Page 37 of Shattered Chords

Slightly stunned, I failed to react. Instead, there was a long pause filled with noise and approaching footsteps.

“Hey.” I heard Ally’s squeal to my right. She waved at Dante and stood next to me.

“You rocked it, Hendrix.” He gave her a fist bump.

“I messed up the end of the last solo.” She scrunched up her nose, and an expression of devastation flitted across her face. Everything seemed like the end of the world for her at this age.

“You want some pizza? I was just asking your mom.”

Oh no, he didn’t.

A weird blend of feelings that felt like a punch in the gut wrapped inside the softest blanket twisted my stomach. The man just used my own daughter to get to me. It was profoundly low yet charming, and I appreciated the effort.

“Pizza sounds great!” Ally grinned, looking at me through her black curtain of hair. “Right?”

“Here you are!” Jules’ voice came at me from behind. “We reserved a table next door,” she said, walking over. “You’re welcome to join.”

I could feel the whiffs of cold air blowing across my neck and cheeks from above. Sadly, it didn’t help me at all. My face was hot and a layer of sweat covered my back. I sat beside Harper, who was working on his plate of buffalo wings. I’d never pegged my best friend for a spicy food aficionado, but he seemed so miserable after the phone call to Lucas that I didn’t dare challenge his odd craving. Post-breakup blues made people do crazy things. I knew it firsthand. The end of my latest relationship had convinced me that signing up for a boxing class would solve all my problems. I’d lasted exactly two weeks.

The crowd in the dining room was thinning out as the night went on and the noise level had finally dropped to bearable. We no longer needed to raise our voices to keep the conversation going.

Opposite of us sat Dante. Sandwiched between Pauline and Ally, he looked somewhat uncomfortable. And maybe even overwhelmed. A slice of mushroom pizza that had been lying on his plate for over an hour was untouched.

While the girls showered him with questions about touring, Jules kept trying to get the man to take her business card.

As expected, several people approached our table to get Dante’s autograph. We hardly spoke because our children monopolized all his attention, but once in a while, his gaze wandered over to me and focused on my face as if he was trying to communicate something, which only heightened my awareness. It wasn’t until midnight, when the Keatons started getting ready to leave, that he finally scooted over to check on Harper.

“You good, man?”

“Never been better.”

“You got aspirin at home?”

“Yeah.”

“Take some and eat a good breakfast tomorrow.” Dante clapped Harper on the back. “You’ll be like new.”

Harper pushed the empty plate aside and turned to look at me. “I’m taking a sick day tomorrow, okay?”

I wasn’t going to let him inside the boutique anyway, even if he tried to come to work, but I was happy he asked. “Of course. I need you fresh and ready for Sunday.”

Jules leaned across the table and shook Dante’s hand again. “It was a pleasure to meet you.” She held on to him longer than necessary, as if the man were made of gold. Her husband pretty much had to drag the poor starstruck thing outside.

Ally followed them to their car to say goodbye to Pauline. Bits and pieces of their chatter carried across the dining room as they marched through the double doors and into the parking lot.

At times, I didn’t understand how the girls never got tired of each other. They seemed to spend more time together than most married couples. Although I was no expert, I liked to think observing my parents’ marriage allowed me to make certain assumptions.

We stayed at the table a little longer and waited for the Keatons to load into their SUV. Ally was outside, texting, when Dante, Harper, and I exited the pizzeria.

“Have a good night!” yelled an employee’s voice from behind the counter.

Poor guy probably couldn’t wait to close up.

The light taps of Ally’s keyboard trailed after us as we strolled over to my car. There was no more music and no more screaming teenagers flocking to the lot. The madness had vanished. The air was cool and the night was quiet.

Harper looked like he’d just finished working a double shift at an In-N-Out Burger at Six Flags on a Fourth of July weekend. He slipped into the back and Dante handed him Ally’s guitar case. I’d been adamant about leaving a six-thousand-dollar item in the trunk while we ate. Sure, this was a wealthy neighborhood, but one could never be too careful.

Ally climbed into the front seat and turned to look at Dante. “We might have another show soon. Wanna come?”

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