Part 3: 12 - Face the Music
2019, Caleb Allen changes course
Things That Can’t Be Broken is a novel presented as a live draft, one chapter every week.
Last week: Part 3: 11 - Pinball • 2018, Barb makes a friend
Part 3 | A Storm Blowing from Paradise
12 - Face the Music
Maeve Allen
April 11, 2019
Edinburgh, Scotland
A cold mist was falling over the garden. Maeve watched through the window as Todd disappeared into the fog rolling across Holyrood Park. Molly, their chocolate lab, was bouncing by his side, her mouth no doubt full of tennis ball. Maeve would normally have gone with them, but she stayed behind this time with the excuse that she wanted to call Genny.
They both knew it was a flare up of her old hip injury that held her back. It was harder to move than it used to be. She walked with a cane most of the time, though she still taught riding lessons every Saturday and kept herself going. Like Todd’s mother Josephine always said, “Ye rest, ye’ll rust.”
Maeve was about to sit down and give Genny a call when she heard the entry door open and heavy male footsteps trudging up the stairs. It was too soon for Todd to be back. And Molly would have bounded up by now and greeted her with slobbers and tail-wags. It’s Thursday, so it can’t be Caleb. But who else could it be?
Maeve called out, “Caleb?”
“Mam. . .” came her son’s voice. A moment later, there he was, her tall handsome son, arms around her in a hug.
He looked around. “Where‘s Da?”
“He’s out in the park throwing tennis balls for Molly. He’ll be in soon.” She gestured to the sofa.
Caleb tilted his head in concern as he sat. “Is he over that flu or whatever it was? It’s practically snowing out there.”
“He needs to be outdoors. You know your Da. And Molly’s happy to fetch some tennis balls anytime. What a treat to see you! Are you off today?”
“Aye. Ye could say that. I’ll wait for Da to give ye details, though.”
“Okay,” Maeve felt her eyebrows tighten. “How’s Elaine?”
“We broke up,” Caleb said without a flinch.
“Oh dear. That is not what I expected to hear,” said Maeve. She was partially relieved, though she tried not to show it. Elaine was inflexible and high maintenance, but they had been together for several years. “What happened?”
“It’s been coming for a while,” said Caleb. “We have different interests. We’re going different directions.”
“But that isn’t what you came here to tell us?” Maeve asked, an eyebrow raised in curiosity. She glanced at the misty park through the back window. No sign of Todd yet.
“Not specifically. . . I. . . I’ll wait for Da. I’d like to get it all out at once.”
“Can I offer you tea, then?” Maeve asked.
“No, thank you, but do ye have any coffee?”
The two busied themselves with cups and cream while discussing the traffic and comparing weather in Glasgow to Edinburgh. It wasn’t long before they heard the front door open and Molly’s tags jingling. She galloped into room flashing a big toothy dog grin, Todd lumbering up the stairs behind her.
Caleb took a deep sip of his coffee and rose to greet his father.
“Son!” said Todd, an easy smile on his face. “A fine surprise!”
“It’s good to see you too, Da,” said Caleb.
The men hugged each other with hearty pats on the back.
Todd would be soaked and cold. Maeve went to the kitchen and poured him a steaming cup while Molly curled up on her bed by the fireplace with a satisfied sigh.
“How’s work?” said Todd. “Say. . . isn’t it Thursday? Are ye off today?”
Caleb shuffled, squaring his feet to brace himself before he spoke. Maeve could not recall seeing Caleb appear so nervous since he was seventeen and had to tell them he had a fender-bender in the roundabout. He said, “Mam asked me the same. I may as well out with it now that you’re both here. I quit my job.
I’m going to Los Angeles next week to make some more recordings. After that I’ll be promoting for a tour in the Southwestern United States. That’s where most of my followers are.”
Maeve put a hand to her chest and looked at Todd and then back to Caleb. Todd’s head tilted forward and his eyebrows lifted. He said, “Ye. . . Quit?! I thought ye liked your work at Barclays. It’s what we sent ye to school for. . . and ye’re good at it!”
“That’s a very bold move,” said Maeve, measuring her words as the steadying force between the two men.
“I have to give the music a shot, Da. I know it’s a gamble. But it’s not on a whim. It’s according to plan. Do ye remember last year I flew out to the conference at Austin, Texas?”
Todd squinted toward the ceiling. “Aye. I thought that was for work.”
Caleb nodded at the floor before looking back up at Todd. “It was to get the ball rolling. I have a good, engaged following, a few hundred people streaming regularly. People are backing me now. If I’m going to make a move, now is the time.”
“And what about Elaine? Is she on board with all this?” Todd asked.
Maeve was pretty sure she knew the answer to that one. From what she knew of Elaine, any financial gamble wouldn’t sit well. She squeezed her husband’s arm, reminding him to try to be understanding. However, there was a lot of fear standing in the way. In Todd’s mind, he lost his twin sister to the music scene, although it was the accidental overdose that killed her.
Caleb said, “Elaine and I have parted ways—with respect.”
