Graceless (Grace Notes #2)

Brynn took her to another diner for lunch, and Cassidy was dreading the heart-to-heart she knew was coming. But to her surprise, Brynn led her over to a booth that was already occupied and gestured for Cassidy to join them. Across the table sat two of the most fascinating people she had ever seen.

One was a ridiculously good looking Asian man with artful stubble and his long hair in a low bun, and the other was a stunning Black woman who looked like a model, wearing unbelievably stylish clothing like she’d walked right out of the pages of a fashion magazine.

“Noah, Coral, this is Cassidy.” Brynn notably didn’t describe her as Savannah’s sister. Either she’d decided this was obvious enough from their alleged similarity or Cassidy had already been spoken about.

“Nice to meet you, little sis.” Noah grinned and shook her hand. Normally she’d take offense at this, but he was so handsome she was too taken aback to remember to do so.

“Don’t call her that.” Coral swatted his arm with her long, elegant fingers. “Cassidy’s her own damn human.” The woman smiled at her in a way that made her feel seen for the first time since Lane had looked her in the eye and guessed immediately why she was there. Cassidy found herself smiling back.

“Nice to meet y’all,” she said softly.

“Coral is Savannah’s drummer, as well as her best friend,” Brynn explained. “She’s married to this knucklehead for reasons unknown,” she looked fondly at Noah, “who also happens to be a slightly good musician. The two of them have kindly offered to appear on a couple of tracks on the album.”

“You’re Noah Lyman,” Cassidy realized.

“Guilty,” he agreed with a goofy salute.

“I love your music.” She felt her face flame. She still played his first album, Dead Star Ballads, almost every time she felt sad. It had gotten a lot of play recently.

“I appreciate that,” he said, his eyes genuine. “Are you a musician too?”

“I want to be,” she said, her voice slightly vehement. An odd feeling grew inside her. She’d told Savannah she’d wanted fame and fortune. But here, after two days of absorbing Brynn’s gorgeous voice, in front of Noah Lyman himself, Cassidy wanted something different. She, too, wanted to be the real deal. She wanted to be able to craft something that could make you cry or heal your pain. She wanted to be part of something that mattered. Her breath grew slightly short. Across the table, Coral cocked her head, looking at her.

“Uh oh, I know that look,” she said. “This one’s got a fire in her belly.”

“You noticed that too, huh?” Brynn was also regarding her seriously. “Well, kid, what’s your next step?”

Cassidy took a deep breath. She thought of the collective connections of the three musicians in front of her. She thought of Savannah, who, now guilt-ridden, might be persuaded to use her massive sway to boost her little sister after all. She thought of Brynn’s warning about riding on a famous family member’s coattails.

“I want to learn,” she said instead. “Please.”

That evening, Cassie came home like she was walking on air. Watching the magic of an incredible set of musicians work together to create something wild and beautiful made her feel like her blood was on fire. The track had already been written, practiced and polished long before today, but still, there in the studio, there was a sense of watching something grow into life, like a seedling strengthening and bursting into flower.

She felt an eerie sense of how this song would play through speakers and headphones in so many people’s living rooms and bedrooms, on their walk home on a sunny afternoon, during their cab ride to the airport. That people would hear it in the background of their favorite bar or sing along to it on a road trip. Someone would have their first great kiss to this song, while someone else would play it on repeat after their heart got broken. And it all started right here, with Cassidy as silent witness.

Almost as if sensing her energy shift, Greta began to speak to her. Just a comment here and there, every other hour, but for Greta that was like suddenly being best friends.

“Listen to the key change there,” she said, “it needs more depth. You want to feel it in your chest like your heart’s about to burst.”

“Yeah,” Cassidy whispered. “I get that.”

On the car ride home, Brynn talked to her about the songwriting process, how she sometimes started with an idea or a feeling that felt lyrical – words she needed to get out – when other times it arose from the sound first, tinkering on the piano while thinking about someone or something until the feeling translated into notes.

“How did you start writing in the first place?” Cassidy asked her. Brynn gazed out the window, a small crooked smile appearing.

“I always kinda wrote lyrics. I just didn’t realize that’s what they were until your sister brought it out of me.”

“How did she do that?” As much as she didn’t want to talk about her sister, she was curious to hear how Savannah’s own process worked.

“She kept humming this song she was in the process of writing, singing little snippets over and over. I don’t even think she knew she was doing it. It got in my head and you know…I was already secretly in love with her, so my head was a real mess. One day it all just fell together, the sound she was creating, the feelings I couldn’t fight; it all spilled out into the song. That’s how Longing started.”

“Gross,” Cassidy said before she could help it. Brynn burst into laughter.

“I love your sense of romance,” she said with a broad grin. “Come on, Cassidy…haven’t you ever felt like that? The feeling that everything you could ever want in the world is wrapped inside another person’s heart and they’re just out of your reach?”

“No,” she denied. “That sounds ridiculous. I want more for my life than just love.”

Brynn regarded her levelly.