Stars Dancing [Dreams-To-Lovers Romance]

The smell of sausage wafted into the cool morning when Nanna opened the door to her small house, and I stepped across the threshold grinning. Unless I was mistaken, we were having my favorite breakfast! I made a beeline for the table, tossing my music scores in a chair.

"Hungry, I see?" Nanna asked drolly.

"Oh, hi, Nanna, good morning and all that. Thanks for cooking, let's eat!"

Laughing, she dished up a plate and handed it to me. Creamy grits, spicy sausage, and cheddar cheese melted together into a casserole of bliss, and a forkful met my happy tongue in seconds.

"Mmmmmm, the best, Nanna!"

"You'll have to take some of this home with you so you can have it later."

"Deal."

"I take it you're in a piano mood? Brought some music with you?"

"You betcha. New song to learn."

"Excellent. Hopefully not about eating human butts?"

We giggled our way through breakfast conversation, catching up on all my recent shenanigans.

"You seem more peppy than normal, Sam."

"I have a lot to be happy about, Nanna. I have a new friend, Rhoda, who's not only fun to hang out with, she's recruiting people to read my work because she really likes it. I mean, I feel like she actually gets what I'm trying to say, and I wasn't sure that would happen."

"Plus, there's HC, and Discord. I feel like I finally have friends, and none of it is hard, you know? It's all really easy and natural. I don't even have to try."

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I paused for a second. "Okay, I don't actually get everything that goes on in Discord. I'm still really clueless, and half the time I can't tell when people are joking. Sometimes it doesn't feel funny, but maybe that's just because I'm awkward and new and don't know them very well yet. I think they have a lot of inside jokes that I don't get. But it's funny most of the time, and I laugh a ton which is just really, really nice."

My voice softened. "It's like I'm not really so alone anymore. Maybe not everyone is my age, but I feel like I'm making friends. Finally."

Nanna squeezed my hand, and that was all that was needed.

"I'll clean up. Go play your new song for me, Sam, please?"

I grinned at her. "If you've been listening to the poems, you'll recognize this!"

CoralineAsIs's arrangement of "Finding My Voice" was simple, and I easily played the first chord and continued to pick out the notes. I couldn't help smiling. It wasn't the impressive piece I was used to hearing without Cora's voice accompanying the piano, but by the time I finished, Nanna was standing next to the piano humming along.

"Sing for me, Nanna."

I played it again, and she sang in her soft soprano, "I gave you my voice . . ."

"Finding My Voice" came to a close, and I opened the Brahms scores and played my favorite Intermezzo; a sweeping, expressive piece that rose into grandeur then softened to a whisper.

I grinned up at Nanna and motioned for her to sit so we could play our silly duet, and by the time it was over, we were both laughing.

"Not to kick you out, Sam, but I need to take a breakfast casserole over to Suellen's since she has a new grandbaby—"

"Say no more, Nanna, I am gone. Thanks for breakfast and the to-go container." Kissing her cheek, I stepped into the sunny morning, but had an idea.

I pulled my pad outta my pocket and saw a Discord notification, even though I hadn't heard a ping. It was a DM from B.

I flicked it open, but when the app appeared, there was no message from B. No new messages at all. Odd. Must've been a glitch or something. I closed Discord and videoed Rhoda.

"Morning, Sam! You wanna meet up at the park? I was gonna take Filly and give you and the twins a call—"

"Oh, I'm solo today. Ahh— I was gonna see if you could help me with something, but Filly would probably be bored."

"What? Whaddaya need? He can play Mad Pheasants on my pad; he doesn't care."

"Wanna meet me at the Methodist church?"

"Ooooh, cryptic. We hunting vampires? Stealing holy water? We'll be there as soon as we can; clad in black."

"Perfect!" I laughed at her and closed the app, heading for the prettiest cathedral in Cheyenne.