“Yeah, we never watch my mom’s job on TV,” Benjamin said, suitably impressed.
June suspected that if she tried to explain that there weren’t many television programs about cleaning houses or waiting tables that this conversation would rapidly get derailed, so she just answered Benjamin’s initial question.
“Yes, sweetheart, you can go to the grown-up side,” she confirmed.
Benjamin did so with the satisfied aura of a kid who got to show the adults how to do something for once, then returned the remote to Cadence. She typed “Levi Hawkins live” into the search bar, then pulled up the first video. June’s eyes nearly popped from her head when she saw that it had over amillionviews.
The video opened to show Levi seated on a stool in the middle of a stage, guitar positioned over his lap in a way that suggested that he was as comfortable with the instrument as he was with any part of his body.
“Evening, y’all,” he said into the microphone standing in front of him, its shape little more than a dark silhouette from the way the spotlight shone down on Levi. “Thanks for letting me come out and play for you tonight.”
There were whoops and cheers from an unseen audience.
“This isn’t even TV,” Benjamin murmured to Izzy. “This is just a guy.”
“Yeah, let’s go play our game,” Izzy said, and the two of them wandered away.
June scarcely paid them any mind. She was transfixed by Levi’s presence on the stage. He wasn’t even singing yet, and still he clearly commanded the space.
And then hedidstart to sing and she found herself breathless.
His voice was low and crooning, and while the part of her that was a performer could appreciate his technique and skill as he played and sang with a fluid sort of effortlessness, the woman in her was far more strongly struck by howbeautifulhe was, by how beautiful the song was under his care.
June didn’t know that much about country music. She mostly knew the stereotypes: men singing about how much they lovedtheir trucks, how heartbroken they were now that their girl was gone, or why the city was just no darn good. She’d known that this understanding was limited, of course, but listening to Levi sing made her realize quitehowlimited.
He sang about music itself, about how having songs move through him was both a joy and a struggle. His lyrics were poetry, and the mournful tone in his voice turned them into an elegy. And just when June thought that the way he talked about music being his closest friend and companion would make her cry, something indefinable changed, and those same words became hopeful.
“Whoa,” Cadence said when the song ended, the last notes hanging in the air for a few moments of silence before the crowd erupted in clapping and cheers. “He’s… amazing.”
“Yeah,” June said, feeling the word as it nearly got caught in her throat. She took the remote from Cadence and turned off the television before the app could autoplay the next song. She wasn’t sure that her heart could take it. “He’s really incredible.”
Cadence looked over at June, her eyes wide and excited.
“Juney, that guy—” She gestured so emphatically at the now-dark television that June worried that she might hurt her arm. “That guythinks that you are a good singer.”
June tried to muster up the same excitement that Cadence so obviously felt.
“Yeah, it’s really flattering,” she said, although her voice fell flat. She could see that Cadence was going to press for more information about June’s mood, but just then, the kids chimed in, asking for some more food to eat while they played. Cadence got up to refill their tray of veggies and hummus, leaving June to her thoughts.
Yes, Levi was amazing. But the excellence of his music, the gorgeousness of his lyrics? All of it made her think that there was no way he could have a future with a small-town single momlike her. Surely he was destined for bigger and better things, no matter how much she would have liked to think otherwise.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“I think I was in some kind of fugue state when I agreed to an outdoor date,” Levi said as he tucked his scarf more firmly around his neck.
June, whose jacket wasn’t even zipped up, gave him an indulgent look.
“I didn’t believe we could have a warm snap like this so early in the year, but it’s practically springlike out today,” she informed him.
Levi was pretty certain that she was just teasing him. He was more than willing to play along.
“Sweetheart, if you tell me that this is what spring is like around here, I’m going to drag everybody in this town about three hundred miles south. I don’t care how long it takes me. This isn’t spring, and if you think it is, it’s only because you’ve never seen a proper Southern spring.”
She laughed, bright and warm, and he found that the chill affected him less after listening to it.
He moved the bag of takeout from Anchor Bistro, where they had just picked up sandwiches, to one hand, then looped his other arm through June’s, ignoring that he was wearing gloves and she wasn’t. They just made these Northern folks differently,he decided. Maybe they were part penguin. That would explain it.
“Well, before I freeze to death,” he said as they began moving down the sidewalk toward a park where Junepromisedthat they’d find a nice, sunny, non-freezing spot to have their lunches, “please let me brag about the logic behind this date request, so that you can marvel at my thoughtfulness.”
