Savor the Moment

by Dana Piccoli

  “Dad!” she called.

  He turned to look at her.

  “I’m glad you came.”

  Chapter Forty-One

  Nat and Maddy lay in bed, Maddy’s head resting on Nat’s shoulder. They hadn’t spoken much since they’d returned to the inn, but they’d made love softly but urgently.

  “Hey,” Nat whispered. “Are you okay?”

  Maddy shifted, her hair gently tickling Nat’s arm. “I think so.” Her hands traced their way down Nat’s stomach. “It’s so dark out here. In the city there’s so much ambient light, you never see the stars. I used to sit for hours as a kid and look up at the heavens. Now I can’t remember the last time I even saw a constellation.”

  Nat sat up in bed. “Then let’s do it. Let’s go see the stars. There’s a huge backyard out there, just waiting for us.”

  “Really?” Maddy sat up too.

  “Yeah.” She got out of bed and wrapped a sheet around herself. “Come on. Show me Orion.”

  Maddy giggled. “Natalia, you’re naked.”

  “Um, I’m wearing a sheet. Hurry, grab the comforter. We’ll slip down the stairs. Everyone is asleep.”

  “You’re nuts,” Maddy said as she wrapped the comforter around herself. “And I guess I am too.”

  They snuck out the door, opening it slowly so it wouldn’t creak. They padded down the stairs while the world slept and slipped through the living room and out the side doors leading to the great lawn. Nat giggled quietly as they ran through the soft grass to a clearing that seemed to reach to the end of the universe.

  Nat let her sheet fall to the ground and Maddy followed suit. They laid together, their heads touching, as they gazed upward.

  Maddy pointed. “Now that’s Orion. He’s always pretty easy to spot. Just look for the belt. And that is Ursa Major. And close by is Ursa Minor.”

  “Talk about your sibling rivalries. I think Big Ursa is my favorite. Where’d you learn all these?”

  “My dad if you can believe it,” Maddy said quietly. Neither spoke for a moment, but then Maddy broke the silence. “I’m going to call him.”

  Nat leaned in and kissed her naked shoulder. Maddy practically glowed under the light of the moon, like she herself was a heavenly body. “Are you cold?”

  “A little. Come here, baby, and warm me up.”

  Nat cuddled closer and draped the sheet over her.

  “I love you so much, Natalia.”

  “I love you so much, too.”

  “Oh Natalia, look!” Maddy pointed to the right of their view. “It’s a shooting star.”

  “Get out, I’ve never actually seen one,” Nat said, her heart aflutter.

  They watched the star blaze across the sky, a last hurrah before disintegrating into the earth’s atmosphere. She reached for Maddy’s hand and they held each other close as the star disappeared from sight.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  The next morning Nat woke up and Maddy’s side of the bed was cool to the touch. She looked around and saw that Maddy wasn’t in the bathroom or the balcony. She grabbed her phone and her robe and cracked open the door to their room. Downstairs she could hear the low bass of a man’s voice and Maddy’s tinkling laughter. She crept down the stairs into the kitchen. Maddy stood there in jeans and a white T-shirt, a flowered apron wrapped around her waist. Her hair tumbled around her face as she giggled and instructed Jeff, the innkeeper.

  “You don’t want to overmix. That’s really the key. Your dough will end up tough if you keep jostling those gluten molecules around. Doesn’t matter if it’s puff pastry or pancake batter.”

  He beamed as he mixed a bowl of dough. “Got it, Chef. I think I’ve been man-handling my gluten.”

  Maddy noticed Nat in the doorway and shone a bright smile in her direction. “Hi, baby. We’re making Chassons aux poires for breakfast.”

  Nat got such a thrill when Maddy said things in French. “I have no idea what that is, but it sounds A-mazing.”

  “It’s pear pastry,” Jeff announced proudly. “We’re just getting the first of pears and Chef Maddy suggested we go with the bounty of the Montana season.”

  “I bet she did,” Nat said, winking at her girlfriend.

  “Okay, Jeff, that should be good to rest for a bit. You’ll want to slice these pears about a quarter of an inch thick. And please, call me Maddy.”

  He nodded. “You got it, Maddy.”

