Page 25 of To Believe In You
* * *
As Matt wrappedup his final lesson of the day, Tim entered through the front door of Key of Hope. A weight settled on Matt’s back. Work with the kids was straightforward. No games, no complicated relationships. But work with Tim?
If only avoiding Awestruck and all the accompanying temptations were as simple as telling the manager he had no interest in the role of bassist.
When Tim had first brought him here, he’d overheard Lina’s question—why was Timso enamoredwith Matt?
He had no idea, but Timhadlatched on to him. Why had he been willing to help Matt approach Awestruck this summer? Why bother getting him the job at Key of Hope? Why—out of all the bassists in the world—was he convinced Matt ought to rejoin Awestruck?
Matt’s student met his dad in the waiting area, and they left.
Tim had been talking to Lina, but as soon as Matt sat at the computer to enter a few notes on the lesson, Tim switched his attention. “What are you doing Saturday night? Anything?”
He resisted a look toward Lina. Having her as an audience raised the stakes. She wasn’t easily impressed, but grateful vulnerability had flashed in her eyes when he’d chased away the boys at the play, and curiosity swam in her glances when he’d started his lesson with Chris. He had achieved his goal of eliciting positive emotions from her, and perhaps he’d have the opportunity to gain even more ground if he agreed to whatever Tim was cooking up. After all, she’d been at the last event Tim had roped him into.
But he’d vowed to decline Tim’s invites, and this little infatuation of his wasn’t cause to go back on his commitment since the interest was doomed to go unreciprocated. A little gratitude did not equate to affection or even mutual regard. “I’m going back to Fox Valley.”
Tim recoiled as if a bug had flown into his eye. “Why?”
Matt typed a line. Was one sentence enough detail about the material he’d covered? He added the name of the song he’d introduced the kid to, then closed the program. The tray of caramel bars Lina had brought beckoned him, but in order to escape poor decisions brought on by some fool’s errand to win over Lina, he collected his sweatshirt from the hook instead.
“How’re you going to get there? You don’t have a car.”
Matt pulled on the sweatshirt. “I found one this morning.”
“You bought a car?”
“Yup.” The satisfaction of surprising Tim would be short-lived. When he saw the clunker Matt had purchased for nine hundred dollars, Tim would have the last laugh. And Lina would laugh with him.
Tim shook his head as if to clear a ridiculous notion. “You can’t go home this weekend.”
“Watch me.”
“On Saturday night, there’s a bonfire at John’s. You need to be there. Awestruck leaves Monday, so this will be your last chance to—”
“I’m going home.” He’d found recovery meetings to attend in Lakeshore, but his sponsor and family were back in Fox Valley, about two hours away.
Tim crossed his arms and widened his stance, blocking the walkway.
Matt indulged in a glance at Lina. She had her long legs crossed in an easy posture. Amusement dusted her features as she watched the exchange and mindlessly toyed with one of her curls. Amusement. Another positive emotion. Time to set a harder goal.
Affectionate touch? Or was that too lofty an aspiration?
“You’re not going to make one hundred thousand dollars here.”
Shame gusted Matt’s face like a cloud of steam. Tim should’ve known Matt didn’t want that coming up in front of anyone, let alone in front of someone who already held a low opinion of him. Then again, Tim didn’t seem real in touch with emotion—his own or anyone else’s.
Meanwhile, thanks to sobriety, Matt now got to feel every little jab of unworthiness and twinge of shame. “No kidding? At a job where I only get fifteen hours a week?”
Tim slanted a look to Lina, apparently not willing to stop the guilting with Matt. “Fifteen hours? You couldn’t manage more?”
She looked back and forth between them as if she weren’t sure whether she should apologize. “That’s all the bass guitar lessons. It was on the job posting.”
No apology. Good for her.
Before Tim could pester her further, Matt bumped around him, since the guy had given him no choice. “I put in applications at three other places this morning. I’ll do what I need to do.” He gripped the key to the car parked out back. A car almost as old and world-weary as Matt.
“It’s going to take a long time to make that kind of cash.”
