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“There’s a nice piano in the other room here,” Andrew said as he led us to the next room. “And a guitar, too, if you want to grab that and join.”
Sure enough, there was an old piano set up in the corner. It was an upright piano with the entire soundboard exposed, and many of the keys were either discolored or had chipped ends.
Leaning against the wall were three different guitars, and Andrew eagerly picked one up and handed it to me. It looked to be tuned to me, but I still strummed each of the strings tentatively and listened to make sure. Then, I turned my attention back to the piano.
“I have always wanted to learn how to play the piano. Maybe at some point, I’ll get the chance,” I commented.
“She’s not much to look at, but she’s tuned, and she sings like a goddess,” Kim said. “Have a seat there, Gavin; let’s hear you play something nice.”
Gavin reluctantly sat on the bench, and I folded my arms over my chest, waiting for what he’d decide to impress us with. I’d thought I’d heard him playing his guitar a few times over the past couple of weeks, but it seemed like he was doing what he could to avoid me.
And I was completely fine with that.
I kept my expectations low, sure that this burly man couldn’t play that well, and my two older landlords were just starved for entertainment in their small, remote town. But then, he surprised me by playing something classic.
“The Moonlight Sonata, one of my favorites,” Kim said with a content smile on her face. “You always know just what I’m in the mood to hear.”
“Do Fur Elise next,” Andrew urged.
Gavin complied, once more whipping out the melody from memory. I couldn’t do that. I had a library of songs in the back of my mind I could play from memory, but nothing classical. I knew there were a variety of classical songs that could be played on the guitar, but I had been more focused on what was modern. I didn’t bother learning the classics.
I applauded along with the other two after he’d finished, and Kim turned to me.
“What do you want to hear?” she asked. “I bet you he knows it if you request it.”
“If he’s into classical, I don’t know if he’ll have what I want,” I said. “I don’t play classical, so I don’t spend a lot of time listening to it.”
“Try me,” Gavin replied with a smirk.
I took what he said as a challenge, wondering if he was ready to play just about anything I could give him. Of course, I knew he would also call me out if I went with something too modern, making some jab at pop culture. So, I picked something popular from the seventies.
“I’d like to hear ‘Dream On by Aerosmith’,” I announced. “If you know it. If you don’t, that’s fine; I’m sure I can come up with something else.”
I didn’t have the chance to finish what I was saying before he launched into the introduction, then he continued right into the verse. To add to the moment, he started singing, too. And he wasn’t a bad singer by any means.
I counted in my head where he was, then joined in on the next verse with my guitar. Both Andrew and Kim applauded this, and Kim even sang a few of the words herself. She clearly didn’t know all of them, though she did her best to keep up with the parts we were playing.
Gavin, for his part, seemed rather surprised when I joined in and even more surprised when I took over with the guitar during the bridge. Andrew was especially impressed with this, and I played my heart out to show Gavin that I was just as good on the guitar as he was on the piano, even if I didn’t have as many years of practice under my belt as must have.
I also joined in singing the last stanza of the song along with him, showing everyone what I meant by being a better backup singer than lead. I knew how to harmonize, and I used that to my advantage along with his deeper voice.
Even though I could sense the animosity between Gavin and myself, I had to admit that it was fun playing the song together.
Both Andrew and Kim clapped for us heartily once the song was finished, and I swore I almost saw a genuine smile on Gavin’s face. It was brief, however, and before he had even turned from the instrument, it was gone.
But I wasn’t about to let the moment pass without calling him out on it.
“You know you look like Steven Tyler when you smile,” I told him.
He rolled his eyes before leaving the piano and heading back to the table in the dining room. Andrew and Kim eagerly followed, both chatting away with each other over how good the performance was.
I smiled to myself as I trailed along behind.
Chapter Eight
Gavin
I came away from the dinner hoping that after spending an evening with my younger neighbor, I would finally get her out of my head.
