Free Ties That Bind by Heather Huffman

tell you guys what happened
yesterday,” Liz giggled, earning an irritated glare from Derrick.
“Gerard ate one of the guest lists…. Do you want to guess which
one?”
    “It isn’t funny. That dog eats everything,”
Derrick grumbled.
    “He didn’t eat my mom’s guest list,” Liz
informed him sassily.
    “You get to ask my mom for a new one.”
    “Or thank Gerard for editing the old one and
leave it at that.”
    “Liz….” The exasperation was clear in his
voice.
    “Derrick…” She tried to mimic his scowl. Kate
couldn’t help grinning along with Gavin.
    The limo pulled up along a side door to let
them out. It was strange to have someone hold the door for her like
that. She felt a little like a movie star as she descended from the
car to Gavin’s waiting arm. As they entered the building, she
caught sight of one of the violinists scurrying to the back.
    He appeared to be late and a smile flickered
across her face. If she were playing here tonight, it would be her
and her best friend Gaston scurrying to the back together. She’d
been a little less structured in those days. With the memory came
recognition and she called out before she could remember her
manners.
    “Gaston!”
    The hurried violinist stopped in his tracks
and turned, searching out the one who’d called his name. Kate waved
and quickly covered the ground between them.
    “Gaston, it’s me, it’s…”
    “Katie!” His face lit up and he pulled her
into a one-armed hug. “Wow, look at you!”
    “I wondered if I’d see anyone I knew,” she
beamed at him. “And I’m lucky enough to find you.”
    “Can you get together after the show?” he
asked her eagerly, clearly torn between visiting and reporting for
work.
    “As long as you don’t mind a group – there’s
several of us here tonight.”
    “I’d love to meet your friends.”
    “It’s a date, then,” she couldn’t help that
she was still smiling at him.
    “I’ve missed you Katie,” he smacked a loud
kiss on her cheek and headed for the stage door. “After the show –
don’t you disappear on me again.”
    “I won’t,” she promised.
    “Should I be worried?” Gavin slipped up
behind her, wrapping a protective arm about her waist and pulling
her to him.
    “Only if I were a six-foot blonde male,” she
giggled. “Gaston was my best friend back in the day. I bet if you
bought him a martini or two he’d spill all kinds of dirt on
me.”
    “Well then, point us to the after-party.”
    Kate instantly wished she hadn’t planted the
idea in Gavin’s head. Gaston knew the dirt no one else did. Maybe
that’s why she’d disappeared on him in the first place. He’d been a
painful reminder of a life she had been trying to put behind her.
When he’d moved to Chicago, it had been a little too easy to lose
touch.
    They had to catch up with the rest of their
party in the box. Kate was eager for the music to begin. She wasn’t
at all surprised to learn that Gaston was the first chair. He’d
always been the best. Her fingers itched all the way through
Beethoven’s ninth. How she missed it.
    She could almost feel the bow gliding across
the strings, leaving a white mist of rosin in its wake. Her fingers
would trill with the vibrato, the music would swell and ebb,
building an energy of its own until the intensity was palpable in
the air.
    Hearing it now, something seemed to shake
loose within – maybe just a little. When the last note hung in the
air, a single tear wound its way down her cheek. She went to brush
it aside but Gavin beat her to it, gently wiping it away with his
thumb. His eyes seemed to be trying to bore into her soul in
attempt to divine its secrets.
    Kate tried to even her breathing as she
stared for a timeless moment at the man she so badly wanted to lose
herself in. The rustle of the others leaving their seats brought
her back to reality and she turned to them with a smile fixed in
place. “Who’s up for a party?”
    Of course they all were and Kate