Page 23 of To Bring You Back
Out of sight, out of mind.
7
The dark shape of the bass filled the back half of the spare bedroom closet. Adeline slid away boxes of Christmas decorations and leftovers from discarded hobbies. Pressing winter coats and floor-length dresses back, she gripped the case and lugged the bass out.
In high school, when she’d flexed, the guys had laughed and made squeaky-toy noises before showing off their own biceps. However unimpressive her muscles had been then, they must be worse now. She couldn’t imagine carrying this around everywhere the way she once had.
But after today, she’d no longer have to handle this weight.
Grief lapped at her toes.
You used to love playing.
Oh, how right Gannon was.
Between the band and orchestra class, she’d once spent most of her free time on music. Though she no longer played, her ear picked out the bass line in every song she heard.
She could play one last time. What better way to get closure before selling? To say goodbye to an old friend?
As she felt along the seam for the zipper pull, thudding sounded downstairs. A few moments later, Bruce panted into the room and immediately sprawled onto the carpet.
“Taking it in today?” Tegan dropped into the chair at the desk. Her forehead shone with a layer of perspiration. She and Bruce must’ve been running.
Adeline retracted her fingers from the zipper. Why did she feel guilty, as if she’d been caught kissing Gannon? Instead of confessing she’d meant to play first, she nodded.
“You know, you and Gannon …”
Her stomach pulled into a tight knot. Tegan was thinking about them too? She fastened her focus on the bass and waited, hoping against hope for relief.
“Maybe if he’s sorry for firing Fitz, he ought to pay for your home repairs. I mean, the money would be nothing to him. It’s the least he could do.”
As disappointment washed over her, she realized she’d hoped Tegan would say something different. But, given the way Adeline had represented him to her friends, of course Tegan would never say something positive.
The blame she’d cast, on top of everything else, smoldered to be confessed. “I’m not asking him for money.”
She’d accept help from the church long before that.
“I figured you’d say that. But you aren’t interested in the campus job either, are you?” Tegan had printed off the job description and left it on the table.
Adeline had read the information and left the pages where she’d found them. She already had work.
“Doesn’t the idea of helping college grads find their way sound rewarding? The posting has been up for a while now. Maybe God’s holding the job for you.”
Adeline shook her head. Why was everyone on this kick of telling her that her life didn’t measure up?
“I’m not trying to be difficult. I just … are you sure you want to sell this?”
She was certain shedidn’twant to. She also didn’t want to keep walls up between her and Gannon. But being an adult and taking responsibility meant enduring loss. Tegan would never understand the stakes, the motivations behind her actions, until Adeline explained. The time had come to tell the truth.
The whole truth.
Even if she lost Tegan’s good opinion of her.
She leaned the bass against the wall and sat on the bed. “He came to see me Monday at church.”
“What? Gannon? And you didn’t tell me?”
“I don’t like to relive my history with him. He’s hard to talk about.”
