He raised an eyebrow. “Youguys haven’t kissed, but already, you’re planning to elope withNoel?”
The distraction worked.Ginny’s eyes went from beseeching to baleful. “The aunts areplanning to adopt. And as usual, Tita Kate went overboard andbought this book even if they hadn’t started on their inquiries. Iswear, she would’ve bought a crib if Tita Mitch hadn’t stoppedher.”
Chuckling, Caleb flippedthrough the pages. He had to hand it to the aunts. Once they settheir minds on something, they focused all their energies toachieve it. He stopped at the page he was looking for.
Caleb (Hebrew) dog, faithful
Caleb frowned, rebellingagainst this definition of his name. He wondered if his mom hadreferred to this same book before naming him, hoping that Calebwould embody the qualities she’d preferred in a son—loyal,obedient, willing to follow a path already laid out for him. Helooked at the page again and noticed a seconddefinition.
Caleb (Arabic) bold, brave. Bible: one ofthe twelve Israelite leaders sent by Moses to explore the PromisedLand.
Caleb stared at thesewords for a long time before slowly closing the book.
“I’ll be there tomorrownight, Gins. You can count on me.”
The hug that engulfed himnearly squeezed out his guts. “Thank you! Thank you!” Ginnysquealed into his ear.
By the time Caleb hadextricated himself from her arms, a plan was already hatching inhis head. Funny how everything that happened in the past wassuddenly making sense, piecing together to form an action pointthat he needed to do.
He was Caleb, bold andbrave. His life abounded with biblical references. Today was thethird day after the fight with his mom. Something spectacular wasgoing to happen
He got his phone from hispocket, and scrolled down to a name that, thankfully, he hadn’tdeleted.
Chapter 22:Crescendo
Before Caleb boarded thecar with Ginny and the aunts, he’d stuffed the blue bowtie into hispocket, thinking he might need it later to calm himself down. Inthe backseat, Ginny sat beside him, unusually quiet and somber in ablack jersey dress that fell down her ankles. Her hair was crammedinto a black beret pulled over one eye. It was the first time Calebhad seen her in monochrome. She looked calm, the opposite of howCaleb was feeling as his fingers tapped an erratic rhythm on hisknee.
They resurfaced from thetraffic, and Kate maneuvered the car into a spot in front of thecafé. As he got out, déjà vu coursed through Caleb. When theystepped into the cramped space, the sense of familiarity grew evenstronger. They were here early, so the aunts were able to grab atable a short distance from the stage.
Under the dim lights,Caleb strayed from the table and faced the stage, the lonemicrophone stand glaring down at him. Hastily, he looked away,scanning the area. Anticipation crawled up his neck thendissipated. The person he was looking for wasn’t here yet. Taking adeep breath of nicotine-laced air, he retrieved the bowtie from hispocket and studied it, willing its blue color to calm himdown.
“You wearingthat?”
Nerves on edge, he snarledat Ginny. “Is that a problem?”
Still the picture oftranquility, Ginny shrugged. “I thought you were over bowties.” Asudden thought seemed to occur to her, and she dug into her totebag. “I bought you something ages ago, but I’d forgotten all aboutit.” She offered a crumpled paper bag to Caleb.
Inserting a hand into thebag, Caleb’s fingers closed in on crinkly plastic. He pulled it outand discovered a bowtie gazing back at him.
“All the colors of therainbow, see?” Ginny grinned up at him. “I bought that because Ithought your bowties needed a splash of color. But now that I thinkabout it, that bowtie looks like the gay pride flag. Each colorstands for something. I remember the red’s for life, orange forhealing and . . .” She grinned at him sheepishly. “You’d have toGoogle the rest.”
Something big and hardlodged in Caleb’s throat as he removed the plastic. “Thank you.” Hethumbed the bowtie’s satin fabric before handing it back to Ginny.“Can you put it on me?”
Ginny stood on tiptoe asCaleb bent down. Soon, the rainbow bowtie was fastened securely onhis collar. Caleb stuffed the blue bowtie back into his pocket.Maybe he didn’t need to be calm tonight. What he needed was fireand healing and so much more.
* * *
As the crowd thickened,the collective body heat rendered the air conditioning useless.Caleb wiped off his perspiration with a paper napkin and craned hisneck, eyes rifling through the mass of patrons.
“Caleb?”
He turned to see Mitchacross the table, giving him a warm smile. “Remember what we talkedabout? Whatever happens, you’ll be okay.”
Caleb nodded though hisheart was beating a fearful thought.
“Hey.” Ginny nudged hiselbow. “They’re here.”
Caleb followed her gaze,and saw Franco and Drew strolling into the café. At the sight ofFranco, Caleb couldn’t help how his body reacted. Heart beating increscendo. Heat shinnying up his neck. Nothing much hadchanged.
But Caleb had changed. Heignored the music swelling inside him, stood up and crossed theroom toward the couple.
“Hey, Franco.” Keeping asmile fastened on his face, he turned to the other guy. “Hi,Drew.”
“Caleb.” As usual, Drew’seyes revealed nothing. If it were true that they were alike, thenmaybe the same blankness was reflected in Caleb’s eyes.
“Caleb!” As always, Francowas the opposite—effusive smile, sparkling eyes. “So the café ownersays he has a portable keyboard stashed in the stockroom. It hasn’tbeen used in ages but he says it still works. The manager canassist you.”
“Great!” Caleb’s voicesounded too loud, too compensating. He brought it down a notch.“Um, so, do we rehearse first or—?”
“No need.” Franco waslooking around, sizing up the crowd that had gathered in front ofthe stage. “You’ve practiced, right?”
“Yeah, but with the music,maybe we should—”
“I listened to the linkyou sent so I already got a feel of the music.” Franco finallylooked at him, grinning. “We’ll just wing it. Besides, Drew and Istill have to join the newbies for the briefing.”
He turned to leave, butpaused in afterthought. “I forgot to tell you—Drew’s reading withus. Is that cool? I don’t know if I’ve told you, but he co-wrotethe poem.”
Thunderstruck, Caleb’seyes flew to Drew, but he and
