CHAPTER FORTY-TWO “Wasted Time”
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
“Wasted Time”
Eagles
THREE MONTHS LATER
“Are you getting it?” Lexi asked as I held my iPhone up on the side of the stage.
“Yep,” I said as I zoomed in on the drummer, the video ticking, my heart hammering with excitement. I was in complete awe.
“God, this is awesome,” Lexi said at my side. “I can’t believe we got back here!”
“I know,” I said, glancing her way. “We’ve come a long way, baby!”
Lexi and I were like pigs in shit as we watched the show from the side of the stage.
I ended the video and sent it to my father, who messaged me back something resembling an impressed text. He was just starting to learn and was getting there. Though I wasn’t sure he knew what LOL meant.
“I fucking love you,” Lexi yelled as she rocked out next to me, full on fangirl. I gave her a lopsided smile.
“Hmm, with all the prejudice you had, you finally giving in?”
“They are awesome!”
“Yeah, well, I’ve always been right about them!” I yelled with an elbow nudge.
“You are,” she said, looking down at her phone with pressed brows. She glanced at me and her shoulders sagged.
“You have to go,” I said as she slowly nodded, her devastation evident on her features. We shared a tear-filled smile.
“Go,” I said, hugging her tight.
“I’ll call you all the time, I promise.”
“You better,” I warned playfully as she picked up her backpack. “How did I get here?” she asked with an incredulous face.
Tears threatening, I faced my best friend, who had been there through damn near every song of my life. She had been my rock, my comfort, and I hoped briefly that I had been half as much to her. “You got here because you are hot shit and the world was smart enough to notice. I love you.”
We hugged again as she looked down at my fresh Converse. “Nice choice.”
Twisting my foot, I displayed my fresh white chucks that I’d scribbled “Don’t Worry Be Happy” on just hours before the concert.
“I think so, too. Fitting, right?”
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she gave me one last hug and whispered, “This isn’t goodbye, you know.”
“I know,” I said, though my heart was already missing her. And though I knew we would always be close, it felt like the end of our independence together. We both were chasing big dreams that were leading us down different roads.
“Proud of you,” we both said at the same time before we shared a watery smile. She broke away from me and readjusted her grip on her backpack, hesitating before she eyed me over her shoulder.
“Go,” I shooed her away. “I don’t want to cry.”
We were crying anyway as she saluted me before she disappeared. I turned my eyes back to the drummer.
My heart stuttered as the opening piano keys filtered through the air and into the screaming crowd. My eyes drifted back to the man behind the drum set, my hero, and my favorite storyteller, Don Henley.
Don opened his mouth and poured out the opening lines to my favorite Eagles’ song, “Wasted Time”. He sang of a broken-hearted woman trying to find her footing, a woman going through the pieces of her love story and wondering where it went wrong.
Oh, the irony.
It was always the music that reminded me where I’d been and where I was going.
Aching from the truth of the lyrics, sweet relief came in the form of the beautiful man who appeared on the other side of the stage.
He was desperately searching for someone, for me.
I stood waiting, as different tears—tears I’d sworn I didn’t have left—swam in my eyes.
And his search stopped when he spotted me, his deep-blue gaze found mine.
I saw him visibly relax and for a minute all was right with the world.
I expected him to bridge the gap, to come to me.
Instead, he leaned against the side of the stage and slid his hands into his suit pockets, his eyes never leaving mine.
No matter how much water was under the bridge beneath us, the man gave me as many of my dreams as he could, even after I broke us with my selfish heart.
In the end, he gave the greatest gift he could ever give me. Nate gave me music.
In that moment, I let my love show and my tears fall freely as Don’s raspy voice conveyed more to him than I ever could. Because our love was real. It was truth. And I would never take what we had for granted.
I lifted my duffle bag from the floor and threw it over my shoulder as the last notes of our song played and our story ended on that stage. I took one last look at him, memorizing his details while I pressed my hand to my heart.
I love you, Nate Butler. Thank you for loving me.