Chapter 51
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
Once again, Sammi and Tex had outdone themselves. Dozens of friends and family had gathered on rows of logs near the bonfire and small stage. There were enough steel coolers, packed with ice-cold beer, for a University of Tennessee tailgate.
It was perfect, save for one thing missing. One person.
“You ready?” Sammi asked from the doorway.
She twirled in her cork heels, which made her orange sundress float around her knees.
“We’ve already got two hundred thousand people in queue to access the livestream, and we’re expecting that to double in the next ten minutes.
The on-site producer reckons your fans are gonna break the server. ”
Jamie always had pre-show jitters, but this felt like something different. He was re-launching his career. The new beginning he’d craved—a fresh, clean start. The air was thick with pressure, especially sharing this EP as an independent artist.
It felt better than he could have ever imagined.
Jamie ran a hand over his now–neatly trimmed beard and smiled. “And that’s a good thing?”
“That’s a great thing,” she said. She playfully pinched his cheek. “You ready to make history?”
“If the creek don’t rise,” he said.
Minutes later, Jamie peeled through the opening chords of “Guiding Light.”
It felt as natural as breathing.
Jamie Sr. did pull off a miracle by way of a private jet. Brinton had made him promise to make a donation to half a dozen environmental conservation groups to ease her conscience.
Nonetheless, Jamie Sr.’s generosity was no match for Nashville-area traffic on a Friday night. Brinton had been watching Jamie’s livestream since she hopped into Michael’s waiting SUV. It was already 8:34. Jamie was playing a six-song EP, which, by her count, might go on for another few minutes.
He was already halfway through the fifth song.
By the time the SUV lurched into Jamie’s driveway, he’d finished his set. The crowd was cheering, and he was taking a bow. The show was over. And she had missed it, probably the most important performance he’d ever given.
It was cruelly fitting, given the star-crossed quality of their relationship.
Frozen in her seat, she dropped her phone into her lap. Disappointment snaked around her heart, growing tighter each time she exhaled. Why had she waited so long to see him, to say what she needed to say?
Now, it was pointless. The moment—their moment—had passed. He had moved on.
“I’m sorry, Miss Brinton. I tried to get us here quick as I could,” Michael said. The sadness in his big, brown eyes almost made tears spring to hers.
“It’s okay, Michael. Probably for the best. Actually, um, can you take me back to the airport?” Her former bravery squandered, she was embarrassed and wanted to go home.
Then, Jamie started speaking into the microphone.
Jamie peered across the crowd. Sammi was sitting with Rhett, Cory and Priyanka next to them. Tex and his wife, Loretta, a petite woman with a ’50s beehive hairdo, waved from the front row. He waved back, almost too overcome with emotion to speak.
But he had one last song to play.
“I wanna thank y’all for coming and supporting me through what has easily been the biggest transition of my life.
These songs and stories I shared with you tonight mark the beginning of an exciting road ahead.
But I have one more for you. It’s not on the EP.
Hell, I only now decided to play it. But it’s dedicated to someone incredibly special to me. ”
Just because you ain’t in the same room, it don’t mean you can’t reach her.
Jamie Sr.’s words reverberated in his mind. He looked to his father, who sat next to Tex, for reassurance. He nodded back.
Jamie looked straight into the camera in front of him. “She’s not here tonight, but I pray that she’s watching. Brinton, I miss you something fierce, and I’m begging that one day, you’ll come back home to me. I hope you’ll give me another shot, so I can…”
His voice broke off as the emotion swelled in his throat. Even as supportive whistles and pops of clapping rang out from the crowd, he let himself cry. For himself, for Brinton, and for the past that he couldn’t change.
He dried his eyes with the back of his hand and chuckled. “For the record, I didn’t write this one.”
He let the smattering of laughter pass. “This one’s a cover of ‘Cherish the Day,’ originally performed by the incomparable Sade. Baby, I know it’s your favorite song. I hope you love it.”
Brinton’s heart fluttered in her chest.
Holy shit.
Only those words spiraled in her mind, because she was overtaken by Jamie’s stirring rendition of her favorite song, a gripping story of the intertwining of souls between lovers.
Should she move? Should she stay there?
Her phone buzzed incessantly as Athena and Shay blew up their group chat.
Shay: OMG you better open-mouth kiss him, or I’m gonna scream!
Mom: Brinny, he loves you! How romantic
Brinton tried to catch her breath as she typed.
Brinton: Ugh, mom, please don’t use that emoji
Mom: What? They’re tears of joy! I saw it on online
Brinton: Not in this context
Shay: I’m canceling your internet plan!
Michael cleared his throat, slingshotting Brinton back into the moment. “Ms. Brinton, I don’t mean to be forward, but I’ve watched a lotta rom-coms. Go get your man. What the hell are you waiting for?”
Brinton laughed, a broken, exasperated thing she recognized as the deepest sigh of gratitude. “That’s a great freaking question.”
Yes, she should move. She should go to him.
She flung open her door.