Page 21 of The Sound of Us

“While I appreciate the gesture, your grandmother clearly meant for you to have that money,” Noah said finally. “I’m sure she wanted you to use it so you could have a good life. Law school is likely going to cost you over two hundred thousand dollars if you go to a good school, and I’m sure you don’t want to live above my garage forever. Have you seen the mortgage rates? And what about transportation? You may get the urge to buy a black 1967 Shelby Mustang GT500 that you’d let an aging station manager drive on sunny Sunday afternoons.”

It took me a moment to process the fact that he was rejecting my offer. “Most of that money came from the family business,” I protested. “I don’t want anything to do with it, but I do want some good to come out of the bad.”

Noah knew about my father’s involvement with organized crime. He knew about everything, including Sasha’s suicide note accusing my father of murder, and my plan to avenge both her andmy mom. I’d never had any doubt that he would keep my secrets. I trusted him absolutely, and funding the station was the perfect way to pay him back for everything he’d done for me.

“That’s very generous, but it won’t solve our problems,” Noah said. “Our total annual expenses are over three hundred thousand dollars per year, and that’s with the rent subsidy we get from the university. If we want to stay on campus—and we do, because we are here to teach as much as anything else—we need to show the administration that the station is viable as an ongoing concern. I’ve spent years identifying grants specific to our needs. A lump sum will keep us afloat for a few years, but—”

“It could also mean you lose some of your long-term grants and that would hurt the station in the future.”

Noah laughed. “Well, at least your education hasn’t been a waste. It’s important for students to understand what it means to be a nonprofit and how difficult it is to raise funding so they will be sympathetic to the struggles of nonprofits they encounter in the future.”

“I feel like I missed out on an opportunity to learn about running a nonprofit radio station.” During my first few years at the station, I was involved in everything from working the sound board to fixing the equipment and from managing volunteers and schedules to organizing the library. After I was accepted as a student, I dropped everything except my show.

“I’m always happy to teach,” Noah said. “And with our finances tight this year, I’ll be asking you to help out more than just doing your show. But I won’t take your money, no matter how dire our circumstances. You have a life to live, Dante. I won’t take that away from you.”

“If I keep enough for law school, will you take the rest?” I persisted. “Or even just enough to fund something that isn’t already covered by a grant—a new piece of equipment, a program, an event…? I want to do this. For you and everything you’ve done for me, and for the station because this is where I got my fresh start.”

Noah sighed and twisted his lips to the side, considering. “There is something. We were only able to hire one intern for this year through our joint program with the journalism department. Usually, we fund one position as a paid internship, and the journalism department takes care of the other. This year we had to divert the internship money to pay for operating costs. If you really want to help, you could—”

Skye.

“I’ll fund the position,” I said quickly. “And I know someone who would be interested. She’s in journalism and—”

“I’ll stop you right there,” Noah said, holding up his hand. “First, the university has rules about scholarships and donations. Donors can set conditions but can’t direct who receives the award. It would be considered a conflict of interest with some very serious and possibly criminal consequences. Your friend would have to apply like everyone else, and I can’t guarantee I would choose her. I have to go with the best candidate.” He waited for me to nod my understanding before continuing. “You would also need to give me your word that you’ll keep back enough for law school, including all your living expenses. That’s non-negotiable.”

“You’ve got it.” I could justify keeping the portion of the money that my grandmother had earned during her years playing for the symphony—it had come from her music and not from the family business.

“You also cannot be part of the selection process,” Noah warned. “And you need to stay at arm’s length so we can’t be accused of bias. That means not being in a relationship with a particular candidate.”

“I’m not. I promise. She—”

“Ah. Ah.” Noah cut me off again. “I don’t want to know anything about this person. I should really just offer the new position to one of the candidates I interviewed last term because the start date for the internship is next Monday. But to be fair to people who may have missed out last term, we can advertise it again with a deadline of this Wednesday. I can do the interviews Thursdayand push the start date for the internship to give the university time to deal with the paperwork. If all goes well, the two interns could start together as early as next Friday.”

I leaned back in the chair and groaned. Could he possibly make it any more difficult for me to help Skye? “That’s not a lot of time.”

Noah chuckled. “You should be thanking me for protecting your ass, not moaning like Ray Charles in ‘What’d I Say.’”

“I groaned,” I huffed. “I didn’t moan. And it was in protest of all the roadblocks you’re putting in the way of someone who really needs the job.”

“The biggest roadblock will be the university administration.” Noah toyed with the coffee cup in front of him. The pot was empty, and I made a mental note to fill it for him when we were done. “They are notoriously slow when it comes to setting up this kind of funding.”

“I’ve just found a lawyer to help manage the legal aspects of the inheritance. I can ask him if there is someone in his firm who can help move things forward.” I wanted Skye to have that chance, and if wasn’t her, then at least someone else would benefit. “Any other hurdles? I honestly thought I was going to just waltz in here and write you a big fat check.”

“No more hurdles,” Noah said. “But I do have a question. In all the years I’ve known you, not once have you ever mentioned a woman in any other context than that of a one-night stand. I figured relationships were off the table for you, but I get the impression that this woman is different. Are you sure you want to do this?”

“She’s just some girl I met,” I assured him. “I hardly know her at all.”

CHAPTER TEN“There She Goes” by The La’sSKYE

“DO YOU NEVER LOOK AT YOUR PHONE?” Haley yelled at me when I arrived for my last shift at Buttercup on Tuesday morning.

“I was at the gym saying goodbye. Some of my friends on the team didn’t know I’m flying home tomorrow and—”

“If you’d looked at your phone, you would have realized you didn’t need to say goodbye. I’ve been trying to get in touch with you for the last hour.” She thrust a piece of paper in my face. “I was at the station this morning to do my show and these flyers were everywhere.”

“What is it?”

“An internship at the radio station for journalism students.” She rattled the paper again, her voice trembling with excitement. “It’s perfect for you.”

---