Then she takes a deep breath and exhales like she’s breathing through a straw.
"Daddy?” Her voice cracks, barely a whisper into the mic. A sob escapes her throat, and she smiles, steadying herself on the microphone stand. “Would you join me on stage?"
I let out a laugh, the kind that comes from deep in the chest, the kind I haven’t let myself feel in a long, long time.
A tear slips down my cheek when I see Wade—standing next to his famous wife—looking absolutely gobsmacked.
"Go!" Winona says, laughing and slapping his butt. "Get out there, baby!"
Wade chuckles, shaking his head as tears spill down his face.
And just like that, he moves toward the stage, toward his daughter, stepping into a moment he never thought he’d have again.
A moment that will be remembered forever.
The rest of the Williams girls lean against each other, all crying as Wade and Lou embrace.
I can see Lou shaking with emotion, even as her dad does the same.
And the reception in Hot Strings Hall when Wade takes Lou’s guitar and she goes to sit at the piano is like the closing of one chapter and the start of another.
A moment heavy with history. Healing.
A moment that sounds like coming home.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
LOU
We’re watching a hockey game on his dad’s couch, me nestled in the crook of Patty’s arm, him holding me like it will stop time.
My throat is tight, but I refuse to let myself cry, instead trying to memorize the feel of his muscles beneath his cotton T-shirt. Trying to absorb his scent—cedar wood and baked bread, now that he’s been back in the bar.
Trying to etch the feel of his lips into my heart.
Across the room, Danny sits in his wheelchair, a throw pillow tucked behind him for extra support. There's still a brace peeking out from under his zip-up hoodie—one of the post-op ones that helps stabilize while the inflammation settles.
Danny doesn’t know it yet, but with the payout Third Street Records and Connor Nash gave Patty to settle the ‘songwriting snafu,’ as they’re calling it, Patty’s already paid off the bar, paid for Danny’s surgery, and he’s buying his dad a new home in Mullet Ridge—fully adapted for wheelchair users.
With a few million to spare.
Danny’s surgery last week was a success, and the damage from the slipped rod was far less severe than the surgeon feared, so his recovery will be easier than anyone expected.
Not easy, but easier.
He’s still stiff when he moves, still winces when he shifts too fast—but that’s normal. For now.
I hate that I won’t be here to help. I leave tomorrow for Parker’s destination wedding—on a friend’s island off the coast of Portugal—so this is my last night with Patty and his family.
I’m going to miss him so much, it physically hurts. I’ll miss Danny and Sean, too. They already feel like family.
Patty must sense this, because he presses a kiss to my temple and whispers, “It’s gonna be okay. As soon as Sean’s season is over, I’ll fly out and meet up with you wherever you are. We’ll be together in no time.”
Sean and Danny cheer at something the Augusta Arsenal did on the screen, and Danny’s voice carries, hoarse but happy. I tilt my face up to Patty’s, my nose stinging.
“I know. And I love you for being where you need to be.”
“I love you, too.”
