In the Rain (17 page)

Thayre
frowned and craned his neck to see what had piqued my interest. "Soaps and
lavender?"

I
shook my head. "Don't you hear that?"

He
shielded his eyes from the sun and started to search the balconies above us for
the source, but the closer we got, the lower to the ground it sounded. "There."
He nodded to something less than a block away on our right. "Is that Tabby?"

And
she wasn't alone, either. With a little more
haste than before, Thayre and I passed booth after booth of homemade candles,
fresh bread, cookies and flower arrangements.

A
little out
of breath, I gawked at Tabby and her small group of strings as they played my
song. She'd been practicing with us the last few weeks, but Thayre and I hadn't
realized how good she'd gotten until we found ourselves standing right in front
of her, outside practice and on the streets. I fell into the familiar melody,
the same scales I used on my violin, only much
deeper because of the cello Tabby had in front of her.

She'd
drawn quite the crowd as well. Wearing a Transcendence t-shirt, she also had a
stack of flyers on the ground in front of her along with a number of CDs. Those
who didn't have time to listen to the music still made their way over to her,
put a few coins in a jar, then took a flyer and one of her CDs.

Without
even stopping, she'd smile and move on to the next piece.

I
glanced at Thayre. "Ten bucks says I know what's on those CDs."

Thayre
nodded, but he didn't look mad. In fact, he smiled. "Damn if she isn't
what we need."

"But
I thought we already had her in the orchestra."

"We
do, as a cellist but..." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Imagine
the interest she's drummed up by playing out here this morning."

I
didn't doubt it either. Lines of people had crowded in behind us, and unless we
could find a break in the cluster of bodies, we wouldn't be leaving anytime
soon.

Tabby
hit the final note and grinned when she saw Thayre and me standing in front of
her. "Going to take five, guys. Feel free to take a flyer and a CD if you
have other places you need to go." Then to us, she said, "What do you
think?"

"That
I might have to kiss you," Thayre laughed. "Where did this come from?
Why didn't you tell us? And who are these enchanting individuals?"

Tabby
blushed, and after resting her cello against her leg, she stretched her arms. "To
be honest, I figured this would be a small thing. Just something to do, you
know? My folks and I actually signed up for this around the same time I got an
acceptance from you, Thayre."

"Let
me guess—the registration wasn't refundable."

"Far
from it. Rain or shine, the money was out of our pockets."

"Okay,
but what about this?" He gestured to her t-shirt, the flyers and CDs.

"At
first we were going to play the classics. Things folks already knew. I wore my
t-shirt to show my support, and brought the flyers and CDs in case folks wanted
to learn more about us. Don't worry. The CDs have a minute or so of music from
Moyra's song, but it's enough to get some interest I think."

Thayre
was nodding before she finished. "But once you realized the kind of event
this was, you figured a live demonstration of Moyra's song would draw more
attention than what you'd planned."

"Pretty
much." Tabby tucked a stray stand of hair behind her ear, then looked
directly at me. "I hope you don't mind. I had to change it around a bit to
fit the cello."

"Mind?"
I couldn't help smiling. By now, I knew Tabby meant the very best of
intentions, and if her small demo here today didn't get our show at Webster
sold out, we'd probably get close to it. "I don't know what to say."

"Play
with me," Tabby said, keeping a straighter face than I would've been able
to. "Seriously. The fam here is getting pretty tired. Like I said, we
figured this was a small thing—not a play all day gig. They don't know your
song, Moyra, and I really think—"

"But
we don't have any instruments," I said. "Not only that.
We also walked here."

Tabby
chewed at her bottom lip. "Well, what about tomorrow?"

Thayre
stared right at her, his face so full of shock I wasn't sure he'd be able to
speak. "Tomorrow?"

She
shrugged. "Signed up for both days. I'll be here again tomorrow, so if you
aren't doing anything..."

Thayre
glanced at me and raised his eyebrows.

"What
will I play?" I asked, figuring if we both played, one of us would be
without a violin.

