He handed me the flowers.
“They’re beautiful, Brady. Thank you,” I said, turning to the kitchen to find a vase for them. He followed along.
“Where’s Hannah?” he asked.
“Upstairs. If you wait two more seconds?” I didn’t need to finish my sentence as Hannah’s music filled the air, and he smiled.
He rocked, hands in his pockets, seeming impossibly nervous for a famous musician.
“So, I was thinking,” he started. “How would you and Hannah like to escape Grand Orchard for a few hours?”
“What do you have in mind?” I asked, a bit of doubt flickering through me.
“There just so happens to be a concert in Albany tonight that Hannah might enjoy.”
“Yeah?” I said, hands pausing on the bouquet to look at him.
“But it means you’ll be out pretty late, and I’ll have to leave from there to go to New York while Trevor brings you back here.”
“Who’s playing?” I asked.
“ABBA.”
He said it as if it wasn’t a big deal when we both knew it was. Hannah was going to lose her mind. She was going to jump out of her skin with excitement, and I was going to jump out of my skin with joy because he’d done something so wonderful for her.
“And you were able to get tickets at the last minute?” I said breathlessly, my heart pounding so loud I was sure he could hear it.
His grin was slow and happy, but his shrug was humble. “Well… It’s a perk.”
“A perk.” I was well aware I was talking like an imbecile.
“Kind of a scratch-each-other’s-back kind of thing. They can’t join the festival schedule because of a prior commitment, but when I found out they were in Albany?”
I kissed him. Lips and tongue and heart all his. Giving him more than I thought I could stand to give and hoping it would be safe at least for a few days or months or years.
The stairs rocked with the sound of Hannah and Molly’s feet. We’d just pulled away when they bounced into the kitchen.
“Brady!” she hollered and threw herself at him. He picked her up and hugged her, and my heart was all but lost.
“Guess what? Your mom said I could take the two of you somewhere special today.”
“Where? Where?”
“Wanna go see ABBA live in person?”
Hannah stared at him, mouth hanging open, and then said quietly, reverently, “ABBA? I could actually see them…”
He was nodding, and she tightened her grip around his neck and kissed his cheek. “You are the best friend I ever had. Kiran is going to be mad you’re taking his place, but he’s never taken me to see ABBA!”
???
Hannah fell asleep on the way to Albany, which I could only think was a good thing. It was going to be a late night. We were in one SUV while Trevor followed us in a second that would take Hannah and me home later while Marco and Brady went to New York City.
I was squished between Brady and Hannah’s booster seat. I’d tried to protest that he didn’t have to sit in the back with me, but he’d completely ignored me. Now, his hand was holding mine, fingers running along the palm, a soothing motion that I wasn’t sure I’d ever felt before.
“She’s going to be talking about this for days,” I said, giving him a smile he returned with an almost bashful one.
“I don’t think I ever remember being that excited about anything when I was her age,” he said quietly. “I only remember feeling that kind of joy after music was brought into my life.”
