Page 6 of Finding Tane (Foggy Basin Season Two)

Tane

I was due at the grocery shop in a half hour, I’d already showered and the bottles of beer I’d bought were waiting in a bag by the door of my motel room.

I was weirdly nervous. It felt so intimate to go to Dillon’s house, but I did believe he had invited me as a friendly gesture, not out of some weird sense of obligation.

With nothing much else to do, I went on my phone and looked up my own Instagram. I didn’t sign in, I didn’t want to see the flood of DMs, but there were comments I could read on my latest post. The one I made when I was still in L.A.

Even looking up my Whetu branded social media created a knot in my stomach. How could I ever even go back to touring if I couldn’t even look at a picture?

The comments were full of concern: Where are you? I miss your updates Hope you’re not sick, please feel better soon

I closed the window down and sighed. What was I going to do?

I’d run away from my entire life... Now what?

Should I just head back to Aotearoa?

And face up to all my disappointed aunties and cousins?

That made the knot in my stomach even worse.

I opened up my banking app. At least I had plenty of cash.

.. if I wanted to head home I could, no problem.

I could head anywhere in the world. Move to somewhere no one would ever look for me.

Rural Japan? Norway? Some little island in the Pacific like Rarotonga?

I laughed off that last one. Rarotonga was the number one tourist destination for New Zealanders. I’d be found in a matter of weeks.

I stood up and looked out the window at the town limits close by. Or here? No one would look for me here. I’d chosen Foggy Basin in such a random way, it was a cute town but it was basically a nothing town as well. There must be hundreds of towns just like it.

Groaning, I turned away from the window and rubbed my stomach. I didn’t need to decide anything now. I just had to go meet Dillon and eat some dinner. That’s all I had to do.

On a whim, that I was certain I’d regret, I picked up my guitar and slung it over my back. I grabbed the beers on my way out the door and walked slowly towards the grocer’s.

The evening was another mild one. Not too hot, not cold, just pleasant and mild. The sun was headed towards the horizon and I looked around with new eyes.

Could I live here?

Would the quiet get to me after so long in a big city?

I simply didn’t know the answers.

Dillon locked up the shop just as I approached. “Hey Tane, good timing!”

“Good evening!” I called.

He led the way to the upstairs apartment. The inside was incredibly neat and tidy. It made my situation at the motel feel extra seedy, since they’d only provided two drawers and a tiny wardrobe, so I was mostly living out of my suitcase and a pile on a chair.

“Come in, make yourself comfortable,” Dillon said. “I put dinner in the slow cooker this morning so it won’t take long to prepare once you’re hungry.”

“In the meantime...” I handed him the bag of beers. “I couldn’t find any New Zealand beers, but these should be fine.”

I blushed a little, I’d just implied that there would definitely be a next time, which was presumptuous of me.

Dillon smiled and took the bag. “Thank you. Do you want a glass? Or just out of the bottle?”

“Out of the bottle is fine.” I set my guitar carefully down in the corner and took a seat as Dillon cracked open the beer then handed it to me.

“I’ll join you.” He opened one for himself and sat down. “Busy day?”

I shook my head. “Not at all. I’m gonna be honest with you, I’m kind of spinning my wheels at the moment.”

Dillon’s gaze cut to my guitar in the corner. “You play?”

“Yeah I’m...” I figured it was time to come clean. I was in his house, sharing a beer, he was about to feed me. If we weren’t friends already we were about to be. “I’m a musician. But, I’m on a break at the moment.”

Dillon smiled, not a single bit of surprise registered on his face. “Oh yeah?”

“You knew.” I narrowed my eyes at him.

“Well, my little sister, she recognised you. She’s a big fan. I had to banish her to a friend’s tonight or she’d have forced you to sign every album you’ve ever released.”

I took a deep drink of my beer then had to laugh. “Thanks for sparing me from that, then?”

“I mean, there’s only so much I can do. I’ve spared you for this evening, but it’s a small town, she’ll track you down eventually.”

I laughed again and rubbed my face. “You’re probably right about that.”

“For what it’s worth, I wouldn’t have any idea who you are if it wasn’t for her,” Dillon said. “But I looked up some of your music and I like it. We don’t have to talk about it tonight though.”

