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Penny’s mouth drops.

Then, she panics. “I don’t have my violin.”

I go and grab it from under the soundboard and hand it to her.

She takes it, hesitating. “What do I do?”

“Go up on stage.” I gently push on her shoulder and walk with her to the stage, where Madison is waiting for her.

She climbs up and takes out her violin. A sound technician hooks a mic to her instrument.

All the while, Madison talks with the crowd.

When Penny is ready and stands next to Madison with her violin to her chin, Madison asks, “Ready?”

“What song are we playing?” Penny whispers, but with the mic so close to her, everyone hears her and the crowd laughs.

Madison whispers something in her ear, and Penny seems to relax.

“You start,” Madison instructs, putting her own instrument under her chin.

Penny strokes the bow down, making a screeching sound that has everyone wincing, but she ignores it and keeps going.

“Attagirl,” Scarlett mumbles next to me.

I recognize the song as one of the songs Penny played yesterday with her orchestra.

After a few seconds, Madison joins in with a harmony, and then the rest of her band follows suit. The guitar and piano add a completely different dimension to the song and it takes on a whole new life, much different from the kid’s concert yesterday.

Penny smiles the whole time as Madison and her band transform her song into a real performance.

The crowd claps along, and two older couples start dancing.

“Wow,” Blake exclaims when he rejoins us, handing me my drink and Scarlett’s. Scarlett is too busy filming with her phone to care about drinks. “They sound amazing.”

“Thank you so much,” Scarlett whispers at me. “She looks so happy.”

Penny is having the time of her life. And I’m glad. She is not a shy child, but I worried she might be too scared to go on the stage. But it’s obvious that she loves to perform.

The song ends, and the people watching go wild, cheering and hooting.

“Thank you, Penny,” Madison says, giving her a hug before helping her off the stage.

Penny runs back to us. “Did you see?”

“You were amazing,” I say.

Each of us congratulate her in turn as Madison moves on to her next song.

Blake

I would much rather spend the rest of my day with Amelia than go to the game, but Garrett would never forgive me if I bailed out again after abandoning them last weekend. So off to the baseball field I go. Again.

Amelia and Chase stay behind to watch the end of Madison’s performance but promise to stop by later. Although, when I see Ethan arriving with Charlotte hanging onto his arm, I almost wish she wouldn’t. Almost. Because deep down I’m selfish and want more of Amelia.

Ethan doesn’t say more than two words to me, but he keeps it friendly. I find Levi before the game starts and tell him Amelia’s interested in the apartment and I promise to call him on Monday.

It’s the second inning, and I’m in the outfield when I catch a glimpse of Amelia. She and Chase sit about as far away from Charlotte as is possible while still remaining on the bleachers.