With its bleachers folded against the walls, Ed thought the gym looked like most any small town high school gym characteristic of the Midwest. Autumn decorations of brown and orange crepe paper hung from the basketball hoops and from the ceiling. Fall leaves and shocks of corn stalks decorated a corner of the room. A few oddly shaped pumpkins that had survived the summer’s heat sat on the stage next to the five-member band. Band members ranged in age from maybe thirty to seventy. He’d been told the four men and one woman were quite versatile performing pieces from the thirties to the present. As long as there was plenty of country and soft rock and roll, he’d be satisfied. Ed sensed the tension gnawing at Maggie as soon as they entered the building. At first she seemed uneasy to meet anyone in the eye. When he reached for her hand, her palm was sweaty. In a matter of minutes though, she’d relaxed. Smiling as if she possessed a secret, she introduced him to old friends and neighbors.
