Page 115 of Symphony of Salvation

“I didn’t have a choice,” I repeated. “Unless I wanted to turn them down. That would have been stupid. It was my dream job… or rather, my modified dream job.” I glanced at August. “And now they’ve found someone better.”

Sorrow pulled at the corners of August’s eyes—dark and beautiful like an endless forest. I’d gotten lost in those mesmerizing orbs plenty over the past few months.

“You found the contract on the table.” It wasn’t a question. “I didn’t put it away.”

“Yes. I found it, and I read it.”

“I haven’t accepted the job, Niles.”

“You will. You should. They’re offering you an astronomical wage. Surely you can see that. It would be stupid to turn it down.”

“Except, I’m not a teacher.”

“You’ll learn. Any fool can teach.”

“Niles.” The sharp tone made me bite my tongue. August hated self-recrimination.

I stared at the pale blue sky and milky sun. “You don’t need my permission. Take it. If not for yourself, then do it for Constance. She can’t voice it, but she needs you, August. Desperately.”

The deep lines bracketing his eyes remained as he searched my face. “You wouldn’t begrudge me?”

“For a while, maybe, but it’s my own fault. I saw it coming from a mile away but chose to ignore it. I literally sat by and waited for this to happen, and I did nothing to prevent it.”

“How long have you taught here?”

I huffed and shifted my attention to the sky again, letting the weak sun warm my face. “Sixteen years, and every year, there’s at least one parent complaint about my inferior education. Every year, someone reminds me I’m not good enough to teach their child.”

“Bullshit.”

“It is what it is.”

“Can I ask you something personal?”

“Go ahead.”

“Why not get your doctorate? You’re incredibly intelligent. If it’s the crux of the problem, why not correct it? You could have worked on it while teaching.”

“I know, and I thought about it, but I already had student loans coming out the ass because my well-to-do surgeon father refused to pay for aninferioreducation for his son. He assisted all my siblings in their more respectable careers but not me. I did it on my own. I calculated it would take roughly twenty years to pay off that debt. I didn’t need to owe the government more. Timber Creek gave me the job at a reasonable salary. I figured I’d pay off the balance first and consider finishing my schooling after. The years passed, and by the time I was free and clear of that blasted student loan—which I managed in fourteen years, not twenty—I was too old to be bothered.”

“That’s an excuse.”

“Maybe, but it’s mine, and now I’ll pay the price for my stupidity.”

“You should have fought that clause in the contract. Sixteen years is evidence enough you are the best music teacher out there.”

But I wasn’t, and beating around the bush drove me insane. I was a rip-the-Band-Aid-off-quick kind of person. “Are you taking it?”

“Absolutely not.”

I let the definitive words sink in. August had spoken without pause or hesitation. He’d made the decision long before I’d arrived. But it was the wrong decision, and only then did it dawn on me that I would sacrifice my job to keep him.

“Please take it. You belong here.”

“I’m not a teacher, and they would swiftly learn that they’d spent a lot of money on a poor replacement.”

“And what of Constance?”

“What of Constance? She gives me enough hell at home. Can you imagine if I was her full-time music teacher too?”

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