Page 78 of Birthday Song

Leah felt ridiculously nervous as Mikayla finally found a place to park that wasn’t too far away from the sports ground. They arrived at the oval just as the first stars of the evening started twinkling.

“Leah!” Billy was the first to spot her and he jumped up and ran to her. She caught him up, holding him close as he wrapped his arms around her neck. “I missed you!”

“I missed you too, darling. So much.” She put him down and turned to Mikayla. “I didn’t realize everyone would sit at the back.”

“Yeah, of course. It’s your birthday.”

Leah swallowed the lump in her throat as she approached the group. Rafe pulled her into a hard hug first, then William. Nora kissed her cheek and wished her happy birthday. John kissed her forehead. Juniper was the last. She stepped forward and gave Leah the longest, tightest hug. “I missed you and I’m so glad you’ve come home. Happy birthday.”

“Thank you,” Leah replied, blinking back tears. God, she’d missed everyone.

“Let her go, Junebug, so she can sit down.” There was no mistaking the amused tone in Mikayla’s voice.

Juniper gave a watery chuckle. “Sorry.”

They all sat down on plastic chairs around a low fold out picnic table. It was overloaded with food, because the Sinclairs didn’t know how to do anything else and the Lockes were just as bad.

“Good timing, by the way. They’re just about to start,” Rafe said, handing her a glass of champagne.

Billy climbed into Leah’s lap and she laid her arm around him, kissing his golden curls. He sighed with contentment and Leah smiled. She felt pretty damn content right then, too. If she ignored the weird, fluttery feeling in her belly, that is. The flutters turned to prickles all over her skin when Callum led the band out on stage and took his place in front of the microphone. The lights caught the auburn in his hair as he turned back to the drummer. Jackson played the beat for the first song. It was clearly a crowd favorite, since they went wild, cheering, wolf whistling and clapping.

Leah couldn’t take her eyes off Callum. A vision of him from ten years before came to her mind. She watched him now and thought, he was hot then. Sex on legs, like Georgie said. But now…now he was more. More everything. She felt a surge of need as she watched him singing, like she wanted to walk right up to the stage and drag him away. Kiss him absolutely senseless. More than that, though, she felt a deep, aching love for him. With that, came the desire to drag him off stage just so she could hold him. Forever. Suddenly, tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough. She could only hope that she kept it together long enough to give him her list. With each passing minute that she sat there watching him, though, the possibility of that happening was dwindling.

As the band played through their set list, Leah sipped champagne, ate cheese and crackers, fed chips to Billy. But she barely took her eyes off Callum the whole time. As the night went on, she felt Billy relaxing against her as his breathing deepened. She had to hold his head up when he nodded off to sleep. She turned him so that he was curled into her, just as Callum announced the last song of the night. She had about three minutes to make a quick getaway. She glanced at Mikayla, thinking to give her the signal. But she was sitting on Rafe’s lap, leaning back on him, covering his hands with her own where they were clasped at her waist. She looked way too loved up to be disturbed. Leah sighed and turned her attention back to the stage. May as well enjoy the last song, then.

“Alright, everyone. We’re gonna make it a slow one, so you can all settle down,” Callum said, grinning when laughter rippled through the crowd. A stagehand came out and placed two stools in front of the microphones. Callum and the other guitarist, Nick, sat down, strumming on their guitars. Callum sang the first note and Leah sighed. It was a soft, dreamy song. Beautiful to listen to. Towards the end of the song, Mikayla sat up. Leah let out a puff of breath. She thought maybe Mikayla had forgotten the arrangement. They were to leave by the last song.

“We’re gonna head off,” Leah heard her say to Rafe as the band walked off stage, to thunderous applause. “William, can you get Billy?”

“Sure.” William pushed to his feet and skirted the picnic table.

Leah glanced at the stage, expecting it to be empty. She frowned as William lifted Billy from her arms. Callum was still sitting on the stool, holding his guitar. Leah stood up, looking for her handbag. She had no idea what he was doing, but she really needed to get out of there.

“So, ah, I just wanted to say something, before we finish up.” An expectant hush settled over the audience. Leah paused. “As most of you know, we recently had a bit of a shit time, with photographers coming into town.” Leah turned to look at him and her heart tightened. “They were on the prowl, riding around on their bikes, causing chaos. But thanks to all of you, they didn’t get what they came for. So, yeah, I just wanted to say thank you. It means a lot to me.” He strummed on the guitar, shifting on the stool.

“Gotta look after the big man,” someone yelled out.

“That you, Smithy? Still griping coz Sarah Thompson asked me out and not you in the tenth grade?”

“God, he’s a smart ass,” Mikayla said with a chuckle as the crowd laughed.

Callum cleared his throat. “Yeah, anyway. Thanks everyone.” He took a deep breath. “I’ve written a song and it wants to be played.” Leah couldn’t take her eyes off him. “Most of you probably know, but I’ll tell you anyway, before I play the song. I had something really good. Amazing, actually. Something that I thought would last a lifetime.”

Without thought, Leah took a step forward. There was something in his voice that pulled at her. “But I fu—messed it up. Badly.” Leah took another step as Callum strummed another note on the guitar. “Of course, you probably also know that on this day ten years ago, I pulled a beautiful girl up on stage and sang her happy birthday.” Leah started walking towards him, drawn to him like a magnet. “She’s not here tonight, but I wrote this song for her. It was going to be a birthday present, but it, ah, probably doesn’t have the right tone for that.” Weaving through the crowd, Leah kept her eyes on Callum the whole time. “It doesn’t have a title, either, so we’ll call itA Song for Leahfor now.Here it is.” He bent his head, rearranging his fingers on the guitar strings. Humming into the microphone, he tapped a beat on the guitar, closed his eyes. He sang the first line, “Maybe it won’t be me…” Leah stopped in front of the stage, dimly aware of the murmuring through the crowd. They knew who she was. “Making you smile…” Callum opened his eyes and they fell straight on her. He went completely still and Leah swore she saw the breath leave his body. His eyes stormy with emotion, he seemed to give himself a shake, then gestured to her. Come up here, he mouthed. Leah looked around. The stage was way too high for her to step up to. Then she felt strong hands at her waist and she was lifted bodily on to the stage. “Thanks, Evan,” Callum said, the words thick in his throat.

He pushed the microphone away. “Hey.” So much meaning in one small word.

“Hi.”

“Happy birthday.” His voice was a caress. His eyes were hungry on her face. The crowd was utterly silent.

“Thank you.”

“Do you want your present?”

“Yes, please.”

“Have a seat.” He pulled the stool closer and Leah slid onto it, linking her fingers in her lap as she watched him. Grabbing the microphone, he said, “Turns out she is here. This is Leah.” Leah smiled as the audience clapped and cheered. He cleared his throat again. “I forgot where I was up to, so I’m just gonna start again.” He looked at her as he played the first notes.“Maybe it won’t be me, making you smile.”Leah’s eyes filled with tears.“Maybe it won’t be me, who gets lost in your eyes.”The tears rolled down her cheeks.

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