Page 39 of Bear Garden
Laurie gave a startled laugh as they climbed in his truck, and made an effort to flash a bit of leg, since he was wearing a kilt in the wake of Briana chewing his jeans up. "I might stick withthis, although a woman with excellent taste mentioned the shoes don't go, so I'll have to find a pair that does."
"Excellent taste, really," Briana echoed, visibly amused. "I'd like to meet this woman."
"She must have excellent taste," Laurie said wryly. "She didn't think I was worth her time."
"Oooh, shots fired! She's starting to think she was wrong, though," Bree offered, and Laurie smiled.
"I'll take it. But I think I might in fact wear the kilt, I kinda like it."
Briana nodded. "It really is a good look on you. You've got the legs for it."
"You were ogling my legs?" Laurie asked, pleased, and she straightened up like he'd poked her.
"Ogledis a little strong! Observing! Noticing! Seeing! It was hard not to, with them hanging out there all naked and everything!"
"Now we've graduated to naked," Laurie announced to the truck cab and anyone listening. "Things are improving."
Briana laughed again, a rich musical sound, and Laurie drove her home feeling like this was going to work out.
Once he'd droppedBriana off, most of his afternoon was a blur of making calls to people who had already reached out to the Faire committee about fundraising efforts, and putting himself in their line of sight as the person to talk to going forward. Rumors swirled around town about whether the Faire would have to move or not, about Diane Carter’s prognosis for recovery, and hardest of all, about when and where funeral and memorial services would be held for the dead.
The last ones slowly stabilized into a certainty that Sunday afternoon would be the biggest memorial service, probably to be held in the high school gym so as many people as wanted to could attend. It was clear from the stress and grief around town that alotof people would be there. The three deaths were the worst of it, but most of Renaissance's population was at least tangentially involved with the Faire, and everybody was feeling the shock of its destruction.
By evening, Laurie was torn between just wanting to go home and sleep, himself, and very badly wanting to go out to the club and get lost in the music for several hours first. But he'd promised Briana he would be there, and the absolute last thing he would do was disappoint her by not showing up.
He could hear his bear starting to form a protest that Briana was his fated mate and she would of course understand if Laurie couldn't make it for some reason. Healsoheard his bear basically reconsider that entirely, with a very 'have youmetthis woman?' vibe to its reassessment. It ended by saying,You better go,with such determination that Laurie couldn't help a chuckle.
I know. Maybe if I'd made a better first impression for the first, oh, two years she knew about me, then she would understand. But I'm me, and I didn't, so I better show up now.
She does like you,his bear promised, and this time Laurie thought he dared believe it. Briana was giving him a second chance to make a first impression, anyway, and that was a lot. All he needed to do was show her he was worth it, so rather than sitting down for a few minutes and risking an inadvertent nap, he headed over to the club early to find a handful of other people were also there, helping set up.
He'd spent a lot of time at the club, drawn to the colorfully-painted harlequin masks that gave it its name long before he was old enough to go in. When he finallywasold enough, he'd discovered the interior lived up to the exterior, sticking with thesame reds and golds and whites that made a bright, welcoming space even when the lights were down low. It had good seating, plenty of dance floor, and a stage that hosted live music several nights a week.
Ripley, a young person who had been a staple at the Harlequin ever sincetheywere old enough to come in, was up on the stage now, testing instruments and sound. A couple of other musicians had already joined them, and a few other people Laurie knew from the club scene were on the floor, moving furniture and chatting. The club's owner, a local music producer, waved Laurie down. "Glad to see you're okay."
"Thanks, me too." Laurie offered Mike Piccolo a hand to shake, and the older man took it with a smile. He was cragging up with age, though his hair had been silver as long as Laurie could remember, and, like the Harlequin itself, he preferred to be dressed in bright colors. Laurie was fairly sure he'd never seen Mike in anything but a silk shirt. "I hear you're waiving the door fee tonight. Or donating it, rather."
Mike shook his head. "It's the least I can do. Are you going to play for us tonight?"
"I didn't bring any of my brass, but if somebody's got something I can borrow, yeah, I think it'd be good for me."
"You know we've got everything a band needs, backstage. Too bad the Sixty Pix are on tour. That'd bring the whole town in."
"Well, that's your fault, isn't it." Laurie grinned as Mike made a 'guilty-as-charged' face. He'd been running a small label for decades, though 'small' turned out to just reflect how many albums he produced a year, not the quality. He had a handful of big name clients, and the latest was the Sixty Pix, a rock band who had accidentally been booked for a gig at the Thunder Bear Brewpub a couple of years ago and had subsequently gone viral.
On a more personal level, the band's lead singer and drummer had turned out to be the fated mates of Laurie's oldest brother Bill, and their cousin Ashley, so the Pix had maintained a much closer tie to Renaissance than they might otherwise have done. When they weren't touring, Gwen and Penny lived in town…but Mike had parlayed their viral success into a continent-wide tour that was still adding dates.
"Gwen actually called me," Mike admitted. "She wanted to know if they needed to cancel their shows this weekend and come home to do a charity gig. The band was supportive, but I thought…"
He shook his head, and so did Laurie. "They can do one when they've got a break in the schedule, if they want. It's not like their fans won't come through regardless of when they do it."
"That's more or less what I said. That, and a lot of people here know Ripley's played with the band, so it's like they're getting a mini-look at the Pix anyway." Mike gave Laurie a keen look. "I don't suppose you know any of their music?"
"You're asking if I know my rock star sister-in-law's music? It might not be my usual thing, but c'mon, Mike, what kind of chump do you take me for? I can do the solo inEdge of Glory,too, I'll have you know."
Piccolo laughed. "Edge of Gloryis not a Pix song, but if you can get Lady Gaga down here to do the vocals, I'll allow it."
"Oh, sure, yeah, lemme just get right on that. You know I'm good with the ladies. I just need a little six degrees of Kevin Bacon here, it's all good." Laurie rolled his eyes and Mike laughed again.