“Thanks, it’s all a bit of a tender area for me right now,” I said.

Honesty again. What was it about Dillon that was so disarming?

I felt so comfortable with him, so at home.

I knew he wouldn’t judge, and more than that.

.. I knew he wouldn’t lie to me. There was nothing about him that read ‘player’.

He’d be eaten alive in L.A. I wasn’t used to being around someone who inspired the truth.

It was a vulnerable sensation. I sipped my beer again, hoping I didn’t stick my foot in it somehow.

“Of course.”

“How was the store today?” I asked, a nice safe topic of conversation.

Dillon’s shoulders relaxed — he’d been nervous too? — and he told me about his day.

His voice was deep and soothing, I realised he could be telling me the most boring details about adding up his finances and I’d be invested. I actually tuned out of what he was really saying, just letting myself drift on the calm ocean of his voice, until he stopped and looked at me quizzically.

“Uh, sorry what?” I sat up straighter.

Dillon chuckled. “I’m going to make dinner up, you’re welcome to stay here and chill or you can come help, it’s up to you.”

“I’ll help.” I followed him into the kitchen. “Although my cooking skills are pretty basic.”

The kitchen smelled incredible, something savoury that made my stomach rumble.

“I made chili, so we can eat it with nacho chips and stuff if you like?” Dillon seemed uncertain all of a sudden.

“Nachos sound great,” I nodded. “Do you have avocados? I think I can be trusted to make guacamole.”

“Right there.” He pointed at the chopping board and a bowl of avocados.

We worked alongside each other in companionable silence and a calm settled over me. I wasn’t anxious, I wasn’t nervous, instead I felt ... at home.

It was a dangerous feeling, one that I couldn’t begin to trust. There were a million and one reasons why I couldn’t be reading too much into this evening. I had no idea what my future was, for one.

So I just tried to relax, humming something to myself, some old song from back home and Dillon worked quietly.

Dillon

Making dinner together with Tane and then eating it across from each other at the kitchen table had me feeling some kind of way.

I knew there was no possible chance that a big-time musician from the other side of the world would ever consider dating me, let alone move into a small town and become the supermarket boss’s husband.

.. but I couldn’t help dreaming about it.

He was softly spoken, gentle with his words as if he considered each one before he said it.

His eyelashes were criminally long, black and fluttering over his rich brown eyes. I wanted to cup his cheek and feel how soft his skin was, even with the five o’clock shadow. I wanted to know everything about him.

More than anything, I wanted him to be mine.

I realised I was staring and cleared my throat. “So, what brought you here, to Foggy Basin?”

Tane’s gentle smile faded and a furrow appeared between his eyebrows. I wished with all my heart I could take back the question that had given him even a tiny amount of distress.

“Ah, just... needed to get away,” he waved his hand vaguely. “So, you said you have a little sister?”

I recognised the deflection and accepted it immediately.

“Yeah, she’s studying, she’s a writer. Ivy.

She’s kind of my everything, you know? Our parents are really great, they raised us right and everything.

But I’ve always been pretty happy to stay in my lane, do the expected thing.

Ivy’s like a wild creature who could never be controlled.

” I blushed, realised I was gushing about my own sister and bit my lip. “Have you got siblings?”

Tane shook his head. “Nah, my folks split when I was little and Ma raised me. She never dated anyone else, said she was done with it. I have a lot of cousins though, both blood and not.”

“They must be really proud of you,” I blurted. I shouldn’t have done that, he immediately ducked his head. “Sorry, you don’t want to talk about work and I keep circling back to it. Just ignore me.”

Tane smiled, his eyes crinkling. “Thanks. For understanding.”

“Have you had enough to eat? I didn’t make dessert or anything but there’s probably puddings in the cupboard?”

Tane shook his head. “Nah, this was really good though thanks. I appreciated all the vegetables in the chili.”

“Let’s move to the couches then.” As we stood up, Tane started stacking the plates like he was going to bus them. “I’ll do the dishes later, leave them.”

Back in the living room the silence stretched out again. I was right about to ask him about New Zealand when he picked up his guitar. “Mind if I play something?”

