Page 25 of The Night the Stars Went Dark

“I brought you to the Symphony.” My brow furrowed. “I thought this would be fun. I know how much you miss this stuff.” I was confused. After yesterday I thought she’d be more open to this.

“This is where my dad played.” Her lip quivered. “He’d leave tickets for Mom and me and we’d come here to see him when he had a show in town.” She looked away and wiped at her eyes.

“I’m sorry. I thought you’d like this. We don’t have to go in.” I started to lead us away, but her feet didn’t move.

Determination covered her face. “This was a nice idea. I wanna try.” She turned to face me. “I’ll try for you, but know that if I run out of here, I’m not coming back in.” She nodded.

“I can live with that.” I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her closer. “Let’s see what’s on the program for tonight.”

We walked together up to the will call window and after I picked up our tickets, we went inside. We were sitting on the left side of the orchestra section a few rows from the front. “When I was little, I used to sit there.” She pointed to the front row. “Dad always wanted to make sure I could see.”

“Did you come here a lot?” I leaned closer.

“At least twice a month.” She flipped through the program she’d grabbed on the way in. “It’s starting.”

The house lights dimmed, and the principal violinist stood. He played a tuning note, and then the rest of the orchestra tuned. When they finished, he sat, and the conductor made hisway onto the stage. The auditorium erupted with applause as he turned to take a bow. When he turned back around and lifted his baton, the room grew quiet.

I glanced over at Penny. She was smiling from ear to ear and sitting practically on the edge of her seat. I leaned over and whispered, “If it gets to be too much, let me know.” She nodded as she chewed on her bottom lip. The orchestra came to life, and I knew this was where she needed to be. The look on her face, her body language, were both saying that this was her destiny. She’d been denying it for so long, but her heart knew this was home.

I spent most the evening watching her. The little tilt her head would do during a quiet part, or how her eyes would close, and she would almost sway during a gentle part. When the percussion sounded loud, her eyes would flash wide, and she’d tap her foot to the beat. They were all the things I remembered about her from our days at Berklee. I needed to make her see what I was seeing.

When the concert was over, we slowly made our way outside. I knew it would take a while to get a cab. I led her back down to the water, and we just stared out at where the moon was reflecting against it. “I haven’t seen you this happy since senior solo night.” I bumped my shoulder against hers.

“Yeah,” she murmured.

“I think you should audition.” She stiffened at that idea.

“It’s not that easy.” She put some space between us.

“Sure it is. I saw you in there. You were completely lost in the music. That’s where you’re supposed to be, not working in some bar.” I was trying to stay calm.

“I feel safe there.” She turned away from me.

“Because you’re hiding who you are.” I stood straighter. “I don’t know what else I need to do to show you that.” I turned and began walking up to the sidewalk. I needed to try and hail a cab because it would be a long walk if I didn’t. I heard herheels clicking before she grabbed my hand and laced our fingers together.

“I’m sorry, but you have to let me do this on my own timeline.” She placed her head on my shoulder.

“I’m just afraid that your timeline is going to cost you some of your best years.” I turned and kissed her forehead.

Chapter 16

Bryson

It was a short, quiet ride back to her apartment. She sat tucked against my side and stared out the window. When the cab stopped, she turned toward me. “Wanna come up?” Her lips turned up on one side. “I have coffee.” She fumbled over the words. I don’t know if coffee was just an excuse or what, but I’d take it.

“Sure.” I handed the cabbie a few bills, and then we climbed out.

I waited patiently as she punched in the code to get the door open to go upstairs, and then followed in her wake. “You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to. I mean, if you have somewhere else to be…” the words trailed off as she unlocked the door.

I touched her forearm to halt her. “There’s nowhere else I wanna be.” I smiled, attempting to ease her nerves. The door opened and we kinda tumbled awkwardly inside. She laughed, which caused me to laugh and break the tension.

“Let me get these shoes off, and then I’ll make the coffee.” She smiled sweetly as she rushed off toward the bedroom. I tossed my jacket to the side and unbuttoned and rolled up my sleeves before meandering over to the slider along the far wall. You could see the city and it looked beautiful. Twinkling lights from buildings both near and far dotted the skyline. We were only on the second floor, so you could still hear some street noise, but it was muffled by the glass. The moon was in thedistance, and it was just dark enough to see the twinkling stars above.

“Do you still like dark roast?” her voice sounded behind me, breaking the spell.

“Sure, I’m fine with whatever.” I glanced over my shoulder to acknowledge her. As she rushed off to the kitchen area, I stood there staring. She was beautiful, more beautiful than I’d ever appreciated. A few tendrils of hair had come down from where she’d pinned it, and one strap on her dress kept falling down her shoulder. She bustled about, completely oblivious to the fact that I was staring.

“It should only take a minute.” She rounded the corner and stopped.

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