Happily Ever After

Cadeau zipped the last drum case, making sure Reese’s practice drums were safely secured in each container. Another successful practice had come to an end, this one probably more successful than the rest. Not only because she survived her first practice without Reese, though that had been a concern of hers, but she seemed to have tamed Sage. At least, a little bit. Sage had been nicer to her, that was all that mattered. She hadn’t insulted her drum playing, hadn’t glared at her, hadn’t insinuated she should leave. She even hugged her. Hugged her.

All because Cadeau finished her guitar and brought it to practice. Amazing.

She stole a glance at the woman in question. Sage sat on the couch, inspecting her guitar for, what Cadeau was sure was, the millionth time. A kid let loose in a candy store had nothing on Sage’s excitement over her guitar. She was so emotionally attached to her instrument. But weren’t most musicians to some extent?

“I’ll take that,” Blake said, scooping up the last drum case to put away in the closet.

“Oh, thanks,” Cadeau said.

“No problem. Why don’t you go grab some food from the kitchen and hang out?”

Cadeau looked towards the kitchen, where Hayden and Hunter were returning from with plates littered in food. Cupcakes and sandwiches and chips and goodies that Jolie would adore. Hayden took a cupcake from his plate and pretended to drop it on Sage’s guitar. Sage swiftly kicked him the shin for his offence, making him shout and his twin laugh. Cadeau smiled. She wanted to stay, bond with the band she’d hopefully become an official part of, but she couldn’t. She had to pick up Jolie from Emily and Reese’s home.

“Actually, I was going to head out,” Cadeau said, smiling apologetically at Blake. “Maybe I can grab a plate for the road?”

Jolie would like a cupcake and finger sandwiches.

“Come on,” Hayden whined, “You always leave us.”

“You should stay,” Saylor said.

“I don’t—”

Sage cut Cadeau’s excuse short, “For a little while?”

She hesitated, Sage’s hopeful smile skewing her thoughts. Sage wanted her to stay? Blake offering her the goodies Saylor made was normal. Hayden whining was normal. Saylor trying to coax her into staying was normal. Hunter waiting expectantly for her to agree to stay was normal. Sage asking her stay, well, when Cadeau left last week, she seemed pretty happy to see her go. This branch of friendship was enticing and the possibility of leaving shattering everything that had caused Sage to come around made her stomach sink.

Besides, Cadeau wasn’t going to take Jolie from Emily’s care. She was going to stay at their house, let the children continue playing, and gossip with Emily till Jolie tired herself out. Staying ten minutes wouldn’t hurt.

“Okay,” Cadeau conceded. “But only for a little while.”

Hayden cheered and high-fived Hunter. Blake nodded, acknowledging the band’s success, and left to put the case away. Saylor shot Cadeau an encouraging smile, the only one in the group who had any idea why she wanted to leave.

And Sage stood from the couch, placing her guitar where she had been sitting.

“Come on, let’s grab food,” she said, motioning for Cadeau to follow her. She glared at Hayden. “Touch it and I’ll kill you.”

“So much violence in this one,” Hayden stage whispered to Hunter.

“I’m helping her dispose of your body,” Hunter said.

Hayden’s mouth dropped. “Bitch.”

Sage rolled her eyes, not quite as amused by the twins’ behavior as Cadeau, who couldn’t help chuckling at their interactions. Her hazel eyes caught Cadeau’s, and she nodded to the kitchen before turning and leaving the living room. Cadeau followed, delight contained by a calm façade. Sage was willing to grab food with her, was willing to stand in a room alone with her, wasn’t trying to avoid her or have her thrown from the house. So much progress and she hadn’t done much to prompt it.

Well, altering the guitar of a musician with apparent trust issues was enough to prompt some change. And Sage’s friends probably had a hand in the situation. Cadeau could only imagine the kinds of coercion the band members used to get her to this sedated point.

Or the whole thing could have been a farce and Sage was about to kill her in the kitchen.

How reassuring a thought.

The heavy scent of baked goods, a smell that had barely cloaked the living room, slammed into Cadeau as she entered the kitchen. The culprits of the obnoxious, sweet assault lined the counter and stove. Cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and was that a pie? On the dining room table sat the prisoners of the aroma war, sandwiches and chips and crackers and items that had no chance in overpowering the baked goods.

