Mayfly Melodies

Twenty-Six

Noah

There used to be family feuds. Rodeo was just a lawless wild west town—Benjamin Soria

"You said you have big news to tell me?" Bailey asked before taking a bite from the red apple they were sharing. "You sounded really eager on the phone."

She was sitting on the ground in front of him, situated between his legs, and leaning against his chest. They were resting next to the pond where they'd had their first date. The sun was in the process of setting and the sky was lit up with darkening hues of red and orange, colours that were slowly beginning to drift to a near-black nightfall peppered with stars.

Noah had been giddy with excitement for the past two days. Such was his joy that it had nearly cancelled out his chronic state of exhaustion. He'd hardly slept a full night's rest over the past week and a half. He was all too conscious of the anniversary that would be upon him in only four days. But his happiness had nearly caused him to forget about the impending day.

He'd almost called her the day before and spilled the beans but instead he'd cherished the milestone and held off until he was able to see her in person. Bailey was the first person who'd popped into his head when it had happened. Only her. Later, he'd thought of Ethan and even of Dwaine Stannard but it was only Bailey that he was desperate to speak with.

He was smiling broadly even as he played with her hair, the strands twisting around his fingers.  "Caroline wrote me a note yesterday morning."

Her reaction did not disappoint. Bailey spun around so that she was facing him and the half-eaten apple fell from her hand. Noah caught it deftly as she threw her arms around him. "Oh, my God! Noah, that's amazing!"

"I know," he replied. "I couldn't believe it."

"What happened?" Bailey's eyes were bright. She seemed almost, if not more, elated than he had been. Noah felt a rush of affection for her.

Noah's hands settled at her hips and he held her close. "It's because of you. She was playing that guitar you gave her. She'd been making an effort not to play it when I was around. I think she was trying to keep me from finding out she had it 'cause she knew I'd have questions about where she got it. I think since you were trying to keep a low profile, she didn't want to let it slip where she'd gotten it. Anyways, yesterday I walked into the house and she was sitting in her bedroom playing it. And even though I knew you gave it to her, I asked her where she got it and she gave me this."

He reached into his back pocket and came up with a folded piece of paper. He placed it into Bailey's waiting hands and watched as she unfolded it and read the few words scrawled across the page. He didn't need to see the letter to know what it said. He'd memorized it already.

A neighbor gave it to me. I've been learning to play.

Bailey was shaking her head, still very clearly stunned. "Noah this is...this is incredible. I'm so happy for you."

Noah had been replaying the scene over and over again in his head. He saw himself walking into his house, sweating because he'd been moving barrels of hay into the barn and it was hard work to do in the heat of summer. He'd paused in the entryway, listening to the soft strum of the guitar emanating from Caroline's room. Normally, when the second the screen door slammed shut, the guitar cut off abruptly. Either Caroline didn't care that he was home or, more likely, she hadn't heard him enter.

It wasn't the first time he'd heard Caroline play. The sound wasn't quite as refined as Bailey's had been when she'd played for him but that had been unsurprising given how long Bailey had been playing. Noah had heard Caroline play from outside of the house twice but the melodies had been broken and indiscernible. It'd gotten to the point where he wasn't sure if she was playing a cover of a song or if she was attempting something original.