Chapter 41
You take my breath away.
DEVLIN
Inoticed a shift in the audience first. I couldn’t see them because of the bright lights, but I felt it. A gasp and some whispers. My song came to an end and I lowered my hands from the piano.
That’s when I heard it. A soft solid note of a cello breaking through the air.
I turned on the bench.
Kim. Here. Her dark hair pinned up in a twist. A single tear tracked down her cheek. Her eyes were closed, and she played. She played my music. My song from a hundred years ago.
She played her song, picking up effortlessly where I had just stopped. Then those notes shifted to a different piece. It melted right into the first composition of my classical career. It was the first piece I’d written after my pop career went down the toilet as fast as it had begun. She morphed one into the next, one after the other. I stared, dumbfounded. In awe. My heart slamming against my chest. It took all my power not to run to her and hold her. But I was transfixed. We all were. She played like she did that night at my house. Fully into the music. Chills broke out over my skin. She played with her whole being. This was who she was meant to be.
Every single piece I’d ever written floated seamlessly from one to the other, a medley of all my pieces, until finally, she played my solo that I’d written for her.
And when she played that, the whole audience and I sat transfixed, unable to tear our eyes away.
It was perfection. She was perfection.
I sat in stunned silence listening to the last piece we’d worked together on. She had made it her own. She had made it something more powerful and beautiful than I ever did.
That was when the rest of the symphony came out. Had she coordinated all this? They all took their places, chairs appearing out of nowhere, to play my composition. They played my symphony perfectly. When I looked back to Kim, she raised her eyebrows and nodded her head to the podium.
They wanted me to conduct? I slowly moved to center stage. My eyes blurred with emotion. I hesitated. Could they really want me back? After everything?
The sound came like rolling thunder. Those who could, stomped their feet. Their smiles nudged me forward.
We performed my piece as the symphony. I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. It was the proudest moment of my career.
* * *
Backstage was madness after that performance. I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. I didn’t try. It came so naturally now. I couldn’t wait to see Kim, to know if she’d gotten my letter. To tell her everything. My heart was exploding with the need to talk to her.
The whole symphony was crammed into the small area, talking and congratulating each other. The cacophony of noise was overwhelming. Champagne flowed. But I couldn’t find Kim. Every time I spotted her, a new person came up to meet or congratulate me, and when I looked up again, she’d be gone. With every new person that wasn’t her, my blood pressure spiked.
“What a wonderful performance, Maestro,” Andrew held out his hand.
I glared at it. His face faltered before I grinned and took his hand in return. “Thank you,” I said. “The SOOK performed wonderfully.”
“They did. But your piece was simply astounding.” Richard shook my hand as well. “Christine was astounding.”
“That she was,” I agreed.
“We were thinking that maybe you could extend your stay with us? Maybe take on the fall/winter season?” Andy asked. They weren’t bad guys. They were just trying to keep the SOOK afloat.
My eyes met Kim’s across the room. She smiled at me, her cheeks flushed with joy.
“I would like that,” I said.
My parents walked up with Wes, Kelly, and the girls as Andrew and Richard moved on. My family gave me hugs and the girls hopped up and down excitedly, replaying my performance.
“Your hands move so fast on the piano,” Ellie said. She mimicked playing up and down the keys.
“That was fantastic, honey.” My mom kissed my cheek. “Did I just hear what I think I heard?”
I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. “Yeah. I think I might stick around for a while.”
