Page 50 of Echoes of a Silent Song

Chapter Nineteen

CALLUMKNIGHT!”Ralph’s voice filled Callum’s car through the speaker as Callum pulled into a parking space outside Peterson High School that clear, crisp Monday morning after homecoming.“To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Top of the morning to you, Ralph.”Callum shifted into park.His car faced east, toward the football field, and the sky filled with the last pinks and oranges of sunrise.

“What on earth is happening?You’re calling me at seven fifteen on a Monday morning, and you’re forming complete sentences?Wait, are you sick?Dying?You’re not dying, are you?That would be very bad for business.”

Callum chuckled.Ralph always was inclined toward melodrama.He’d been that way since college, and apparently it had only gotten worse.

“No,” Ralph continued.“You can’t be dying.Because you’re in a good mood.Unless you’re—”

“Ralph?”

“Yes?”

“Could you please stop playing wild guessing games and let me tell you why I called?”

“Yes.Of course.Apologies.”

“And maybe cut back on the espresso?”

“That will happen on the twenty-first of never.”

Callum grinned.The day Ralph Winters quit coffee was the day Callum would wonder ifhewas sick.

“Anyway.”Callum took a deep breath.“I wanted to let you know thatI’ve thought about it, prayed about it, and yes, I will take that commission for Illinois.”

“Excellent.Oh, that isexcellentnews.Just fantastic.”Ralph’s words tumbled out in their usual rapid-fire manner.“I couldn’t be happier, Callum.Really.You’re absolutely making the right decision.Your career will thank you.Your future self will thank you.”

“My agent will thank me.”

“I was getting to that.Especially since your agent already told Illinois you’d take it.”

Callum hastily swallowed a sip of too-hot coffee from his Celtics travel mug.“I’m sorry,what?”

“I told them you’d take it.I knew your muse hadn’t deserted you for good.I just told them we needed some flexibility with the deadline, and they went for it.I decided not to tell you until you came to your senses.”

Callum stared at the arched entryway to the football stadium.Welcome to Patriots Country, it read.“I should fire you.”

“You probably should.But you won’t.You know you love me.”

Callum shook his head.“Sometimes I wonder why.”

Ralph laughed.“So what gave you your groove back?Was it the stunning motivational speech I gave you?It was, wasn’t it?”

“Not even a little.”

“Then you probablyshouldfire me.”

Callum shifted in the driver’s seat.A couple more cars pulled into the lot.“I just ...got this idea a few weeks ago.A melody.It happened at the most random of times, when I wasn’t even thinking about it.It was a Friday afternoon, I was wrapping up the week, and it just ...hit me.I honestly feel like God chose that moment to hand me a gift from the heavens.And I’ve been playing around with it, and it’s actually turning into something.My compositional mojo is coming back.”

“I knew you still had it in you, Callum.”Ralph’s pride shimmered through the phone.

“It feels different this time around.”Callum turned his mug around in his hands, watching the steam rise from the hole in the lid.“More mature.Seasoned.Battle-tested, I guess.I appreciate it more, now that Iknow what it’s like to live without it.”True of everything since the pandemic, not just composition.

“It’s the best work you’ve ever done.”Ralph’s voice was uncharacteristically quiet.

“How do you know that?I haven’t sent it to you yet.It’s not even finished.”