Page 12 of Finding Tane (Foggy Basin Season Two)

Dillon

T he two weeks before the event passed in a pleasant blur. I blew my own budget, ordering in food for the big day, and practicing how to cook it all.

True to their words, Aster and Tane came through, covering the till in the shop, and I got Christian in for some more shifts as well.

Aster had launched the store on all forms of social media he could find, and had already amassed quite a following.

Although, when it came to listing the attractions of the day, Tane hadn’t been announced.

He was billed as ‘ mystery celebrity guest’ and the comments on all the posts were going wild trying to guess who it could be.

Finally, the big day arrived. I was relieved when it dawned sunny and clear.

We’d decorated with fairy lights and bright streamers in every colour of the rainbow.

Aster had hired a popcorn cart from somewhere and manned it out the front with a striped apron over his jeans and button-down shirt.

I’d pre-prepared as much food as I could, and there were stations around the store where people could pick up samples.

I went to start up the cotton candy machine, the last thing I had to do before opening, and was surprised to find a queue of people waiting to come in.

Aster was already handing out little boxes of popcorn to the crowd.

I hurriedly flipped the sign and threw the door open. “Welcome in, everyone!”

The next few hours passed in a blur. Handing out samples, talking to everyone I could manage.

Many regulars complimented me on the new stock, and on how nice the shop looked.

None of them said anything about not being in so often, but I wasn’t about to confront anyone when the day was going so well.

At midday, Tane came out to stand in front of the shop. I’d organised him a microphone, and offered to introduce him but he turned me down. “I’ve got this, Dill.”

I stepped out to watch, dusting my hands off on my apron.

Tane stepped up to the mic, guitar in hand and surveyed the crowd. For a moment he looked uncertain, and my heart thudded. This was worlds away from the stadiums I’d seen footage of him performing in, it was nothing like a crowd of devoted fans, but it must surely be frightening all the same.

Tane

My stomach twisted. I knew these people were locals, they were here to celebrate Dillon and his shop, and not here to see me because .

.. well, they’d had no real idea I’d be there performing.

I’d gotten to know some faces from putting on the Foggy Basin Grocer’s apron and working the till but I didn’t think many knew my stage name.

I wanted to play. I wanted to make this something wonderful. I wanted, more than anything, to break the block I’d had around performing.

I scanned the crowd, aware I was taking too long to say anything.

I cleared my throat.

“Gidday everyone, my name’s Tane.” There was a smattering of applause.

“Yeah, Tane!” Aster called from the popcorn cart.

I strummed my guitar, then faltered, uncertain, what was I going to sing? I’d made myself a mental playlist but I couldn’t remember any of it now.

Sweat beaded on my forehead as the silence stretched out. How did I used to do this? It was terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.

How had I managed all those nights? All those concerts? Had I just been getting drunk before each show? Maybe. There had definitely been some pharmaceutical assistance at times.

Or was there some skill I’d lost? The knack of going out on stage, confident that people wanted to see me, and that I had talent.

I’d lost that knowledge somewhere along the way.

But people were here to be entertained. They hadn’t necessarily come for me, but to see something. I could be that something, couldn’t I?

I caught sight of Dillon. He was smiling at me, confident and proud. He gave me a thumbs up.

Dillon believed in me.

I breathed out. I was going to start with Slice of Heaven by The Herbs and Dave Dobbyn, that was it. A chill, catchy Kiwi song that hopefully, people would sing along with once they caught the chorus.

Strumming the old, familiar tune, I started to sing.

Time slipped away on me and I lost myself in the music. This felt easy. Singing, playing my guitar, and smiling at the crowd who were swaying and clapping in time.

Some of them did learn the chorus and sung along on the second time around. It was a good vibe.

This was why I did it. I’d lost track of it somewhere, somehow along the way, but now it came back to me. This ancient art of music making, of simply raising my voice in song, I felt connected to my ancestors, and to every troubadour and song-writer who’d ever come before me.

I was part of a greater whole. The human need to create, to share, to sing and to dance, for a moment I was a conduit of that once more.

Moving into my second and third songs, some of the New Zealand songs that I knew had charted overseas, and after a couple of Māori waiata, I performed the first song I’d ever got a number one charted position for.

Take Me Home had come from a place of homesickness, and feeling like I didn’t belong, but the song changed during the verses, and became a song of love and hope.

