Page 30 of Finding Tane
Dillon beamed so hard his eyes crinkled closed. “Yes! Hell, I want to be your husband, Tane.”
I laughed and tugged him in for a kiss. “One step at a time, but... yes. I want that too.”
Dillon rubbed his stubbled cheek against mine and pressed his forehead against me. “You make me so happy, Tane.”
I kissed him deeper, tipping him back a little and there was another round of applause.
“It’s about time you settled down, Dillon!” Evelyn shouted.
Dillon laughed, wiping tears from his eyes. “Thank you Evelyn!”
I grabbed the microphone. “Now everyone, get on into the store and buy up, there’s some great specials and some cool new ingredients you should try!”
Dillon laughed as people began to file inside. Quite a few people came up to tell me how much they’d enjoyed my set, and a few revealed that they knew I was Whetu.
The lanky teen I’d seen busking with the violin approached last. “Hey, um. I guess you’re probably really busy and stuff, Mister Tane, but I was wondering if you’d ever consider um, maybe teaching music?”
I blinked at the kid and smiled. “Sure, what’s your name?”
“Henry.” He held out a hand and I shook it.
“I’d love to tutor you, although from what I’ve heard of you playing, I don’t know how much I can teach, you’re very talented. But hey, I’m down.”
Henry grinned wide. “Really? That’s amazing, I can’t afford too much but—”
I held up by hand to stop him. “Nah, don’t worry about cash. I can tell you love music, I want to share that with you.”
Henry bobbed his head. “Awesome. I’ll um, come find you here?”
I nodded. “Maybe I’ll put up a notice or something, see if there’s any other budding musicians around who might want to jam.”
“Right on.”
I spent a while longer out the front, chatting to people, and promising that I’d perform again, maybe at the open mic at the bar or something. Then I went in to help bag groceries. I could tell from the number of people checking out, and from the smile on Dillon’s face that the event had been a huge success.
My heart swelled with warmth.
I sent up a silent prayer of thanks to whatever had drawn me to this funny little town, and to Dillon. Things weren’t entirely resolved with Andrew Lane, but my lawyer was confident we could get a settlement in another week or so, and then I’d truly be free to do whatever I chose.
And I chose this: a grocer for a boyfriend, and someday a husband, a new little brother, a new home, and a new sense of purpose for my music.
I couldn’t wait to get my new life started.
Dillon
That night, once Aster had gone to bed, Tane turned to me, his eyes alight with something intriguing.
“What’s up?”
“You basically asked me to marry me today.” He took my hand in his.
“Well, yeah.” My cheeks burned “Like, in the future, though.”
He moved closer, cupping my jaw in his hand. “You must really like me.”
I laughed, turning my face to kiss his palm. “Isn’t it obvious?”
“I dunno.” His voice teasing. “We haven’t done much more than hold hands aside from that one time...”
