“I’m not going to pretend I’ve got everything figured out,” I tell them. “Because I don’t.”
A few laughs.
Honest ones.
“But I do know this.”
I glance toward the side of the stage again.
Toward Tilda.
Toward Jesse.
And this time?—
I don’t just look.
I point.
“That’s my family,” I say.
The words land.
Heavy.
Real.
The crowd follows my gesture.
A ripple moves through them as people turn, trying to see.
Tilda stiffens slightly.
I can see it.
The instinct to retreat.
To stay out of the spotlight.
But she doesn’t move.
Jesse waves again.
“Hi!” he calls, completely unbothered.
The crowd laughs.
Softly.
Affectionately.
I grin.
“Yeah,” I say. “That’s them.”
I rest my hand on the guitar.
“And everything I do from here on out—” I take a breath. “—it’s for them.”
