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“No. I am always right too.”

I look to Eli. Today was going to be the day I decided about whether I was going to go for it with singing. It was also the day, I realize, when we were going to decide what to do about us. But I already decided about that, too. “Yes,” I whisper. I’m saying it to him, but it’s for them, too.

“Yes, I’ll do it.”

The next hour is a whirlwind of frenzied activity—getting me, Cass, and Kelly through hair and makeup, and running through the new schedule. The crew empties the stage, and Eli—thank God for Eli, with his electrical background—gets the stage set up with the best lighting we’ve got, as well as a few extra stage lights.

They keep me in my jeans but stick a velvet jacket over a silky blue camisole and whip my hair and makeup into something that makes me look like a more glamorous version of my regular self. Tousled hair, peach cheeks, a pale gloss.

“Perfection,” Nancy says, when I get up on stage an hour later. The curtains are still drawn, but I can hear the bustle and murmur of a crowd on the other side. Nancy casually mentioned to me ten minutes before that there would be an audience. “Need it to look like a real concert, love.”

I’m nervous as hell, but I remind myself this is TV. They said if I mess it up, they can cut and reshoot. But I know I don’t want to do that. I want to sing it with my heart the first time, so it’s nothing like a chore. Because I believe in what they’re doing here, and I refuse to let any insecurities get in the way of that.

Those went away with Simon,I tell myself.Never to be seen again.

Only a few minutes to showtime, Nancy disappears to the other side of the curtain, along with the sound guy, who’s got a bushy mustache and glasses that sit on the end of his nose. He fusses with the microphone clipped to my belt. “Okay,” he says, after showing me what to do. “We’re going to leave you alone now. In a minute, Nancy will call action, and the curtain’s going to come open. When she does, make sure that mic is on. Sound good?” He snorts. “Sound, ha. Get it?”

I laugh, surprisingly at ease. Sure, there are butterflies tickling my insides, but I feel good here. Like it was meant to end this way.

The only thing missing, though, is Eli.

But the moment the sound guy disappears through the curtains, Eli appears in the wings.

Holding Rufus’s leash.

I laugh, standing up as he gets close. I throw my arms around my man, the love of my life. It’s awkward with the guitar between us, but I can’t move it with all the sound equipment.

When Eli leans in to kiss me, I have to press a hand across his lips. “Dijon will kill me if I mess it up.”

“I don’t think I like this whole can’t hug and kiss you thing!” Eli says.

“Soon,” I promise. “Right after I sing.”

Rufus pants, letting out a yip, and both Eli and I shush him. “Jacques would have your head if he knew you brought a dog into the restaurant.”

“He couldn’t miss the show!” Eli exclaims, as if that would be cruel and unusual punishment.

“I guess you couldn’t, huh, buddy?” I crouch down to my little guy, shushing him again when he lets out a little bark. “Don’t get kicked out, okay?”

Outside, we both hear the thud of Nancy’s boots on the stairs. “Reese?”

Eli backs up to the side right before Nancy pops her head in the curtain. “We’re gonna call action in a sec. Just speak into the mic when you’re ready to go, all right?”

I nod. “Okay.”

A moment later, she’s gone, and Eli grins, kneeling next to Rufus. “Break a leg, baby.”

“You better go,” I whisper, my heart so full as I watch him watch me that my eyes water.

“Makeup lady!” Eli exclaims.

I laugh, tipping my head up. “Go! I’ll find you right after.”

“Love you, Reese,” Eli says as he disappears behind the side curtains.

“Love you,” I whisper.

Then I strum my guitar and turn on the mic. “Ready,” I say, my voice reverberating through all the speakers in the house.