Page 50 of Crossing Paths
It was like her sister could read her mind. Norah was glad that she was already beet red from exercise so her embarrassment was hidden for once. “I warmed up by running a mile on the treadmill and then jumped rope—”
A wave from Cara cut off her step-by-step recitation. “Never mind. If you’re not going to tell me the fun stuff, I don’t want to hear about the boring stuff. Felicity makes me live through enough of that torture.”
Norah hid her triumphant smile behind her menu.
“Don’t think I don’t know what you just did.”
Obviously, she hadn’t hidden it well enough. “What’s the plan with Chloe?” she asked, more than ready to change the subject. “Stakeout at her work?”
“Nope.” It was Cara’s turn to smile wickedly, and Norah’s heart sank. “I have a much better idea.”
***
Norah hesitated outside the music store, feeling the same sense of overwhelming dread that she’d had the first time she’d gone to Dash’s gym.That ended up turning out well, her mental cheerleader reminded her, but it didn’t matter. Her fingers were still clammy with sweat, and this time, she didn’t have exercise to blame.
The door swung open, and Norah hurried to step out of the way as a younger guy in a beanie left the store. Spotting her standing there, he held the door for her. She hesitated long enough for the moment to grow awkward.
“Are you going in?” he asked, and she made an affirmative noise in her throat before diving into the store just to get away from the now-uncomfortable interaction. Once inside, she came to an abrupt halt as she looked around, getting her bearings.
“Can I help you?”
At the familiar throaty voice, Norah turned slowly, using the time to try to wrestle her ping-ponging thoughts into a coherent sentence. “Ah…” was all she managed to get out before Chloe’s eyes widened along with her smile.
“Norah! Why haven’t you texted me?”
“Um, because I haven’t needed beat-down backup?” she answered tentatively, her own smile starting. Despite her true reason for being here, something about Chloe made her feel more at ease. “I saw you at Dutch’s.”
Of all the things she could’ve said, that was one of the weirder and more random choices. Norah wanted to squeeze her eyes closed and pretend she was no longer there—or at least no longer visible. By sheer force of will, she managed to keep from cringing.
“Yeah? What’d you think?”
“It was… You were amazing.”Great.Now she was gushing. “Since you were playing at Dutch’s, I thought it would be more…death-metal-y? But your songs were easy to dance to.” Worried that she’d sounded shallow, she added, “And your voice is stunning.”
To Norah’s shock, that babbling mess of words made Chloe’s smile widen until she was beaming. “Thank you. People—especially musicians—tend to take themselves too seriously. I like to add a pop-y edge. It’s hard to be pretentious when you’re jumping up and down. Helps keep me grounded.”
That made quite a bit of sense. Even after their encounter at Chico’s, Norah hadn’t expected her to be so easy to talk to. “Do you write your own songs?”
“Sure do.” Chloe boosted herself up to sit on the counter, and Norah marveled again at the woman’s apparently shatterproof confidence. This was the type of person she would’ve expected Dash to date.
At the thought, a rush of possessiveness roared through her that shocked her with its ferocity. She had to calm her inner beast by reminding herself that she’d just invented the competition in her mind. Chloe didn’t even know Dash, much less want him. She forced herself to get out of her head and tune back in to what Chloe was saying.
“Donner—he’s the drummer—has a carnival brain, so he’s great to collaborate with. He knocks me off my comfortable musical path and into the deep, dark woods.”
Norah cocked her head. Something about Chloe eased her anxiety, so she was comfortable enough to ask, “What does that mean?”
With a laugh, Chloe shoved her hair over her shoulder. It was loose today except for two thin braids encircling her head like a crown. It was very Renaissance-looking, which made an even more interesting contrast to the tattoos exposed by her strappy sundress than her usual milkmaid braids. “It means he comes up with ideas I would never think of, even in my wildest imaginings. He doesn’t just make me think outside the box, he drags me out and then drop-kicks me into Fun House Land.”
Although she still wasn’t completely clear as to what Chloe was talking about, Norah just nodded.
“But you didn’t come in here to listen to me talk about Donner. Can I help you find something?”
“Uhh…” All band names and every song she’d ever heard completely abandoned her, leaving her brain empty. She glanced around the store, but her thoughts were too chaotic for anything to register. Desperate, she settled on a version of the truth. “No,I actually just came in here to ask…if your band will be playing somewhere this weekend?”
“Yeah, an outdoor show in Saturn Canyon on Saturday night.” Norah must’ve looked blank at the name, because Chloe chuckled as she continued. “It’s a pretty small event in the mountains west of Denver. Closest town is McCann, which I know you’ve never heard of, because almost no one has—well except for the forty-two and a half people who live in McCann.”
“Forty-two and a half?” Norah echoed, making Chloe laugh again.
“Don’t ask. Not a huge crowd and doesn’t pay much, but the people are friendly, and the staff’s amazing. Performing outdoors is a nice change too—smells so much better than Dutch’s.”
