Loving a Man Who Forgot Me Novel Chapter 18
Uncle Ace and Uncle Spade opened up a custom car shop together, while Uncle Chris and Aunt Mia ran a non-profit rec-center for youth.
That’s when Aunt Mia wasn’t busy working on designing the latest video game, which was badass.
I’d gotten the chance to voiceover on one of her games and it was by far one of the coolest things I’d ever done.
So much better than when Mom had me model for her fashion line, but I wouldn’t tell her that. I preferred to leave the modeling to Addie.
I pushed through the door and Dad looked up, pulling the pencil from between his teeth. “Rough night?” he asked.
I nodded. “You talk to your mom?” I nodded again, jamming my hands in my pockets. “She help you get your head on straight?” Another nod. “Then have a seat.” He jerked his head toward the empty stool and the other acoustic guitar resting against it.
I walked over and grabbed up the guitar and settled onto the stool. Dad started strumming a familiar song and I picked it up. He started humming the intro and I joined him at the chorus, letting the music take over.
He transitioned from one song to the next and I kept up. I didn’t notice when my mom came to stand in the doorway, only that I looked up at one point to see her there, a tender smile on her face.
My fingers paused as Dad started playing the next song. His and Mom’s eyes met, the spark that existed between them visible. He started singing the lyrics to the song he wrote for her right after she got sick. All I could do was watch as she blinked back the moisture in her eyes.
He reached the bridge and I finally started plucking along but cast my eyes down. Watching the two of them felt like intruding on something.
The song trailed off and Mom sauntered over, that look in her eye that said I wasn’t going to want to watch this, but I didn’t look away. Dad lowered his guitar and she bent and pressed her lips to his. Only then did I duck my eyes despite the grin that had me shaking my head.
They’d been that way my whole life. You’d think I’d be used to their displays of affection, but Addie, Aiden, and I never stopped giving them crap. We were constantly ducking out of rooms every time they got like this.
Twenty-seven years of marriage later and Dad still looked at Mom like he was the luckiest man in the world. I used to know what that felt like, but it’d been a long time since I’d had anything worth holding onto like that.
When I had it, I let go, and when I got close again, I blew it. Maybe chances like that didn’t come around twice for guys like me. I started plucking away at the strings as I heard the notes in my head until I had an intricate melody.
When I stopped, both Mom and Dad were watching me. “That something new?” Dad asked. “Yeah,” I scratched my head. “It just sort of came to me.” “You got anything else to go with it?” “Just a few lines. I haven’t played around with them yet.
Like I said, they just sort of popped into my head.” He picked up the notebook and tossed it at me. “Write ‘em down before they slip away.” I grabbed one of his pens, scribbling down the line that had come to me, adding a couple more to it. It was shit, but that’s usually how it started.
I handed the notebook over to Dad, but he set it down without reading it. “Let’s hear it.” He settled his guitar onto his lap again and waited. “Okay,” I cleared my throat and then plucked out the same chords, this time adding the words.