Chapter 13
There wasn’t much time to admire Lee’s beautiful work in the Wood Room before needing to leave. During the ride down Moonrise
Mountain, Thora and Lee peppered Mack with questions about Tree I told the paper’s editors about the issues worth investigating for stories. Everyone won. I couldn’t
have done it without you,” she said. He had covered for her, which benefited him not at all.
That smile that crept out when she said nice things to him was addictive. Fuck, it felt so much better than being mad at him
ever did.
“Everyone won except the serial cheaters you outed, that one professor faking his research, and the secret society that fell
apart when you listed each member by name,” he said.
“That secret society that only admitted straight white cis male legacies? Cody was pissed he didn’t get tapped, so I had to
wreak a little vengeance on his behalf. If it was so secret, somebody should not have left meeting minutes in their dorm trash.”
Caring about secret societies was certainly a mark against a man in her book, but she understood how badly he wanted to belong.
His intellect and charisma, along with his good looks, made him this perfect vessel of pure potential. But that secret society
could smell a sweaty striver a mile off, and Cody was dripping.
“They tapped me.”
Of course they did.
“I declined, much to my father’s chagrin,” Lee added.
“Wouldn’t be a part of a club that would have you as a member?”
“Exactly. I refuse to learn a secret handshake or wear a signet ring.”
“Remind me to show you the handshake Mack and I have,” she said.
He reached for her hands again, turning the flirtatious moment more romantic. His eyes lit up when they spotted her ring,
the garnet-and-pearl antique he was responsible for. Saying nothing, he searched her face. If she could be braver, she’d say
I wore this for you. He slid one thumb along the inside of her wrist, where the skin was most sensitive. Warmth radiated from that touch, and
it gave her an honest-to-goodness high. Better than the feeling of gossip.
Then dinner arrived to wrench their hands apart, leaving her practically shivering. She’d never deeply appreciated Lee’s role
in her college career, and he’d never known the magnitude of what she was trying to accomplish. There was surely more she
could appreciate about Lee, and she found herself eager to learn.
The spaghetti was nothing to write home about, though the garlic bread was a treat. The teenagers buzzing around them to bring
food and refill drinks each took a turn to sing for the attendees. The setup was open-mic style, with a few stools and a couple
of microphones on the opposite end of the room from Thora and Lee.
Once the spaghetti was served to everyone, the complete show choir did a couple of stripped-down numbers.
Their Beatles medley was a big hit with the grandparents of the students.
Then came a sparse and sonically challenging acapella choral number by Benjamin Britten, according to the program.
A bit of a tonal shift, though Thora wouldn’t begrudge a music teacher wanting to broaden musical horizons.
Her own high school music teacher loved to include a madrigal in a concert, after all.
They finished their set with a rendition of Rihanna’s “Umbrella” that brought down the house before the choir director got on the mic.
“Thank you for coming out to support the Woodwinds. In addition to the price of dinner, any tips you leave will go toward
our Broadway bus fund. We want to guarantee our students will have a chance to see a show on Broadway at least twice during
their four years of high school, and we appreciate your help in achieving that goal.”
Thora felt like a bit of a heel for not taking advantage of all the theater at her door in the city. Life was different for
people living and working in NYC; tourists always got to do all the cool stuff. It was the flipside of the Woodhill residents
who’d never set foot in a canoe despite watching summer people rent them all season.
Thankfully, Bryony’s windfall was still flush. She’d make sure these kids would get what they needed for their trip. For every
show she missed staying late at Bryony’s, she’d pass it along to these students.
The students cleared the plates from dinner and brought out dessert, which was an apple crisp with a scoop of vanilla ice
cream.
As everyone ate, a few more students did acoustic numbers. Thora loved hearing what the students wanted to sing, everything
from renditions of big radio hits to older stuff like “Happy Together” by The Turtles and one heartfelt cover of “Hotel California.”
After that, the choir conductor put a printed-out QR code on an easel near the microphones.
“It’s karaoke time!” she said. “This code links to my guitar repertoire. Write your name and your song on a slip of paper
and give it to any of the students circulating.”
From across the room, Thora heard Mack squealing with delight. Thora and Lee scanned the code out of curiosity.
She saw Mack quickly writing something on the slip of paper, and from the limited list of songs, she could easily guess what it was.
Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s “Shallow” from A Star Is Born was one of Mack’s favorite songs. She’d forced Thora to learn how to harmonize with her, despite Thora’s mediocre singing
voice. Mack obviously took Gaga’s part. Now Thora was going to have to try to remember the tune and the words, and she was
flustered to sing in front of Lee. She wanted him to see the best of her, and for someone as messy as Thora, that took preparation.
First, one of the student’s moms, who was clearly a show choir girl herself back in the day, did a slow, sultry version of
the Britney classic “Baby One More Time.” The student looked like she wanted to crawl out of her skin as her mom vocal fried
the whole audience to a crisp.
The next slip read was Mack’s.
The director said, “Next up, we have Mack and Lee singing Pat Benatar’s ‘We Belong.’ Let’s give them a round of applause.”