A Taste of Candor

Chapter 20

~Declan.

That performance for Mr. Paige's birthday celebration really drained me. When I got home that night, I barely got my shoes off before falling asleep on the couch. Didn't even bother getting myself out of my suit jacket; I was so tired.

But life went on, and the next morning brought around another day to work for a living. I stripped out of my dress clothes in favor of something more casual, ate a bowl of cereal, and headed back to the mansion. I'd be there either to get paid or to participate in a rehearsal for the next concert, but I wasn't sure yet.

As it turned out, our section leaders just gave out cash for our past two weeks of work, including a hefty sum for last night specifically. They also let us know the band director felt almost ready to come back to work. We'd be getting three days off anyway, after which time they said he'd almost certainly be back in business. So after talking with my bandmates for a few minutes, I headed home for a long practice session.

Of course, what would a practice session be without distractions? To be more specific, lots of thoughts about Tahlia weighed down my mind and threw off my focus. She'd seemed ... preoccupied last night. Almost flustered, at moments. I wasn't rude enough to have pressed her on it, but I also wasn't stupid enough to have not noticed.

But oh well, no use dwelling on that. I had a scary undertaking of my own to plan for, and I'd have to go for it sooner rather than later. I'd have to sit Mr. Paige down and convince him I could be trusted to date his daughter.

Framing the whole thing that way just made me look ridiculous, to be realistic. A husband should provide, protect, and cherish his wife, but how much of that could I really fulfill? Tahlia already had all she needed in the way of provision. Any contribution on my part would be irrelevant. And I wasn't exactly remarkably strong or anything, to offer protection.

Love alone isn't enough, is it?

That line of reasoning really made me want to just back out of the whole thing and leave it be. But I really couldn't at this point. For one thing, Tahlia was a delightful girl I'd love to have in my life. It'd be a pain to lose her. And for another, I'd already given her my word I'd ask Mr. Paige properly.

I sighed. Silly or not, I was locked in. Even if Mr. Paige did laugh me out of town, I had to do it for Tahlia.

* * * *

~Tahlia.

Due to the sheer size of my father's celebration the night prior, one could hardly marvel at the fact I never ran into my mother again after spotting her wroth face through the window pane. I kept an eye on her from a safe distance as the rest of the evening ran its course, and by the great degree to which she appeared to revel win the company of our guests, I could almost delude myself into thinking she'd forgotten. However, I knew my mother better than that. Fiona Paige never forgot anything.

Of course, by the time the next morning rolled around, my luck ran out. Instead of a peaceful awakening filled with soft sunlight and Scripture, it began with a bang. My mother's fists rattled my door and shattered my sleep. Stumbling out of bed, I opened to her, and the same rage had returned to her face.

"You have much explaining to do, young lady." Mother snapped as she battered through me and into my room. She sealed us inside by forcing the door shut.

I rubbed my eyes and groggily muttered. "I ... on what?"

"I see no coincidence in the fact that the moment you found liberation from your grounding, you found yourself an opportunity to sneak outside with that wolf of a man. In what circumstance is it proper for a lady to engage in private conversation with a man unknown to her parents?"