Page 76 of The Sound of Us

“No one can be ready to hear something like this, especially if it’s someone they love.” I had no doubt about the depth of Dante’s feelings for Noah. It was clear from the way Dante talked about Noah that he was the father Dante never had.

“You don’t understand,” Noah said. “When I found him, he was living on the street with nothing but a piece of cardboard to sit on and his bass. I’d never met anyone so completely broken, and so alone. He was estranged from his father and grandmother, and he blamed himself for his sister’s death. He was just sitting there waiting to die.”

“He told me everything,” I said, in case he felt he couldn’t share. “Even about what his dad had done.”

“Bastard didn’t give a damn.” Noah’s face curdled. “He saw Dante fall apart and told him he was weak. It was only after Dante got his life back together and started university that his dad became interested in him again, and then only because he wanted Dante to take over the family business.”

“I’ve never met him, and I hate him already.” My hand curled into a fist. “I also hate the system that let him walk free. I’m glad you found Dante. You saved him.”

“Music saved him,” Noah said. “I would never have walked around that street corner but he was playing his bass and I could hear his pain—‘Candle in the Wind,’ ‘See You Again,’ ‘Fire and Rain,’ ‘Fast Car,’ ‘Dog Years’—but I also heard genius. It didn’t matter that it was coming from someone sitting in a filthy alley whose eyes said he was dead inside, because the music told me that there was still a tiny part of him that was fighting to survive.”

That was me. After the accident. When I blamed myself for my father’s death. When his last words were the embodiment of my biggest fear. When I was broken physically and emotionally and the doctors thought I would never walk, much less play ball again. But I had my mom and Jonah and Isla to pull me out of the darkness. Dante had been alone.

“I knew I had to help him,” Noah continued. “Not just because his musical talent needed to be shared with the world, but because someone did the same for me.” He reached for his phone and showed me a picture of an elderly man standing on a boat in the sunshine. “Dave Duncan.” Noah smiled at the picture. “He was the station manager at WJPK before me.”

“I saw his picture in your office.”

“I put it up there after he left so I would never forget what he did for me.” He tucked the phone away. “I found love when I was a young man traveling across the country with my guitar. Caroline was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen with the most beautiful voice I’d ever heard. It was love at first sight and we went onthe road together until she got pregnant. We settled down with our little boy, Knox. We had six glorious months and then…” He let out a ragged breath. “We lost him.”

“I’m so sorry, Noah.”

“She never recovered,” he said. “One day I came home, and she was gone. She left a note telling me not to follow her. Every time she looked at me, she saw his face. She couldn’t take the pain.” A tear trickled down his cheek. “I tried to find her. Eventually, I gave up—not just the search, but everything. I was busking on a street corner when Dave found me and helped me get my life back on track, but I promised myself that one day I’d find her again. I told Dante that if he ever walked into the station and I was gone, that’s where I would be—back on the road, looking for Caroline.”

“That’s a hard way to leave someone.” I had been angry with my father, feared him, even resented him, but the shock of having him there one moment and gone the next was something I still hadn’t fully come to terms with.

“Better to leave him with the knowledge that I was following my heart rather than chasing shadows to my grave.”

“That’s very death metal of you,” I said.

Noah gave a weak laugh. “You remind me of Caroline. She loved music and people. She was curious and brave. But she couldn’t find her way out of those dark places. I worry that Dante won’t find his way out either. It’s why I’m still here. I couldn’t leave until I knew he had people to support him. But he’s got friends now. And he has you.”

I didn’t see any point in hiding the truth since he seemed to know already. “Yes, he has me. I’m sorry if we broke any of your rules. Dante said we had to fly under the radar because you wouldn’t approve, although I heard otherwise.”

“I don’t have rules about love,” Noah said, shaking his head. “The heart wants what the heart wants. But I know why he said that, and it was for a good reason, so don’t give him a hard time if it ever comes up.”

“If you know he’s got support, why not tell him the truth? We’ll be here for him. I’ll be here.”

“You don’t understand.” He curled his fist around the bed rail. “He’s got his LSAT this Friday. If he finds out I’m here, he’ll come to the hospital and he’ll sit on that chair and he won’t get up, not even to write that test. He’s been working toward that goal for three and a half years. I can’t be the reason he loses his dream. I don’t want him to resent me when I’m gone. I want him to have good memories to hold on to in the bad times, and there will be bad times because he wants to be a lawyer for the wrong reason. Revenge is nothing but a road to pain.”

Noah’s words resonated with me. I’d been on the wrong path, too. Basketball had been my father’s dream, not mine. But it wasn’t that easy to let go. I still kept up my training because I was afraid that if I stopped, I would have to admit I had failed my dad. Maybe it was the same for Dante. Maybe he couldn’t let his law dream go because then he would have to accept his dad would go unpunished.

“I’m pretty sure he would resent you more for not letting him be here for you than he would if he missed the chance to pursue a dream that you are so sure won’t make him happy.”

“I know it won’t make him happy.” Noah drew in a shuddering breath. “He’s not a lawyer, Skye. He doesn’t spend his free time at legal clinics or pouring over law cases. He spends it in the studio, or with his band. Music is in his blood. It fills his soul.”

“You fill his soul, too,” I said. “He loves you like a father. He needs to know you’re ill.”

Noah tugged on the wires attached to his chest. “A better solution is to get the hell out of here and then it won’t be an issue.”

“Noah. You complete idiot.” A short woman with flaming red hair and a bright-green coat walked into the room. “Get your hand off that wire. You’re not going anywhere. I go home for a few weeks, and this is what happens. I’m not letting you out of my sight again…” She trailed off when she saw me and her green eyes widened. “Who’s this? Your girlfriend?”

Noah threw back his head and laughed. “Christ, Bella. I know I’m hot but she’s thirty years younger than me. This is Skye. She works at the station. Skye, my sister, Bella.”

“You’re working?” Bella’s voice rose even higher. “For the love of God…”

“I have homework, so I’d better get going,” I said, not wanting to get in the middle of their family drama. “I need to stop by Dante’s place to get my stuff. I can also check on the dogs and take them for a quick walk if your pet sitter isn’t still around.”

“You’re a saint.” Noah tipped his head to the side “Please don’t tell Dante about this.”

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