Page 11 of The Ties that Bind
“That’s amazing!” The passion and suddenness of our kiss sent a pair of birds flying into the blue sky.
“Yep.” I went back in for another.
“So…” Al began when we broke apart, mischief in his eyes. “We can have sex now?”
I slapped his firm chest and whirled away, his laughter following me into the house.
***
Al
Abby and I sat on the bed together the day after she had come back to Miami, looking down at a sheet of music we had just finished composing. “Should we play it now?” I asked. I knew the answer already - the answer was yes. But this particular piece of music meant a lot to Abby. She should be the one to decide if the notes were all in place and ready to hear how it sounded.
“Well, not yet.” Abby set the sheet down carefully, eyeing all the other music that littered the bed. “We should finish selecting the music we want to play at the reception first. Playing this song can wait.”
I nodded. It was true, but I knew how excited she was to play this song. Her grandmother had given it to her in a dream, and it was all about following your dreams, working hard and taking pride in knowing yourself and that other people were proud of you too. In a way, this song told the story of Abby’s journey to join Vaporized - how she had wanted so badly to be a concert pianist and even believed it was her fate, but after failing her audition she had found the band.
We hadn’t chosen all the music for the wedding yet. That was what we were doing now. But we both knew that at the very least, this song would be one of the ones we played. Soon, the rest of the band would come over to the house, and we would all practice - and one of the songs we played would be the one Abby’s grandmother had given her.
Ever since Abby had figured out the melody and accompanying instruments, I had been fascinated with the song. It would be beautiful when we all sat down and played the first notes, and I found myself just as excited as Abby.
For another hour or so, we shared ideas and edited pieces, garnering a collection of music, old and new, that would sound incredible at a wedding. I had to admit; when Abby first suggested that Vaporized play at her best friend’s wedding, I had been a little hesitant. Plenty of fans would kill to have Vaporized play at their weddings, but Maggie? Maggie didn’t listen to rock and would never have heard of Vaporized if Abby hadn’t managed to snag the group’s vocalist - me.
But we’re not a proper rock band, not anymore,I reminded myself again. We had introduced the piano and a lot of songs with a softer sound than before. We could still play our old songs, and we would in concerts, of course - just not at Maggie’s wedding. And I had to admit, the more I sat here, chatting and working with Abby, the more enthusiastic I felt at the idea of playing at a wedding. With a little work, we had lots of songs that would be just fine.
And then it was time to practice our new sound. The rest of the band showed up around 3 PM, as we had planned. Abby and I brought out the sheets we had worked at busily, and the band looked them over together, suggesting minor changes and giving their instruments a few strums or taps to test various sections of notes. “Looks good,” Cory said, giving his bass a pluck. “Let’s try out some of them. What do you want to start with?”
I looked at Abby, and she looked back at me. We smiled together, and I left it to her to pick out her grandmother’s song from amidst the sheets. “This one.” It took her two minutes to visit the copier to make sheet music for each member of the band, then she came back and passed them out, her face showing her pride.
We started to play. The song began softly, gently, then rose and swelled, gaining confidence, power, and beauty. It told a story of believing in yourself, sticking with what you love and who you love and second chances, and it was the most beautiful song I had ever heard.
Jonah went to print copies of the next song, and I let my guitar hang at my side from its strap so I could wrap an arm around her. “That was amazing, Abby,” I told her, the nickname she had finally let me use sliding off my tongue easily.
“Wasn’t it?” she agreed happily. “I love it. It’s perfect. Just like your guitar solo,” she complimented me, with a wide smile.
I opened my mouth, one corner twitching and one eyebrow rising, knowing how my guitar solos often turned her on. But instead of getting a heated kiss, Abby gave me a shove back toward my spot. “What? Ouch.” I rubbed at the firm and totally fine planes of my chest where her hands had pushed me, drawing my brows together with the utmost innocence.
“We are still. Not. Having. Sex,” she spelled out plainly, reading my face like a book. “Not, yet! We’re not done practicing!”
Every single member of the band in the room heard and roared with laughter. Jonah stepped back into the practice room a second later, holding some papers aloft, only to find most of us doubled over with tears running down our faces. He asked after a moment, “Uh…what did I miss?”
Chapter Six
Maggie
So many things had fallen into place. I had found the dress of my dreams, and it would be ready for a June wedding despite all the odds. Marty had found that perfect location for his New Orleans store, and his mom and he were in the process of opening that shop so it could supply the flowers for our wedding. Zoe and Aiden had come through with an incredible, wonderful surprise - they had offered their house for the wedding and soon after for us to live in permanently when they moved to Los Angeles together.
Now, we had only five days until that big day, and a few things still hadn’t been resolved....and I could feel nervousness creeping into my heart. My mom had called my brothers and my dad, and my brothers were both able to fly in for the wedding, but we still hadn’t heard from my father. And I had convinced myself to wait two more days before I let myself ask the question.What do I do if Daddy can’t come?At the moment, I was just doing my best not to think about it at all.
Besides that, there was still so much to do to get ready for our big day. Unfortunately, today those preparations had taken Marty and me to different parts of New Orleans. He would spend the day with his mother, helping her decorate Aiden’s house and yard and overseeing the remodel at the shop. And me…
Well, I also had a mother-daughter date today. My mom had agreed to drive down from Lafayette again to help me with two more important decisions: catering and wedding cakes.
When I had asked about it, Momma had stayed silent on the phone for a moment. “Are you sure, Honey? Usually the bride and groom shop for the cake together, not the bride and the bride’s mother, no matter how much the mother loves her beautiful daughter.”
I had smiled at the endearment she worked in, trying to shove down a bout of nervousness. Zoe’s father knew a bakery that had been able to get a small wedding cake for a friend of his done within a week. I was hoping the place would be able to do the same for me, with a couple fewer days, but nothing was guaranteed.
“We’ve talked about it a lot, and we know that…” I waited until my mother must have been hanging on my next words. “We both understand that we have no idea what we want. All we have decided on is that we want some sort of floral pattern, and possibly a bride and groom under an arbor on the top, but…neither of us could really think of something perfect. Marty will be busy with his mom at the shop, and he trusts me to make a good choice.”
