Chapter 8
Chapter
Eight
Addy and Ethan were already running ahead as Kate lifted up the trunk to get her chair and cooler out. The fields and roads at the riverside were mobbed with people. She was surprised. And a little overwhelmed.
“Slow down,” she shouted, because there were way too many people here for her to feel comfortable with them running out of her eyesight. “Ethan, come grab the blanket. Addy, I need your help with my purse.”
The kids were buzzing as they made it into the lush green field alongside the creek. The big houses that overlooked the water were further along. She could see people filling each yard. The fields were full of chairs, tables, and blankets. In the corner of the first field she could see the makeshift stage and the volunteers – one of them James – standing by it.
“Mommy, there’s Noah from school. Can I go say hi?” Ethan asked.
“Can I go, too?” Addy said. “I want to say hi to him.”
“He’s not your friend, he’s mine,” Ethan said.
Here we go. “Nobody’s going anywhere until we find somewhere to sit. And then we’ll see,” Kate told them firmly, looking around to find a friendly face.
“Kate.” She felt a warm hand touch her arm and looked up to see Marley Hartson standing next to her. He took the cooler out of her hands. “Where are you heading?”
“I don’t know.” She offered him a smile. “Just trying to find a free spot.”
“You want to join the others from the department or would that be weird?” There was no judgement in his voice. Just an offer and she took it as that.
She took a deep breath. “I don’t think I’m ready for that,” she told him. Once upon a time she would have sat with the fire department without a second thought. But now, it would feel too weird.
He nodded in understanding. “How about my family?” he asked. “They’ve got a little spot to the left of the stage.”
“Can we put these things down somewhere ?” Ethan asked. “My arms are getting tired.”
“Okay.” She nodded. “Near the stage sounds good.” That way she could keep an eye on James, too, because that’s where the volunteers were stationed.
“Come on, then.” Marley took the folded up chair from her too and started walking. Ethan walked next to him, talking about the t-shirts Marley left the other week. Addy walked beside Kate, holding her hand now that she had them free.
The closer they got to the stage, the harder it was to weave in between the clusters of people sitting in circles. Kate kept Addy close, afraid she might lose her.
“Here okay?” Marley asked her, stopping next to where his mom was sitting. Maddie Hartson immediately stood up.
“Kate, it’s lovely to see you.” She reached out to hug her. “Oh my goodness, look at these children. How grown up are they?” She smiled widely at Kate. “Are you joining us?” she asked.
“If that’s okay?”
“Of course.” Maddie nodded as Marley put Kate’s cooler on the grass and opened up her chair. There were younger kids in the family group already – Marley’s niece and nephews, plus some more of his extended family. Ethan and Addy were already walking over to them because they knew the kids from school. Marley leaned forward and whispered something in his mom’s ear and she nodded.
“James is over there,” Marley told her, pointing at the side of the stage. And sure enough, he was sitting on his own, sorting out what looked like fliers. He was wearing jeans and a junior firefighter t-shirt, under a bright yellow vest. “He’ll go on litter duty every half an hour. Apart from that, he’s been told to stay by the stage.”
Her eyes met his. “Thank you.”
“Any time.”
“Shouldn’t you go now?” she asked him. “Don’t you have some drums to play?”
“In a while. Just wanted to make sure you’re okay first.”
“I’m fine,” she told him. “Thank you. For everything.”
He nodded. “Are you staying after the show is over?”
She looked at Addy and Ethan who were laughing at something one of the other kids was saying. “I’m not sure. I need to get those two into bed.”
When she looked back at him, his gaze was on her lips. He quickly brought it back to her eyes, but she felt a strange pulse of excitement rush through her. It made her feel breathless.
Then just as she thought he was going to turn around and leave, he reached out, his fingers brushing her hair.
“You have a leaf,” he murmured, pulling it out and offering it to her. A tiny green leaf was nestled between his fingers and thumb. She took it from him, her fingertips grazing his.
There was that pulse again. It made her breath catch. “Thank you.”
This time he really did turn and leave. But the memory of his touch still lingered.
“Come sit down,” his mom said. “And let me get you a drink. Tell me, are you driving or would you like some hard liquor to get through this?”
As soon as the first note echoed from the stage, Kate felt a shiver through her spine. Not just because they were so close to the speakers – close enough that Maddie was handing out ear plugs to the kids like they were bags of candy, insisting on all of them putting them on. But also because she couldn’t remember the last time she’d sat down and really listened to music.
At first, after Paul died, song lyrics hurt too much to hear. And then it had felt wrong to enjoy songs without him. Sure, the radio could be on when she was driving to work, or when her kids would be playing something in the living room. But she rarely stopped and listened.
But now she was. Everybody had turned their chairs to look at the stage. Half of the people had gotten up and were dancing and swaying to the music. Pres and Cassie were harmonizing, as he played the lead guitar and she played the keyboards.
And next to them the bassist was rocking down like he was playing at Coachella instead of on a little stage in West Virginia.
But it was Marley who kept drawing her eye. He took drumming as seriously as he took firefighting. She could see the attention on his face as he listened intently to the tiny changes in tempo and depth in the vocals, and adapted to them as easily as he took a breath.
He ran his tongue along his bottom lip to catch a bead of sweat and she felt something deep inside her twist.
And then he looked up, his gaze catching hers and she felt her blood start to heat.
The song was building. She could hear the intensity in Cassie’s vocals ramp up. Marley matched it beat for beat, and she could feel the vibrations coursing through her veins like he was playing just for her.
Her chest felt so tight she wasn’t sure she could breathe. He was looking at her again, and she didn’t want him to stop. Didn’t want this to stop, whatever it was.
All she knew was she felt like she was alive. Like she was being touched, not by hands but by music.
By his music. And it felt like a drug. Making her soar.
She took a deep breath, trying to center herself. She shouldn’t be feeling like this. He was Paul’s friend. She was Paul’s widow.
She pulled her eyes away, determined to get her heart rate back under control.
The next moment, Addy walked over with a muffin in her hand, poking at Kate’s leg with the other. Kate lifted her daughter into her lap. It was the third sweet treat Kate had seen her eating. The kid was going to be on a sugar high or a plunge, she wasn’t sure which.
But she stroked her hair and lifted one side of the ear plugs up. “You okay, honey?” she asked her.
“Mmm,” Addy nodded. She had crumbs on her lips. “Tired.”
A sugar plunge then. “Sit here with me for a while.”
When Addy had cuddled up into her, Kate looked back at the stage and Marley was watching her again.
This time she didn’t let her gaze stay on him. She brought it directly back to her daughter.
But it didn’t stop her from feeling like she’d just gotten on a rollercoaster that was about to speed out of control.