“Saylor always makes so much food,” Sage commented.

So this plethora of goodies was normal? Cadeau had never stayed long enough after practice to find out.

She could picture her daughter devouring every sweet on the counter and suffering an intense sugar rush, followed by a debilitating crash that would leave her lying on the pristine, tiled floor. Jolie would love that.

“She’s worse than my grandmother,” Cadeau said.

Who passed away long before Jolie was born. A shame, considering the woman would have fed Jolie so many treats, she would have developed diabetes.

Sage shot her a smile, corners of her eyes crinkling. She began to turn her attention back to the nearest tray of cookies but stopped short, her gaze on Cadeau’s stiletto-clad feet. Her eyebrows drew, her head tilted.

“Did you play in those?” she asked.

“Yes.”

Sage continued to stare at Cadeau’s choice of shoes, lost in her own confusion. Cadeau waited, patient, for her to gather her thoughts. Reese took at least a week to accept the idea of her playing in stilettos when she told him. Finally, Sage shook her, turned back to the food, and grabbed a plate.

“I don’t know whether to insult you or be impressed,” Sage said, placing two cookies on her plate.

Cadeau laughed, though she didn’t think she was joking. Better confliction than outright disapproval. Confliction didn’t get her insulted.

She took a plate from the stack and eyed the sweets. A cookie or a cupcake or both? And what would she bring home for Jolie? So many choices. Sage slipped past her and headed for the table of snack food and sandwiches, leaving Cadeau room to grab a single chocolate chip cookie and take stock of the treats she’d take for Jolie on her way out. Definitely a cupcake, maybe a few cookies.

When she turned her attention to the dining room table, with the intention of walking over and picking out some triangular sandwiches, Sage was getting settled in a chair. Cadeau hesitated. Why was she sitting at the table and not heading to the living room? Weren’t they going to go exist with the rest of the band?

“You want to sit?” Sage asked.

“In here?”

“I needed to talk to you.”

Talk? Anxiety spiked Cadeau’s veins, her stomach dropped. Sage needed to talk to her alone. That was the reason she wanted her to stay after practice, the reason she went to the kitchen alone with her. Did the band know? They must have known. This wasn’t good.

Cadeau forced a teasing smile and took a seat across from Sage. “Did I do something wrong with your guitar?”

“No,” Sage said quickly. “No, it’s perfect. Thank you again.”

“So what did you need to talk about?”

“Well…” Sage found sudden interest in her plate, refused to look Cadeau in the eye.

She took a cucumber sandwich between her delicate fingers, took a bite, and chewed slowly. An obvious attempt to buy herself time.

“I don’t know if you heard,” Sage said, “but the band had a meeting about you this past weekend.” Her hazel eyes met Cadeau’s blue ones. “Not to ruin the surprise or anything, we decided to keep you.”

All anxious thoughts left Cadeau’s mind, evaporated under a warm flood of relief so intense she couldn’t even consciously process the words. They weren’t getting rid of her. They were keeping her.

“Your contract should be done this week,” Sage continued.

“Really?” Cadeau asked, overwhelming excitement forcing her voice to squeak.

“Yeah but there’s one problem.”

“What’s that?”

Whatever the problem was, it could be fixed. The band wanted her there, so her drumming wasn’t an issue. And that was the most important part of joining. Anything else was virtually unimportant. Right?

“You, um… well, we were kind of worried about our fans’ possible reaction to you. After all, you are replacing a member who they are attached to so we don’t want to give them a reason to get upset. And… how do I put this nicely?” Sage paused, attempting to gather her thoughts.

Cadeau could feel where this was going. She was replacing Reese. She had to be the perfect addition to the band to do so and not upset the whole Say Goodbye following. And she could figure out what one thing could threaten to cause an uproar. The same thing that got in the way of gaining students, that almost kept her from getting hired at Charlie’s, that would always get in the way of people taking her seriously as a musician.

Sage finally spoke, “You look like the bitchy cheerleader from high school. You know, top of the food chain, full of herself, dates the star quarterback, teases kids so much they…” she faltered. “Uh… you get the point.”

What else was new?