“I am sorry to hear it,” said Todd. He looked genuinely disappointed.
He saw Elaine as a buffer between Caleb’s musical obsession and his career in finance. Maeve didn’t share Todd’s worry about Caleb’s music leading to drugs. While he had always been attached to his guitar, and music was the thing he shared with his birth-mother, their son never got into drugs, not even much alcohol. At thirty, he was emotionally stable, and with his financial savvy, she was certain he had worked out the details.
She said, “The music business is fickle, as you know. Do you have a plan if it doesn’t work out?”
“Of course,” Caleb brightened. “I’ve actually been planning this for years, setting funds aside. It’s a gamble but I can cover it.”
Maeve saw Todd’s face turn stoney. “It’s a mistake,” he said. “I’ll not pull any punches, Lad. It’s foolishness. Yer mam and I di’nae raise ye to be dependent for life. Ye do this, that’s where ye’ll be. Dependent for life. Maybe not in a year, but it will happen. I may not have made a great fortune myself, but you can do better with the financial career ahead of you. Yer Auntie Grace, though she did pay her own way now and again, it never lasted long. She was dependent on Gram—for all her life. Ye follow the stage like she did, ye’ll be the same.”
Caleb lost all color. He fished in his pocket for his phone and began thumbing through something nervously.
Maeve gave her husband a plaintive look, but he took nothing back.
“I’m sending ye the song that’s getting attention, the one I’ll be recording next week,” said Caleb. “It will be more polished of course, but I want you to hear it. It’s a link. Listen later when you get a chance.”
Maeve smiled at Caleb, “I think it’s important to have a passion like you do for music. But. . .”
“What about the horses?” Caleb said to Todd, an optimistic flicker in his eyes. “You followed your passion, Da. It was never practical or safe, but you made a name for yourself in competition. It’s how you met Mam, isn’t it? And what about the horsemanship program you and Mam started back in California? Was that practical?”
Todd’s face darkened. He and Maeve rarely brought up the horsemanship program, not since Caleb came into their lives. Todd composed himself before he spoke. “I was nae given the advantages we have worked hard to give ye, Lad. Do’nae throw away this career ye have started building at Barclays.”
Caleb drew a deep sigh. “It’s bitterness,” he said while his eyes went slowly from Todd to Maeve and back. “That is what I want to avoid. Broken dreams, dreams cut down. If ye look hard enough at yourselves, maybe ye’ll understand why I have to do this. My songs are meant to be heard. I love you both. And I’m doing this—with or without your blessings.”
Maeve looked at Todd and he took her hand. She placed her other hand on Caleb’s shoulder, but neither father nor son was smiling.
Next
Part 4 | This Storm is Called Progress
1 - Headphones
Behind-the-Scenes Extra
This chapter is a leap in time for Maeve and Todd Allen. You last heard from Maeve twenty years ago when Caleb was barely ten. She will be back, but Caleb also has a role to play in Part 4.
Yes, I am writing this book Chapter by Chapter. When I began, I had a buffer of a few chapters, but not anymore. I used that up pretty quickly. As I reach the final season, the chapters that were short stories I had written previously are no longer viable as chapters, because not only has the story altered slightly from its original outline which included the short stories, but my writing style and skill level has changed—hopefully for the better.
I wish I were one of those people who could write my entire novel and then put it in front of you, but unfortunately, or fortunately for you if you are enjoying reading along, the reason I’m doing this one week at a time it to actually finish it. I need at least a pair or two of eyeballs to be waiting for the next chapter. If no one is waiting for it, then everything will find its way back into a drawer. It will never see that light of day or reach those two-three-letter words I look forward to putting down on the final page.
Thank you for being here, loyal readers. You are making this happen and I do not ever forget that you are out there.
A quick recap of Part 3 | A Storm Blowing from Paradise
[SPOILER ALERT]
Part 3 | A Storm Blowing from Paradise is the middle of this tale, and yet, in just twelve chapters you have traveled thirty years. In so doing, you have seen the long-term effects of Dani’s murder on the lives of the Allens, including their son Caleb, as well as Barb, Tim, Lisa, and Kiko. You’ve revisited the prologue and know the circumstances behind Lisa’s accident. Dani has continued to learn and grow in power as she works toward her own goals with increased humility.
[SPOILER OVER]
I’m excited to dive into this final season. You may not know how all this will come together, but I do not plan to disappoint. Next week will begin the last twelve chapters, Part 4 | This Storm is Called Progress.
All of the chapters will continue to be available here for Free Subscribers for at least a month or two after this novel draft is complete. Paid Subscribers will always have access to all of it. I expect to finish formatting Part 3 | A Storm Blowing from Paradise and send it out within the week.
If you are enjoying the informal podcast version, the voiceovers of the chapters, I’m trying to get at least one or two episodes to you every week, but it’s not on a strict schedule like the written words. The voiceovers are a bonus (or something) meant to make it easier for those who don’t have the time or ability to read along. I’m not a voice actor by any stretch, and I cringe at my attempts at accents, but I do the best I can to read it aloud for you and edit out the bigger mistakes.