{"id":1446,"date":"2024-05-15T01:00:38","date_gmt":"2024-05-15T06:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/?p=1446"},"modified":"2024-02-10T10:22:48","modified_gmt":"2024-02-10T16:22:48","slug":"strings-of-the-heart-live-at-the-quahog-dive-bar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/strings-of-the-heart-live-at-the-quahog-dive-bar\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 260 – Strings of the Heart (Live at the Quahog Dive Bar)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The road was quiet. Not in that exhausted-post-show way \u2014 more like settled.<\/em> The band was snoozing, scrolling, sipping coffee\u2026 until Thane saw it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An Instagram story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim<\/strong>, Gabriel\u2019s dad.
Holding his bass on a modest little bar stage. Grinning. Still playing after all these years with the Dave Larson Band<\/strong>. And tonight, they were live at a tiny joint in Falmouth, Massachusetts.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The screen was shaky, filmed by a local \u2014 but the emotion in that one smile was crystal clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane\u2019s breath caught in his throat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

He misses him.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel, sprawled half-asleep across the back lounge couch, hadn\u2019t seen it yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane turned up front and tapped Diesel\u2019s arm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cChange of plans. Falmouth. There\u2019s something I need to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Diesel glanced over, saw the screen. He gave a quiet nod.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cOn it, brother.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

When the bus rolled into Falmouth<\/strong> several hours later, no one suspected anything. It was just another sleepy coastal town. When Thane stood and announced,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cDinner. Quahog Dive Bar,\u201d
the crew groaned, stretched, and shuffled off the bus like it was any other roadside meal.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

But Thane was quiet. Focused. His claws tapped anxiously on an audio cable clipped to his belt loop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Inside<\/strong>, the Quahog was cozy and loud. Sticky tables. Old nautical ropes. The warm scent of beer and fried clams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Locals stared. A few whispered. Phones came out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Thane\u2019s eyes were locked on the tiny stage in the corner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s when the door from the back opened.
An older man stepped out, slinging a worn-out bass over his shoulder. He had Gabriel\u2019s jawline. His confidence. His spark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He didn\u2019t see them yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

The band tuned up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane watched Gabriel slide into a booth, still clueless, laughing at something Cassie had said. Jonah poked at a lobster roll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then a familiar groove kicked in \u2014 slow, bluesy, deep. And Gabriel froze.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

His eyes widened. He turned. Stared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bass player onstage was his father.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel didn\u2019t move. His breath caught \u2014 like something old and sacred had just lit up inside him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Jim looked up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He saw the booth.
He saw his son.
And his entire body went still.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His hands trembled against the strings.
Then his face split into a smile so wide, it ached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He blinked, once. Twice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then he nodded to the rest of the band and leaned into the next riff \u2014 harder, stronger, prouder.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Gabriel stood slowly. He didn\u2019t say a word. He just walked through the parted crowd, climbed the two little stairs, and stepped onto the stage beside his father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim was already crying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel took the spare bass sitting in the corner. He didn\u2019t ask. He didn\u2019t need to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And with a whisper to the bandleader \u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cLet me play this one with him,\u201d
\u2014 they started.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

A raw, smoky cover of \u201cSimple Man.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Jim played with the same quiet pride he always had. Gabriel\u2019s fingers mirrored his \u2014 not showing off, just being with him.<\/em> Supporting him. Standing beside the man who once carried him on his shoulders after gigs when he was six.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phones were out now.
Not just filming. Streaming.<\/strong>
The dive bar lit up across the internet like a flare in the dark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in that moment?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They didn\u2019t care.
It was just father and son.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two basses. One bond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Thane stood with the rest of the band. Silent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tears streaked down his fur.
He didn\u2019t wipe them away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emily sniffled behind him.
Even Mark looked misty-eyed, muttering,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThat\u2026 was damn near holy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

When the last note faded, Jim set his bass down and pulled Gabriel into a hug so tight it shook the stage riser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel whispered something into his dad\u2019s ear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim laughed. Then cried harder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Gabriel stepped up to the mic. Voice shaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThis is my dad. Jim. He\u2019s the reason I ever picked up a bass.
He played in bars and dives and always made it feel like the center of the universe.
And tonight, I got to share that universe with him.
So don\u2019t cheer for me. Cheer for him.<\/em> Cheer for them.<\/em>
This is where the music really started.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The bar exploded with cheers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Thane leaned back and just\u2026 smiled.
Heart wide open.
His wolf had come home \u2014 even if just for a moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And every step of that journey\u2026 was worth it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The road was quiet. Not in that exhausted-post-show way \u2014 more like settled. The band was snoozing, scrolling, sipping coffee\u2026 until Thane saw it. An Instagram story. Jim, Gabriel\u2019s dad.Holding his bass on a modest little bar stage. Grinning. Still playing after all these years with the Dave Larson Band. And tonight, they were live […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tour-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1446"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1446\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3068,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1446\/revisions\/3068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}