The next day Tallie wasn't surprised when Case walked into the music store. He set a fresh cup of coffee on the counter for her and mumbled some comment about a guitar tool before he disappeared to the back wall. She happily accepted the hot coffee and continued working, until he called to her, "can I play the red electric?" he asked.
"Sure," she said, joining him at the back wall. She pulled out the amp and cord for him. She stayed at the back wall with him, calling out songs for him to play and seeing if he could remember them until her next music student showed up.
The rest of the day continued in that fashion. Tallie taught and Case played the guitars in the back. In between lessons, she would join him in the back. Sometimes she would pick up her guitar to play along, sometimes she only sang along and sometimes she just listened.
When it was time for lunch, Tallie put up the "back in 30" sign on the door and they made a loop of the main square. They knew all the restaurant menus by heart but it still felt necessary to weigh all their options. In the end, they decided on the sandwich deli.
The small, tiled store was busy. There was a line at the counter and almost all the small red tables were filled. They joined the line and chatted with Charlotte, the barista from Oaks Coffee. When Charlotte mentioned snow, suddenly everyone in the deli was a part of the conversation.
Someone checked the news channels from the north, hoping if anything was building up there, it would make it's way to Holly Oaks. Someone else said they were tracking all the weather on the east coast.
Case mentioned a radar app that showed the different weather happening all across America and in no time, half of the patrons in the deli were crowded around him, watching intently as he showed them how it worked.
The whole town was focused on only two things: snow and the Christmas pageant, so when they hit their limit of weather talk, everyone turned their focus on Tallie. Being the director, everyone was curious how it was coming along and she barely got to eat as she answered questions.
The Christmas Pageant had a habit of hitting snags, mistakes, or complete failures that ended up defining that year's pageant. Like when one of the kids peed his pants during the final song peed. Or the year Mary lost baby Jesus. Or the year someone had the grand idea of bringing in real animals from a local farm and the sheep got lose and everyone ended up chasing it around the sanctuary.
Everyone wanted to know what would be this year's defining moment. Knowing Lucas, Tallie was sure they would get something, she just wasn't sure what it would be.
After lunch, Case said he better get home and spend time with his mother, or else his niece would completely erase him from the family tree. He didn't mention anything about band practice when he went, but Tallie wasn't surprised when she found him already in the back room when she entered after the Christmas pageant rehearsal. Like the days before, he helped when he could, and at one point he was so carried away jamming with Henry, Tallie had to call his name loudly to get him and Henry to pay attention.
As they were cleaning up after the practice was over when Case cleared his throat. Tallie looked up expectantly, some old memory in her mind telling reminding her he tended to clear his throat before he asked a question he was uncertain of.
It took him a moment to work up the nerves to ask the question and he started when he realized she was already waiting to hear what he had to say.
"I was wondering," he started slowly. She nodded encouragingly. "Would it be possible to say hi to your parents tonight? I could walk home with you and it doesn't have to be long. I just..." He broke off, uncertain.
A wave of mixed emotions splashed over Tallie. She could hear how badly he wanted to see her parents and she was reminded how new his sadness was, and she was grateful he also understood that visiting her dad wasn't a simple thing like it would be for anyone else.
She smiled. "Let me text my mom to see how my dad's day was."
"Okay," he said. He nodded his head vigorously and she could tell he was trying to be respectful of what her dad needed but wanted to see her parents.
She quickly sent the text to her mom, praying her dad had had a good day and was relieved when her mom responded quickly. She laughed at the response and Case looked up hopeful.
"My dad says I won't be allowed in the house unless you are with me," she said. Case laughed in relief and returned to stacking chairs with new energy.
When they left Grace Church and headed across the square, Tallie had to jog to keep up with Case's long, quick strides.
"Hold up," she chuckled, catching his arm before he could leave the square. He looked at her questioningly as she pulled into Soup on the Square. "We have to pick up dinner first," she explained.
As they hit the square a few minutes later, containers of soup tucked under Case's arm, Tallie held him back again.
"Hey," she said, holding onto his arm. He paused but seemed ready to keep moving until he looked at her more closely. Her serious expression made him come to a complete stop and she knew she had his full attention.
"We have to be calm and go slow with my dad," she said. "He is really low energy and he barely interacts with anyone other than my mom and me, so..."
"No speed walking to your house," he said, his voice already softer and slower than it had been.
"Yes. And be patient. Things move slowly at my house. And understand that if my dad doesn't respond the way you think he will, it's just because he doesn't have the energy and not that he isn't listening."
As Tallie listed off instructions, she suddenly felt nervous. Her parents had changed a lot since the last time Case has seen them. She hadn't hit this situation before. Her parents rarely had visitors, and if they did, it was someone from town who had walked alongside the family from the beginning.
She paused outside the front door, mentally checking to see if she had forgotten to tell him anything, but she stopped when she focused on Case. He looked nervous as he took a deep breath. Finding he was also nervous helped break through her nerves. She smiled and gave him a playful shake.
"You can be yourself, just a little quieter." He nodded and she could see his shoulders relax a bit. "Come on."
The moment her father saw Case, Tallie knew all her worry had been for nothing. Her father beamed as he greeted Case, which seemed to settled Case's nerves and he took a spot on the couch across from her dad. Tallie remained in the doorway, smiling as she watched her parents catch up Case.
As excited as Case was to see her parents, her parents were equally excited. They wanted to hear all about New York and law school. Tallie had heard everything already so she left to warm up the soup for everyone.