  Maddy led Nat down the hallway. “Morning, baby,” she said as she wrapped her warm hands around Nat’s waist and kissed her neck. “Mmm, you smell like sleep. All soft and nutmeg-y.”

  “It’s really sweet of you to cook with Jeff. I bet he’s totally fangirling,” Nat said, her nose nuzzling Maddy’s cheek.

  “Some days you just have to bake, baby.”

  Nat brushed a tangle of red curls out of her eyes. “Did you sleep okay?”

  “I guess the fresh air last night did something because I woke up this morning feeling amazing.”

  “Or, you know, something else could be helping with that too,” Nat suggested.

  Maddy looked into her eyes and nodded. “Yeah, that could have something to do with it, too.”

  “Hey,” Nat said, motioning for Maddy to sit on a divan in the hallway. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to show you.” Nat pulled out her phone and flipped through pictures until she landed on the one Paul had taken in Paris. She showed the phone to her.

  Maddy gasped and raised her hand to her mouth. “Oh my god, that’s Carm’s. And you! And a baguette!”

  She nodded. “When we played Paris, I knew I had to find it. I wanted to see where you found your spirit. I guess, it helped me find mine again too. Monsieur Bouchard gives some hella good advice.”

  Her eyes widened and glazed with happy tears. “Phillipe. You spoke to Phillipe?”

  “Yeah, I saw your picture at the shop. You look like such a kid.”

  “I was.”

  “I wanted to understand where you came from. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever see you again, but when I stepped into that shop, I felt you everywhere. It was amazing. Also, I am prone to grand, often disastrous gestures.” She ran her fingers across Maddy’s soft cheek.

  Maddy caught her fingers and kissed the tips. “This I know.”

  “Phillipe sends his love, by the way.”

  She clasped her hands against her heart, turned her head and sniffed the air. “Do you smell something burning? How is something burning? We’re not even at that stage yet.”

  “Uh, Chef, I mean Maddy,” Jeff’s voice called. “I think I need your assistance.”

  “You. Are. Crazy. And I adore you,” she said softly, before running back into the kitchen.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  When Nat and Maddy returned home, life was a whirlwind. Nat and the band knew they would be a go soon for studio-time, so the remaining weeks were filled with lots of rehearsals and trying out new songs at local shows. Nat was quickly becoming the queer music it-girl and while it was exciting, it was also a little intimidating.

  Maddy was also becoming the girl with the golden crust. It was amazing what a viral video could do for a person’s popularity. Touché was booked solid for months, and the critic from the Daily Press returned and gave Maddy that elusive extra star. Also, her Instagram was smoking. Maddy and Nat would take selfies and share with their followers, who seemed to adore the singer and the chef as a couple. A picture they snapped of having coffee in bed together got more than 50,000 likes and not only were they now navigating a serious relationship, they were doing so as a couple in the public eye. While Nat would get anxious, it was Maddy who always managed to bring her down to earth.

  “I can’t imagine what it would have meant to me to see a picture of a couple like us when I was a teenager,” Maddy said one night in bed after a particularly exhausting day of rehearsals, baking, and interviews. She was wearing Nat’s Dolly T-shirt, a true sign that Nat was head over heels in love.

  “Yeah,” Nat said, put
ting her arm around Maddy and tracing the line of her hips. “You’re right. What we’re doing matters.”

  “Mmm, keep doing that. My hips are killing me today. I forgot my Crocs and wore my Converse instead. Now I have marble glaze on my Chucks and a sore hip.

  Nat applied more pressure with her thumb and index finger, making Maddy moan in relief.

  “So… What are you doing for Christmas this year?” Nat asked, knowing her question was out of the blue, but she’d been thinking about it for weeks.

  A smile crawled across Maddy’s face. “I usually work but Touché is closed this year. You’re asking me about Christmas when it’s barely October?”

  Nat leaned up and kissed the exposed skin of her hip. “Yeah, I know. How about spending Christmas with me and my family? Please?”

  Maddy chewed thoughtfully on her lip. “It’s been a long time since I really celebrated Christmas.”

  Nat nodded.

  “Like your family family?”

