chair to position it on his lap.
I was still standing, and I watched his motions out of my periphery because I was staring at his face. He was overwhelmed. I could see it in his expression. I felt compelled to watch him as he struggled to keep it together. I could see his mouth twitch and the muscles in his jaw tense, and I saw his chest rise and fall as he took a deep, calculated breath. He was really trying not to cry, and watching him caused my heart to pound.
He blinked. "Inever dreamedI would see this thing again," he said, turning it around to inspect the neck where it had been repaired. He rubbed the broken part. "It looks like someone put a tinted varnish on it to mask the imperfections a bit, but the patch is still visible, and I would know this guitar from a line-up of ten thousand others. This is the one," he said. He took a deep breath. "I'm not going to be a big baby about it. I'm not going to be able to talk about how amazing this is. I'm shocked right now. Thank you, Claire. It's… (he played a few notes on it and smiled) …it's less amazing that you actually found it and more amazing that you searched so relentlessly for me. I’m so thankful for this. And I’m thankful for you guys—my family. I'm so happy for you, Isaac and Ari."
Micah smiled at me, but we barely made eye contact. I could tell he was overwhelmed, but he was handling it well. I felt overwhelmed seeing him like that. My heart was about to burst. He played the wedding march on his guitar as all this was happening and everyone laughed.
"Justin Teague told me his wife got it for him as a joke because he kept saying he wanted to buy a guitar and learn how to play it, but he couldn't decide which brand he wanted."
"I can't believe you got to meet Justin Teague," JD said.
"I can't believe Justin Teague found that guitar. Where'd he get it?" It was my dad who asked, and I turned to him with a regretful shrug.
"I forgot to ask. I was too excited about the guitar. I told him the story about a friend losing it years ago, and he said our story is better than his, and he gave it to me. He didn’t even charge me for it."
"I guess not, if it's going to Micah Lacey," my dad said.
"No, I didn't tell him who it belonged to," I said. "Only that it belonged to my friend and that I had been looking for it since he lost it."
Micah had been playing lightly the whole time I spoke. He was so talented and I smiled and got distracted by watching his fingers move.
***
None of us expected Micah to show up to the rehearsal dinner, and we hung out in the restaurant longer than we might've had he not been there. He ended up playing a song on his guitar, and Ari suggested that we all sing along while he played another one.
Jake was not amused. Apparently, he wasn't much for singalongs. He was a musician himself, which I thought was odd. I whispered in his ear afterward and reminded him that I lived upstairs, that he had driven here, and that he was free to leave whenever he wanted. He stayed around for a half-hour after that, but he wasn't acting normal. Finally, I just gave up and told everyone I was tired and going upstairs.
At this rate, I was planning on breaking up with Jake. I did not want to celebrate my brother's wedding with him acting like this. It wasn't normal for him. We had been dating for long enough that I thought I knew his character, but I didn't like this side of him. I was dealing with thoughts about Jake, but I held it in, acting unaffected in front of my family.
All of us went our separate ways when I said I was turning in. Micah had a house in Seattle, and he went there, along with a few others who weren't ready to go home. They asked if I wanted to go, but I turned them down, saying I'd see them tomorrow at the wedding. Jake followed me toward my apartment, saying he would walk me up.
"We need to talk," he said at my back as I headed into the stairwell. He sounded upset.
"What about?" I asked turning around. There was an elevator in the building, but I was on the second floor and my apartment was close to the stairwell, so I usually took the stairs. I stopped before I made it to the second step. "What about?" I repeated, having second thoughts about him coming up.
"What do you think it's about?" he said, scoffing at me. "You think it's pleasurable for me to hear how much you looove Micah Lacey and how you spend yourwhole lifelooking and searching for his guitar? And somehow I know nothing about any of this."
He reached out and grabbed my arm. He did it slowly and gently, and he stared at me with an expression of concern like he was trying to get something through to me.
"Claire, can't you see this whole situation is terrible for me? That's torture, watching you talk about him like he's your boyfriend and not me."