This was what I wanted.

I wanted to make music that made people happy. I didn’t want to make music to make money for someone else, and I didn’t care any more about the charts. I wanted to use my talent to connect.

I finished up the song and was deafened by the force of the applause.

Aster ran up and hugged me tight. He’d got a new binder the day before and he was looking great. I laughed and hugged him with one arm, holding my guitar out of the way.

Dillon gently took the guitar off me and set it aside before hugging me too.

“Your voice is so beautiful Tane, it was like being transported or something.”

Dillon and I hadn’t really spoken about our relationship. We’d slept in the same bed for two weeks but the most we did was peck each other on the cheek or hold hands.

Now that I’d had my epiphany about what I wanted from my music, I knew what I wanted from Dillon too.

Aster moved back and I cupped Dillon’s chin in one hand. “Hey Dill?”

“Yeah?”

“Want to be my boyfriend?”

Dillon beamed so hard his eyes crinkled closed. “Yes! Hell, I want to be your husband, Tane.”

I laughed and tugged him in for a kiss. “One step at a time, but... yes. I want that too.”

Dillon rubbed his stubbled cheek against mine and pressed his forehead against me. “You make me so happy, Tane.”

I kissed him deeper, tipping him back a little and there was another round of applause.

“It’s about time you settled down, Dillon!” Evelyn shouted.

Dillon laughed, wiping tears from his eyes. “Thank you Evelyn!”

I grabbed the microphone. “Now everyone, get on into the store and buy up, there’s some great specials and some cool new ingredients you should try!”

Dillon laughed as people began to file inside. Quite a few people came up to tell me how much they’d enjoyed my set, and a few revealed that they knew I was Whetu.

The lanky teen I’d seen busking with the violin approached last. “Hey, um. I guess you’re probably really busy and stuff, Mister Tane, but I was wondering if you’d ever consider um, maybe teaching music?”

I blinked at the kid and smiled. “Sure, what’s your name?”

“Henry.” He held out a hand and I shook it.

“I’d love to tutor you, although from what I’ve heard of you playing, I don’t know how much I can teach, you’re very talented. But hey, I’m down.”

Henry grinned wide. “Really? That’s amazing, I can’t afford too much but—”

I held up by hand to stop him. “Nah, don’t worry about cash. I can tell you love music, I want to share that with you.”

Henry bobbed his head. “Awesome. I’ll um, come find you here?”

I nodded. “Maybe I’ll put up a notice or something, see if there’s any other budding musicians around who might want to jam.”

“Right on.”

I spent a while longer out the front, chatting to people, and promising that I’d perform again, maybe at the open mic at the bar or something.

Then I went in to help bag groceries. I could tell from the number of people checking out, and from the smile on Dillon’s face that the event had been a huge success.

My heart swelled with warmth.

I sent up a silent prayer of thanks to whatever had drawn me to this funny little town, and to Dillon. Things weren’t entirely resolved with Andrew Lane, but my lawyer was confident we could get a settlement in another week or so, and then I’d truly be free to do whatever I chose.

And I chose this: a grocer for a boyfriend, and someday a husband, a new little brother, a new home, and a new sense of purpose for my music.

I couldn’t wait to get my new life started.

Dillon

That night, once Aster had gone to bed, Tane turned to me, his eyes alight with something intriguing.

“What’s up?”

“You basically asked me to marry me today.” He took my hand in his.

“Well, yeah.” My cheeks burned “Like, in the future, though.”

He moved closer, cupping my jaw in his hand. “You must really like me.”

I laughed, turning my face to kiss his palm. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“I dunno.” His voice teasing. “We haven’t done much more than hold hands aside from that one time...”

I was instantly aroused, my pants getting tight, so I sunk my teeth gently into the meaty part of his palm. I was rewarded with a soft moan“Are you propositioning me, Tane?”

“I am. You into it?”

I nodded and climbed into his lap. “I’m very into it. We should definitely consummate this relationship.”

Tane gripped my waist and pulled me closer into him. He was strong, and it shot arousal through my veins.

“Maybe we ought to move to the bedroom?”

“In a moment.” Tane pulled me in for a kiss that would have had my knees buckling if I was standing. Instead I squeezed my knees around his hips and rocked my hips. I could feel his hardness under me and it spurred me on to move even more.