"You
let me worry about that,"
Thayre said, turning to Tabby moments later. "When do you need us here by?"

"Set
up starts around eight—or wait, no. That was today," Tabby explained. "Tomorrow
starts an hour later, so you should probably get here a little before
nine. The roads will stay open until then I think, and if not, there's always
the parking garage."

After
saying our goodbyes and promising to bring some extra t-shirts to hand out
tomorrow, Thayre lead me down a side street, away from the music, the crowds
and the delicious food smells.

When
we stopped at a corner a few blocks away, I asked, "Mind telling me where
you're going? Food's that way."
I pointed over my shoulder.

"We
have maybe an hour or two until lunch. For now, I think it's about time we got
you a violin of your own."

I
didn't have time to react. Hell, I couldn't speak. I knew we'd discussed him
getting me a violin in the past, which I'd then pay back with my first check
but—
this is what you want, isn't it?

And
even though
I knew exactly where we were going, my legs refused to work. Every step I took
forced my heart rate to jump up another notch.
This is nothing.
He'd
seen me naked. I'd been bound to his Saint Andrew's Cross. He'd flogged me and
I'd come so hard that he'd
sent me into the stratosphere on more than one occasion. Getting a violin was
nothing compared to what I had with him when we were alone.

You're
going to have to make a choice eventually.

I
couldn't. Not yet. After we played at Webster, I would. But not now. Not when
things were so great between us, and especially not when we were so close to
playing in front of hundreds of people.

Oh
yeah, just screw
up your nerves, why don't ya?

Following
Thayre's lead because I obviously couldn't make out left from right, we managed
to reach the Music Barn in record time.

"You
planning to go inside, or what?" Thayre asked, pulling me from my thoughts
as I stared at a handful of instruments in the front window.

Nodding,
I followed close behind him, shivering when the bell on the door jingled above
us. I didn't make it far, though. I stopped inside the door and closed my eyes,
drawing in a deep breath that was
equal parts exciting and terrifying.

I
hadn't been in here, much less bought a new instrument in over ten years. The
last music store I actually set foot in was on campus, and even then,
it was mostly sheet music, stands and CDs.

"This
is how you can tell a good music store from a bad one," Thayre said,
quickly drawing me away from the front of the store to one of the adjoining
rooms.

My
heart literally stopped. Looking in the front window, I never would've guessed
the building was that big.
Granted, the main room had an assortment of beginner instruments, but in the
back, surrounded by strings, there was nothing beginner about it.

I
gravitated toward the wall protected by glass. "Is that a..."
I looked at Thayre. "A Stradivarius?"

"You
mean the brand worth millions of dollars? I certainly hope not. If they did
have one, it would need to be in a vault." Thayre crossed his arms over
his chest. "That one there is a German substitute. Really good, too. That's
what Angie is."

I
reached out toward it, and like a
child staring in from the outside of a candy store, I gently set my fingers on
the cool glass. "You could afford something like that—when
you got Angie?"

"I
did tell you it was a small fortune to buy all those instruments, didn't I?"

"You
did but, Jesus. I didn't realize they were the good stuff."

"Most
of what Transcendence plays is close to the same quality. Rented, of course,
unless they pay for it out of pocket."

I
forced my attention away from the pricey violin to something a little more
in my budget. "I guess buying a training violin is out of the question."

Thayre
scoffed. "In my orchestra? I'd hope so. No, if you're going to play for
me, you're going to do it right—and in style as well."

"I
see you found your way back here after all, Thayre," a man said as he
entered the room.

I
turned to see Thayre shaking hands with an older gentleman. "You know I
can't stay away."

"Well,
yes, but like it
or not, I'm still not ready to sell the Music Barn over to you." They both
laughed.

"I
wouldn't dream of it. Managing the gang is hard enough. I'll leave outfitting
the beginners to you."

"So,
what brings you both in here today?" The man regarded me with one raised
eyebrow. "I'm sorry, where are my manners? I'm Ben. Been running this old
place for over two decades now."