When she returned with four bowls of soup, they were all laughing about something. She joined her mom and Case on the couch and the hours quickly slipped away. The conversation flowed from school to music to nieces and nephews. It twisted in and out of life updates to big theological topics.
Case did a good job of keeping his energy low.
The few times he got overly excited, it only took him a moment to realize he was being too loud. He would look at Tallie as he settled down again, reassuring her he would be quieter.
But most importantly, he was just Case, which Tallie knew meant the most to her parents. As cautious as her mom and she was about overextending her dad's energy, her parents didn't want Case to feel like he had to act different, and Tallie was grateful Case was just being himself.
When it was time to say goodbye, although Tallie's dad looked tired, she could see the visit had cheered him. As Tallie led Case to the front door, her parents made him promise he would stop by one more time before he went back to New York.
"I promise," Case told him. When they reached the front door, he paused. "I'll see you at the shop tomorrow."
Tallie liked that he said it like it was a given, but she had to shake her head.
"Only Lauren will be at the store tomorrow. I'll be at Grace Church all tomorrow prepping for the Christmas Pageant."
"Oh, okay." Something caught his attention behind her and she turned to see her parents walking together as they headed upstairs.
"Thanks for tonight," he said. "It was really fun."
"Thank you," she said. "It cheered up my dad."
"It cheered me too." He took a few steps down their front walk before he called, "Night Tallie."
"Night Case," she said, smiling as he walked out their gate and down the road towards his home, whistling as he went.
The next morning, all the relaxed feelings from the night before were gone as Tallie walked quickly towards Oaks Coffee. She had several notebooks in her hand, each filled to the brim with details on the Christmas Pageant.
She was meeting a team of dads at Grace Church in ten minutes to start the set building and she knew her day wouldn't be over until late that night after the pageant was done and all the sets were taken down. She was so caught up in details she almost missed Case waiting for her outside of Oaks
"Good morning," he said, holding a cup of coffee out for her.
"Case? What are you...?" She tried to finish the question as her brain tried to take in the surprise of seeing him while continuing to run through details.
"I figured it was going to be a long day and you would need coffee." He offered her the cup again and this time she accepted it.
She took a sip and it was still piping hot. "You haven't been here long." How had he known what time to meet her?
"My dad told me he was meeting you at nine to help with sets and I figured you would be stopping by Oaks before."
"Thanks," she said. For a moment she had to think about where she was heading next before she started in the opposite direction towards the church. Case fell into step with her.
"That's a lot of notebooks," he said with a teasing smile.
She started to explain how many details it took to plan the pageant but stopped when she noticed the smile.
"It is a lot of notebooks," she said back stubbornly. During their band days, Tallie would have notebooks at every band rehearsal to write down notes about everything: changes to song arrangements, outfit ideas, or chords Case needed to change. He had always teased her about them and it seemed nothing had changed.
"You should know I don't have to use as many notebooks now because interestingly enough, wrangling thirty middle school and elementary kids is actually easier than getting you to do anything for the band."
"Hey!" he laughed. "I was not that bad. You just loved any excuse to use notebooks."
"And you never listened to anything I said."
He shrugged, conceding he had no argument. "I was playing guitar. You know that means about only thirty percent of what people say comes through."
She chuckled, knowing thirty percent was being generous. It usually felt like he only heard fifteen percent of what she was saying when he had a guitar in his hands.
When they reached the church, she led the way around towards the back storage shed. When she saw Ben waiting for them, she snapped back into detail mode and the morning was off. Ben unlocked the shed so they could access the pageant sets and decorations and once the group of dads arrived she began directing the setup.
It took the morning to transform the church into a barn with fake animals, straw, and a manger. The kids started arriving as a few dads were high on a ladder hanging the Christmas Star, and once the ladder was gone, they jumped straight into rehearsal.
Early in the afternoon, Tallie called a ten-minute water break for the kids and as they began to disperse, Case plopped down in the seat next to her and handed her a sandwich from the deli.
"I know we had this yesterday," he said, "but I figured it was the easiest thing to transport and the easiest thing to eat."
"Thank you!" she said, tearing off the paper and taking a bite. She had forgotten to take a lunch break and as she ate she realized how hungry she was.
Halfway through the sandwich she also realized that Case had never left. After meeting her at Oaks that morning he had been with her all day. He had helped build sets with the dads and when the kids had shown up, he had moved on to cleaning up all the tools and making sure the sanctuary was back to normal.
She looked at him. "Thank you," she said again. "For the sandwich and for all the help today."
He shrugged off her gratitude. "Prep for our Christmas Open House has started and I was told that I was not allowed in the house until after seven pm today."
Tallie laughed, knowing he was not joking. His family's Christmas Open House was almost considered a town tradition at this point and it took his mom days of preparation.
"Well, I am grateful you decided to spend your day of exile here. I appreciate the help."
"Of course," he smiled.
Tallie's gratitude for Case only grew as they hit the last hour before the pageant started. As the sanctuary began to fill with the audience, the back room of the church was chaotic as the kids changed into costumes and used the last chance to go over their lines.
Without her asking, Case was by Tallie's side, ready to carry out any job. She needed pins to fix one of the shepherd's costumes and a pin cushion appeared. She needed water for the kids and a case of water bottles was brought to the back room.
He was there on the side of the stage with Tallie as she sent the first kids on for the opening scene. They both let out sighs of relief as the lights went up and the narrator began with, "And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed."
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I'm too lazy to write an authors note
You can leave your thoughts here if you want to.
If not - I really don't care
(This author's note brought to you by joymoment )
I know - even I'm having a hard time believing she would say that but it's true. I asked what I should say and this is what I got