Back in college, Larry Carson played drums in a friend’s band and fell in love with the lead singer, Geoffrey Mason. But all that’s in the past. Larry’s now thirty-five, divorced, and father to a precocious thirteen-year-old daughter. One day, when Larry picks Crystal up from school, a song comes on the radio by a new rockstar climbing the charts. Larry recognizes Geoff’s voice immediately, though Crystal calls him Geo and claims he’s the hottest new singer on the scene. Just hearing him brings back a flood of memories, reopening wounds Larry thought long healed. The more he listens to Geo’s music, the more Larry falls in love with his former boyfriend all over again. Partly to prove to his daughter that he used to know Geo back in the day, and partly to reconnect with his old friend, Larry buys tickets to an upcoming concert and manages to score backstage passes. But there was a reason Larry and Geoff lost touch -- and stayed out of touch for so long. Will Geo even want to see Larry again after all this time? Or will the magic of their old familiar song bring about a harmonious duet?

Old Familiar Song

Besides the washer and dryer in one corner, and the aging water heater in the other, the basement was pretty bare except for their instruments and a sagging couch pushed off to the side. Doug liked to give out open invites to everyone—anyone, really—to come watch them practice, but for as long as Larry had been with the band, no one had taken him up on the offer. The concrete floor was scrubbed clean but still stained in spots, particularly under the washer, which had a tendency to overflow from time to time. Thick cords snaked around the room at eye level, which the girls used as clotheslines. Naked bulbs dangling from sockets overhead completed the decor.


If it weren’t for Larry’s drum set, Rob’s keyboards, Doug’s guitar, and the trio of microphone stands set up in the middle of the room, the place would’ve looked like a kidnapper’s den.


He was almost embarrassed as he followed Geoff down the steps into the basement. “It isn’t much,” he whispered behind his friend.


Chapter 17