Denny felt sudden tears well in his eyes. Sammie was his second best friend. They’d all met at the Hoppy Hare by chance. Denny had been starting his career in music as an agent and he regularly went to open mic nights around Chicago and the surrounding towns.
He’d fallen in love with the bar first. The old owner, Larry, had been a nice older man who had pegged him for who he was, even though he was dressed casually. And then Sammie had taken the stage and Denny had fallen in love all over again. He never thought he could love people in that way, strangers, even. It hadn’t been just Sammie.
He still remembered the first time Josiah had burst through the swinging doors with a crate of beer in his hands. He’d looked disheveled but sort of happy. There had been something about him that had immediately drawn Denny in, the same way Sammie and her music had.
They’d talked after the show, even after the closing, which Josiah was handling for his boss. After that night, they never stopped talking. Eventually, he’d gotten Sammie a sweet record deal and now she was out there, performing for audiences most artists only dreamed of.
The other text was from Josiah.
Do you want to go to the cabin for the weekend? I can leave the kids in charge.
Denny hadn’t known the amount of tension he’d already gathered into his whole being until it relaxed in awhooshof relief. The tears suddenly fell and rolled down his cheeks as he sobbed. He put the phone against his chest and lay there, crying for a few moments.
He wasn’t sure the last time he’d cried, it had been years, at least, but now the kindness of his friends stripped a layer of self-preservation or whatever had come between him and his tear ducts, and he wept.
Sometime later, he texted Josiah back.Yes, please. I’ll get everything together and come pick you up at midday?
He went to shower and changed into his most comfortable clothing before calling Melody.
“Boss?” she asked, clearly in her car on the way to work already.
“I won’t come in today. I was going to, but….”
“All right. Will you be back on Monday?”
“Yes. If you need me during the weekend for any emergencies, let me know?”
“If it’s something only you can handle, then sure. Have a relaxing weekend.” Her tone suggested she would rather gouge her eyes out than call him when he was taking a longer weekend than normal.
“Thanks, Melody. Bye.”
When he went to make coffee and figure breakfast out, he found a note from Kristin on the fridge door. It stated she’d packed a bag and gone to her sister’s, but she’d be back to get more things later. He sighed and wondered what to say to that. Was there even something to say?
As he sipped his coffee and dug into his omelet, he texted her.
I’m going to the cabin for the weekend. Be back Sunday night. If you want to get more of your stuff already, feel free.
She’d said she’d move out, but he was sure she wouldn’t get everything if he was at home. If going to the cabin with Josiah meant she might get it all done while he was awayandhe had the best possible support for what might end up being the worst weekend of his life, even better.
After breakfast, Denny started to pack his backpack. The cabin was on the Kankakee river, and Josiah’s bar was pretty much midway there. Like the house, Denny had bought the cabin after a divorce, it just had been the first one. Josiah had helped him find one, and then when his second wife hadn’t liked the cabin being very basic and not at all luxurious, it had been Josiah who went with Denny when he had time to go there.
Sammie had made it there a couple of times, too, which was always funny because then they had to rock-paper-scissors who slept where. There was a comfy enough couch and one double bed, but that was it. The bathroom had decent water pressure and there was electricity, but it really was basic.
Since he had some time, he changed his sheets so he’d have a fresh bed to come home to on Sunday. He carried his backpack to his car and started the drive to his preferred grocery store on his way to Josiah.
He listened to music in the car. Funnily enough, none of his wives never understood how he could work with music like he did and had the radio open in the car, but never listened to it at home unless said wives or a guest suggested it.
The cabin was a complete no-music zone, well, unless Sammie was there with her guitar, of course. With that thought in mind, he turned off the radio and said “Siri, call Sammie.”
It didn’t take long for Sammie to answer.
“Hey, Denny, how are you?”
He sighed. “I’m… hanging in there.”
“Good. You going to the cabin?” Either she’d talked to Josiah or she’d made an educated guess.
“Yeah, I’m on my way to get groceries and then I’m going to pick him up. Where are you?”
