Page 105 of Finding a Melody

That got a laugh out of me as he lightened the mood. I could always depend on him to do that just for me.

“Okay. So we were doing the typical, her story, his story setup?” he asked.

“Seemed easiest. I listened to a bunch of duets lately to get a feel for it. Not those mashup ones either, but the real ones. It’s like a conversation between the two. They’re nice.”

“Yeah, I have a few fan favorites.” Toby pursed his lips as he thought about something. “But they can’t talk to each other, right? The point is, they’re in two different locations and communication doesn’t exist between them. They’ll be talking to a wall essentially.”

“Talking to themselves,” I said.

Toby nodded. “And yet still in sync.”

“Not cohesive, but still together.”

“Exactly!” Toby’s smile was big. “You get it.”

“Now it’s just a matter if we can make it work.”

We put our heads together and worked out what we wanted, the type of emotions to share. The brokenness of the song. It was hard, but it was also enlightening. Toby was amazing, taking my emotions and turning them into words that worked.

“Okay, let’s try it,” I said, leaning back, needing to stretch out my back after hunching over for so long.

“All right.” Toby played the guitar as I followed the notes. Then I began singing my part:

“Strong hugs, deep laughs, a grin so bright, it blinded

Your back so wide, my little arms can’t wrap around them

You were always there, voice so deep, I rumbled

’Til you slipped away and oh, my castle crumbled

My days are filled with nothing, numb to the world

Nothing makes sense, the silence is too loud for this girl

All this emptiness I’m trying to ignore

Will I fade away? Can I hold on anymore?

Anymore?”

“Aye,” Toby said, chuckling. “Good, that’s pretty darn solid. The beat’s a little off, but I think we can adjust. Maybe just slightly faster.”

His excitement rubbed off on me and motivated me to keep going. The song was quickly becoming real and despite the emotional aspect, I was having fun working with Toby. We kept working, trying to get as much of his part as we could so we could start working on blending the song together.

“You said your relationship with your parents is good now?” I finally asked as we were wrapping up. Paxon and his teammates were doing their cooldowns too.

“Yeah. They make sure to call me often and I’m visiting with them whenever I can.”

“That’s good,” I said, picking at my jeans.

“Cadence, what do you want to ask?”

“I just wonder if it’s possible to fix what’s broken,” I said.

“Are you asking about you and your dad or you and your mom?”

I frowned, not really knowing.