Page 84 of Resisting the Fall

I took her face in my hands, her tears wetting my fingers, and tilted her chin upward until our gazes met. Her eyes were swollen and her face was red and splotchy. In all our years together, I’d only seen Maven cry a handful of times, and even then, it had only ever comprised a few tears. The sight of her so completely distraught nearly broke me. “I’m sorry I got so upset.”

“You have every right to be upset. I should have told you. I was just scared that…” Her voice quivered. “That this would happen. But honestly, I only applied to Juilliard to see if I could get in. It was some stupid, self-appointed test of validation—a curiosity to see if I was good enough. It wasn’t until my acceptance came that I thought about what it might be like to actually go…”

Tears were flowing down her cheeks again, and I brushed them away with my thumbs, then pulled her into an embrace.

“I love you, Ben,” she said, sniffling. “I choose you.”

But at what cost? Maven had gotten into Juilliard. I couldn’t keep her from that. I wouldn’t. “I think you should accept the offer.”

She pulled back, her face searching mine in desperation. “No. Not if that means I have to give you up.”

I swallowed, fighting the knot forming in my chest. “We’ve already made it through four years. What’s another two?”

Maven

Walking through the large barn doors and breathing in the smell of fresh lumber, I could hardly believe the community had come together and built the structure in one day. Ben had said there was still a lot of work to be done, but most of it would be contracted out—things like installing a metal roof, bathrooms, and electricity. For now, the constant hum of generators must be what powered the strings of bulbs hung overhead and the PA system from the live band.

Penny clung to my hand as we stood on the outskirts, gaining our bearings. There were lots of faces I recognized, but a mix of new ones as well. I didn’t see Ben yet either. “Do you see anyone you want to say ‘hi’ to?” I asked her.

“There’s the Clark girl,” Mom said, pointing.

Penny shook her head.

“What about them?” I flicked my chin to a group of three girls near Penny’s age dancing together.

Penny followed my gaze, then shook her head again. Her big green eyes were full of apprehension when they returned to me. “I just want to stay with you and Nana.”

“Perfect.” I squeezed Pen’s hand. “Because Nana and I want to stay with you.” I remembered what it was like moving to a new place at Penny’s age. But unlike me, she didn’t have an older brother to let her tag along wherever he went. “Should we go watch the band while we wait for your dad?”

This time Penny nodded, and the three of us made our way toward the far end of the barn, where a large wooden platform was being used as a temporary stage.

“Is that a violin?” Penny asked, pointing at an older gentleman fiddling.

“Technically, it’d be called a fiddle, but there’s really no difference except how it’s played. Watch his fingers.” I leaned down and pointed. “See how they stay up toward the top of the neck near the pegs?”

Penny nodded.

“A violinist will use the entire fingerboard for a larger range of notes, but a fiddler needs to play songs people can dance to. That hand position allows for notes to be played much more quickly, and the open strings give that fun, bright sound. Plus, look how fast he moves his bow.”

“Do you know how to play like that?”

“I know a handful of fiddle songs, but what’s amazing about actual fiddlers is that sometimes they’ll make up stuff as they go. They’ll just play and see where the music takes them.”

Penny’s eyes widened, and she turned her gaze back to the older gentleman fiddling. He met her awed expression and winked at her, his jolly, round cheeks lifting with his smile.

“I thought you three might be up here,” Carson said as he joined us.

“That took you a minute,” I said.

“All the parking was full. Thankfully, Ben saw me driving down First and told me to park alongside his fifth wheel.”

My gaze shifted behind him, trying not to appear too eager. “Is Ben here, then?”

Carson glanced over his shoulder. “We walked in together, but he stopped to talk to Mayor Monroe.”

“There he is.” Penny pointed toward the doors. Mayor Monroe was gesturing at different aspects of the barn with a large smile on his face. He, along with everyone else, clearly counted the barn raising a huge success. I fully agreed.

When the brief conversation finished, Ben started forward, his gaze sweeping the area like he was looking for someone. Then his eyes locked with mine and he smiled, making his way toward us. He wore a simple gray t-shirt and jeans, and instead of wearing his typical baseball cap, he’d styled his hair in a way that made him look like he’d just walked off a shoot for the Sexy Blue-Collared Men wall calendar. Not that I was having thoughts of buying a hundred copies of the fictional calendar and wallpapering my wall with it. I absolutely wasn’t. A calendar for each room would be sufficient.