I could barely breathe. He was being so damned romantic. “I’d love that.”

Damn me and my not being able to conceal anything. I blushed and he chuckled as he sat, checking the tuning on the guitar. He held the guitar as if it was a precious object, and for all I knew it was. I didn’t know the first thing about musical instruments, or what was expensive.

He cleared his throat, hesitated for a moment, then started to strum.

I nodded a little, feeling the rhythm, but I stopped moving altogether when he started to sing. His low speaking voice transformed into a pure, dreamy tenor as he sang in a language I didn’t recognise, but could guess was Māori.

It was a sweet, lilting song, yearning but infinitely pretty. I wondered desperately what it meant, transfixed by his voice, and the open way he held my gaze. Any shyness I’d seen from him previously was entirely gone, lost in the confidence of his beautiful singing voice.

He smiled, and I saw the way it played across his features. At the pinnacle of the song he raised his voice loud and fine, filling my apartment with the notes and tears prickled my eyes.

I quickly grabbed the dregs of my beer and downed them, trying to create distance from the emotions he was drawing out of me. I swiped at my eyes and swallowed hard.

He finished with a last strum and I set my bottle down to applaud him.

“Tane, that was incredible!”

“Ah, it’s okay. It’s a song I grew up with, everyone back home knows it.” He was deflecting, acting like what he’d done was nothing special. I leaned forward on my knees and shook my head.

“No, you were amazing. Your voice is so pure! So pretty!”

Tane chuckled and strummed the guitar again. “Thank you.”

Something surged inside me, a desperate need.

I wanted to go to him. I wanted to move the guitar aside, sit in his lap and kiss him hard.

I gripped the couch cushions to stop myself moving.

I didn’t know what his preferences were, and I’d invited him over like this to be friendly, to offer a tiny bit of community.

I cleared my throat. “So um, do you have a girlfriend?”

Tane lifted his head to answer and we both heard the clatter of someone coming up the stairs. My stomach sank. Ivy had ignored me and come home even though she knew I’d asked her not to.

“That’ll be Ivy,” I said. “I’m sorry...”

“It’s fine.” In an instant Tane had packed his guitar into its case and was standing up. “I should be heading back anyway. This was wonderful, thank you for the meal, Dill. I really appreciate it.”

I stood up, accompanying him to the door. A wild, desperate part of me wanted him to kiss me goodnight, but the door opened just as we approached.

Ivy stood there, dishevelled, her eyes red with tears, or something like it.

“Catch you later,” Tane waved and sidled past Ivy.

“Goodnight!” I called out, reaching for my sister. “What’s up?”

“Ah just stupid stuff,” Ivy sounded like she was annoyed, and didn’t want to talk, but she also shoved herself bodily into my chest. “Sorry for ruining your night.”

I wrapped my arms around her, frowning. “You didn’t. What’s going on, Ivy, you look like you’ve been crying.”

Ivy shook her head and hugged me tight for a moment before letting go. She swiped her sleeve over her eyes.

“It’s fine. Just a weird night, is all. I’ll be okay, I’ll just go to bed.”

“Did you eat? There’s leftover chili if you want it.”

But Ivy was already heading to her room. “I’m fine, don’t worry about me!” She closed the door forcefully.

Telling me not to worry when she’d turned up out of the blue and looking upset had the exact opposite effect. But I knew not to try and follow her, not right away anyway.

I busied myself with cleaning up the dishes from dinner, packing away the leftovers and cleaning the kitchen. Once that was all done I made up a hot cocoa and went to her door. Knocking gently on the door I called out. “Ivy, I made you cocoa...”

She opened the door a moment later. She looked a lot more relaxed, and accepted the drink with a smile. “Thanks, big bro. Broseph. My elder, my hyung...”

Relieved, I laughed too, if she was making stupid jokes I knew whatever had happened couldn’t have been too bad.

“I’m here, any time you want to talk, you know that right?”

Ivy wrapped her hands around the mug and nodded. “Yeah. I know. When there’s something to talk about I’ll come right to you, promise.”

“Okay. Goodnight, then.”

I still felt a little uneasy, but I left her to it.