I
shook his hand and smiled. "Moyra. Thayre dragged me here to get a violin."

"Well,
you've come to the right place. If you don't see it here, I can order it.

"That's
very kind but..." I looked between them. "I honestly don't know what
I need. I've been playing Thayre's whatever he calls it. Before that,
I played a generic full violin."

Ben
rubbed his chin and casually looked past me at the twenty or so violins he had
on display. "And knowing Thayre, this violin would need to take a beating,
correct?"

"Of
course," Thayre chimed in. "That said, I think that one
there would make her too nervous. She might be too afraid to play if she saw
the price tag."

The
violin I'd been eye-humping earlier now became even more
terrifying.
Exactly how much are you?
Obviously out of my price range,
but if Thayre could afford one—
what does a conductor make anyway?
Hell,
how much was I going to make playing Webster?

Thayre
had promised it would be more than serving tables, but by how much? It had been
so long since I'd looked up the numbers I was no longer sure how much a first
violinist made.

"How
about this one?" Ben asked, unlocking the case to remove one of the
violins on the far left. "Get that one
a try."

I
took the bow and violin when he offered them to me, but was too afraid to play.
"What if I break one of the strings?"

"Don't
listen to her," Thayre said. "She's nervous. Come on, Moyra, you
can't start having stage fright now. It's just Ben."

Yeah,
who I met less than five minutes ago.

Off
in the distance, the bell on the front door chimed. Ben grinned, locked up the
case, then offered me a reassuring smile. "Let me go see who that is.
If you have questions, I'm sure Thayre can answer them. He practically lives
here after all. I'll be back shortly." He stepped away, and I could hear
him say, "Is there something I can help you with today?" as he walked
into the main room.

"Well?"
Thayre asked, looking at me. "You going to at least try?"

I
took a breath, gently tracing my fingertip over the scroll design on the neck
of the violin. The wood was soft under my touch. And while it might not have
been Angie, this violin made me as nervous when I hadn't even tried
it yet.

Just
because you're holding it doesn't mean you need to buy it.

Maybe
not, but I could already see Thayre planned on leaving here today with an
instrument, if not in our hands, at least ordered or set aside to pick up
later. And knowing him, he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

I
was well aware of the fact I couldn't play Angie forever. She did belong to
Thayre after all, but—
what if I freak out?
What if I didn't like playing
in front of large crowds? At least I could hand Angie back to Thayre.
What
the hell am I going to do with a violin?

I
closed my eyes, and, with a little effort,
convinced myself the violin I had in my hands wasn't still in a music store a
few short blocks from Main Street and Oak Avenue.
Play the way you've
practiced.
The melody of my song had been in my head since we saw Tabby
playing her version of it a few blocks down. So long as I could hold on to that melody,
I'd be golden.

I
tucked the violin under my chin, set the bow on the strings and drew it across
the A and E. That single sound reverberated in the small room, and as it did, I
tested a few scales, tuning the strings the slightest bit.

"Stop
stalling," Thayre said, a smile in his voice. "The strings are fine.
The bow's fine. Just play."

My
mind drifted to the first night I played in his sound studio, and of how much
simpler things were then. It was music, and possibly a small crush. It amazed
me to think of how far we'd come, both as a dynamic and my abilities as a
musician.

A
musician.

This
whole time I'd thought of myself as someone who played a violin, but in a few
short weeks, I'd be the first violinist in Transcendence, performing at Webster
Hall.

I
hit a sour note and opened my eyes, but kept going anyway. This violin felt
foreign to me. Perhaps it was because we were in a strange room, or maybe it
was because I knew this violin wasn't Angie—it didn't belong to Thayre, much
less myself.

It
can be yours if you want it to be.

Making
that kind
of investment
though, would it be worth it?

I
stopped playing shortly after Ben reentered the room. His eyes lit up when I
met his gaze, and when I lowered the violin to my side, he clapped.