  “Yeah, my mom has been relentless about it. She wants to meet the woman I can’t stop talking about.”

  “Well,” Maddy cocked an eyebrow, “I mean, who wouldn’t, right?”

  “She follows you on Instagram.”

  Maddy blushed deeply. “She does? You didn’t tell me that.”

  Nat shrugged. “She doesn’t use her real name. I think her username is BraziltoBuffalo or something like that.”

  Maddy lifted her fingers to her lips. “I’m extremely mortified and also flattered.”

  She pulled Maddy closer and spoke, punctuating her words with kisses. “Spend. Christmas. With. Me.”

  Maddy let out a small whimper when she kissed her right under her ear. “Ask me again.”

  This time Nat lifted herself up and kissed Maddy on the lips. “Spend. Christmas. With. Me.”

  She licked her lips and ran her fingers down Nat’s face.

  “Paul, Jackie, and Ryder will be there too.”

  “No Steve?”

  “Redfern will be in Europe so expect lots of those weird firecracker tube things and paper crowns. What do you say?”

  “Yes. You had me at paper crowns,” Maddy said as she pulled the covers over both their heads.

  Chapter Forty-Four

  “Raz Chadha?” Nat yelled into the phone as she stood in the rehearsal studio with Jackie and Paul. “Hold on Oliver, I need to put you on speaker. Okay, you have all three of us now.”

  “Okay, gang, I have some killer news. Raz Chadha is going to record your new album,” Oliver said, as Jackie and Paul hugged.

  Raz Chadha, was one of the most sought-after recording engineers in New York and a huge step up from the band’s last producer.

  “This is incredible, Oliver,” Nat shouted into the speaker phone. “When is this happening?”

  “Raz has a surprise opening in his schedule at the beginning of December, so we’re going to shoot to record then. I know it’s not a lot of time—”

  “It’s fine. We’ve been practicing the new songs since we got back. We’ll be ready. Tell Raz, we can’t wait to work with him.”

  “Will do. I’m assuming you’ll be recording in his personal studio in Midtown, so Paul…no vaping please.”

  “Fine, fine,” Paul said with a grimace.

  “And Nat, stay healthy. We don’t have time for one of your bouts of laryngitis. Wear a scarf or take some shit, okay?”

  “Yes, I’ll take so much vitamin C that my pee will be fluorescent,” she said and nodded.

  “And Jackie?”

  “Yes, Ollie?”

  “You’re perfect. I have nothing to bitch at you about. Okay, I’m going to let you all go now and get back to practicing. Talk to you all soon.”

  Nat ended the call and looked at Paul and Jackie. “Raz freaking Chadha.”

  Jackie’s eyes were big. “Didn’t he produce…”

  “Yes,” Nat cut her off.

  “And…”

  “Yes!”

  “This is most exciting. Paul, aren’t you excited, love?” Jackie asked.

  “Yes, of course. He’s also bi and super cute,” Paul said. “I’ve seen him at the Teddybear leather parties.”

  “Since when are you into the leather scene?” Nat asked.

  He rolled his eyes. “I go where the wind takes me, Natalia.”

  “Okay, so, moving on,” Nat said. “Let’s go home and cuddle up with our respective significant others and drink lots of green smoothies because we’re going to be pretty much living at the studio soon. We know what we’re doing with these songs now, and I don’t want to drain the life out of them before we get to work.”

  When Nat got home, she wasn’t surprised to find Maddy working on a new recipe. She swooped in and kissed her on the cheek.

  “Babe, that smells amazing. What is it?”

  Maddy wiped her hands on her apron. “Well, I’m working on a gluten-free cinnamon roll recipe that doesn’t taste like disappointment.”

  “What’s the verdict so far?”

  “The first three batches are currently residing in the dumpster, but this one… Well, I have hope for this one. Want to try?”

  “Um, of course.”

  Maddy plated a hot cinnamon roll and handed it to her with a fork. She took a bite and Maddy was right. She had nailed it with these. “You’d never know these were gluten-free,” Nat said through a mouthful of cinnamon goodness.

  “Terrific. Now that I know what to do right, I can play around with them and deconstruct them. Thanks, babe. It’s so nice to have an official taster in the house.”

  She took a small bow. “Hey, I have awesome news. Raz Chadha is going to be our producer for the album! He’s a big shot and he’s worked with some of the best acts on the East Coast.”

  “Oh that’s wonderful news! I’m so excited. When do you start?”

  “Soon,” Nat said as she undid the knot in Maddy’s apron. “Which means I need to get as much of my Maddy on as possible now.”

  “I’m yours,” she said as Nat dipped her and kissed her slowly.

  “Mmm, wanna dance?” Maddy asked.

  It had become their little thing.

  “You know it,” she replied as she grabbed the stereo remote and put on some music.

  She took Maddy by the hand and led her to the living room. Eddie rubbed against their legs as they danced together in the middle of the day.

  “I didn’t go to prom,” Maddy said as they swayed to the music.

  “You didn’t?”

  “No, at the time I thought it was dumb. Now I realize it was because I didn’t think I could dance with a girl.”

  “I went with a friend who tried to stick his tongue in my mouth all night,” Nat spun Maddy out, then back in. “I finally left him at the dance to go to an afterparty with a particularly curious cheerleader.”

  “Of course you did,” Maddy said, squeezing her tighter. “Do you think you’ll need tasty provisions in the studio?”

  “That would be amazing. What have I done in this world to deserve you?” she asked, playfully, but with truth behind the question.

  “Must have been the same thing I did to deserve you.”

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Raz Chadha rubbed his chin stubble while adjusting a number of knobs and levers on the soundboard. Nat, Jackie, and Paul watched nervously from behind their glass partitions, their headphones on and instruments in hand. He lifted a finger, then hit the intercom.

  “That’s a wrap. That’s it, folks. This album is going to be hot shit,” he said, his voice coming in hot over their headphones.

  “Are you serious?” Nat asked over the com.

  “As serious as a heart attack.”

  She sighed with exhaustion and joy as Paul and Jackie burst out of their rooms to join her and hug it out in hers. Raz motioned for them to join him in the main booth. He held out his hand for high fives but ended up getting pulled in for a hug himself.

  The trio plopped down on the leather couch behind him as
he swiveled his chair around to face them. “Seriously, I’m not blowing smoke up your asses. This is fantastic. Obviously I need to work my magic.” He cracked his knuckles and added, “But you laid a hell of a record down.”

  “Raz, thank you, man. There’s no one we would rather have had on this journey with us. You’ve been amazing. What do the logistics look like?” Nat asked.

  He sucked his teeth. “Honestly, the stuff I have to do is pretty minimal. I’m thinking a completion right after the new year. Then you’re probably looking at a late spring release with the label.”

  “Kick. Ass,” Paul said as he took a drag on his vape. What Oliver couldn’t see, wouldn’t hurt him. “Does this mean I can go on vacation with Ryder? I’ve been wanting to take him away for a week, but I’m always with these two beardless babes.”

  “You don’t know my life,” Jackie quipped back.

  Raz chuckled. “Yeah, dude, your vocals are good and your drums are always spot on. I don’t need you. What do you think, Nat?”

  “I think you’re an angel from heaven. After Christmas, Paul, enjoy the world with your man. We’re taking a break from touring for the winter. I know we can all use a little R&R.”

  Jackie lit up. “I think this means I can surprise Steve in Oslo or wherever the hell he is for New Year’s.”

  “Absolutely. I’m going to try and spend as much time as I can with my beautiful girlfriend…and writing,” Nat said.

  “Jesus, just a few months ago you couldn’t write a word, now you’re the goddamn lesbian Victor Hugo,” Paul said.

  “Lez Miserables…with an emphasis on the lez. But also happy,” Jackie added.

  “Thank you, Raz,” Nat said, reaching out her hand.

  He shook it and then stood. “All right, time for you unreasonably good-looking people to get out of here and let me work my magic.” He made a shooing gesture with his hands, and the trio grabbed their gear and headed out the door.

  “I can’t believe it’s done!” Jackie exclaimed as they walked down the chilly Lower East Side street together. The air was dry and cold but the city was full of life and holiday lights. “I love this album so much, Nat. It really is the tits.”