“Max, I can’t take your vintage Gibson SJ-200, which was played by one of the Everly Brothers!”
“How did you know that?” They hadn’t talked about the gift, which he had tucked under the Christmas tree before Sadie arrived.
“Your dad told me all about it while you took Patsy out after dinner.”
“Of course he did.” Max sighed. “Well, fine. You don’t have to take it, but I’m never playing it.”
Sadie was quiet, and he couldn’t quite read her expression when he glanced over at her. “You have to work your crap out, Max Brody.”
He inhaled deeply. “Yeah, I know.”
10
Sadie
Nashville, Tennessee
December 30
Sadie hit the FaceTime icon again, andagainreceived the message that Gran was “unavailable.” This was odd. No matter where she went, Gran brought her phone. She tried to swallow her disappointment—but she had been counting on seeing her gran’s face before singing with Max in theStarmakerfinale. This wasit.And she was nervous. Amalia kept insisting they were “guaranteed” to win, but Amalia didn’t have a crystal ball. Anything could happen. Johnny King was still a fan favorite, especially after killing it with an unexpected cover of Tammy Wynette’s “My Elusive Dreams.” He had ended the song by staring into the camera for a long moment before wiping away a tear. The internet had buzzed about this new, emotional side of Johnny—and how maybe he had what it took togo all the way. Some had even started tweeting that Johnny deserved it more than #Saxie. He didn’t have a partner to lean on after all. That wasn’t true, though. More and more lately, Johnny and Cruz appeared joined at the hip. Sadie had been hopeful that Cruz was starting to see her as a true contender. But it seemed that the closer she appeared to get to Max, the less friendly Cruz was.
It had been a while since she’d felt this nervous about performing. Max had gone off somewhere—to prepare for the bogus proposal if they won, she assumed. But, just in case, Bobbi and Amalia had come up with an alternate plan: if Max and Sadie’s sultry rendition of Taylor Swift’s “ ’tis the damn season” was not enough, and Johnny pulled ahead in viewers’ votes and prevailed, Max was to steal the spotlight by dropping down on one knee and proposing anyway.
To be honest, the whole thing just felt weird. If he were to propose in real life, Sadie knew Max well enough by now to know he would never do it in such a public, sensational way. He took music seriously, and he took life seriously. He’d agreed to do something that was completely contrived, and totally out of character—but, still, Sadie knew he was not a sellout.
Am I, though?
It was a good question. The last month had been such a blur that Sadie had rarely stopped to consider how she felt about all this—and when she did stop to think, it was mostly just to give herself an internal pep talk.Keep going. This is your dream. This is your last chance.Now, if things went according to plan, Sadie was about to embark on a yearlong, public engagement tosomeone she had complicated feelings for. They had experienced so much together—highs, lows, and in between. And family time, too, because not only had she gotten a few glimpses into Max’s life, but he had seen into her personal life, too. She could not compartmentalize her feelings for Max into an easy-to-explain category. When she sang with him it felt like they really were in love. It was fleeting, but it was there. And, when they had kissed at the Brody Mansion, that had felt real, too. Just thinking about it again made her skin tingle. She could still feel the intensity of his lips on hers—and, if she was being honest, she wanted to feel that again.
A voice on her phone startled Sadie. “Gran!”
But it wasn’t Gran. It was Lynn. “Sadie?”
“Hi! Mom!” Sadie tried not to look disappointed to see her mother on the screen, her face almost a mirror image of her own, but with her dark hair cut into a bob and a few extra worry lines between her dark brows. “I was just trying to reach Gran before the finale,” Sadie said.
Sadie noticed her mom looked pale and tired. “Is everything okay, Mom?”
“Yes! Of course! Everything is fine! It’s—it’s the silliest thing. Your poor gran overdid it with the singing lessons and lost her voice. She can’t even croak out one word, and she refuses to get on a call with you where she can’t say anything, so she told me she was going to text you.” Sadie couldn’t be sure, but thought her mother’s eyes were shining with tears. She wasn’t at home; there was an unfamiliar dismal blue wall behind her. What was going on? “So, I’m going to hang up and let her—and you—get to it, okay?” Before Sadie could sayanything to that, or get a closer look, Lynn hung up and Sadie’s text notification chimed.
Hello, my dear, this is your Gran. I’m so sorry I can’t talk to you tonight. What a silly thing, to lose my voice!
Sadie frowned and typed,But I thought you were taking a lesson break?
Decided not to. Needed a bit of pin money. Now, I don’t think you have too much longer before you have to start preparing to go onstage, and if I know you, you’re probably feeling pretty nervous right about now. Sweaty palms? Racing heart? Mind filled with thoughts about how maybe you just aren’t cut out for this and should come back to Wisconsin and make your mother happy, even if you know you’re going to be miserable?
Sadie chuckled. Her gran sure did know her better than anyone. She was starting to feel calmer already. Gran was still typing, and Sadie waited for more words to replace the moving dots.
Ever since you were a little girl, we all knew you had a special gift. Your mom knew it, too, even if it worried her—because chasing a dream that might break your heart is a hard way to live, and mothers only want their kids to be happy. But something that has become very clear as we all watch you on this show is how purely happy singing makes you. It’s a beautiful thing towitness. You have an incredible talent. Your voice is special, but it’s not just that—YOU are special, because you have been so determined. You have never once wavered from your ultimate goal, and I know it is not going to be tonight that you start wavering. I believe in you with all my heart. Now go on out there and make me proud.
Sadie’s eyes were now blurring with tears as she read her gran’s words, then typed back:Thank you so much, Gran. I love you. I needed this.
I love you, too. And so did I. Break a leg, my darling.
There were no more words after that. But all of Sadie’s nervous misgivings had disappeared. Shecoulddo this. Shewoulddo this. The next hour of her life was not going to be about Max, her complicated feelings for him, and whatever came next. It was going to be about her dreams, her goals, and her unwavering determination to make it all happen. She put her phone away and went to her dressing room door. It was time.
She opened the door and Max was standing there waiting for her, an inscrutable expression on his face. An expression that made her heart start to run away from her again.
“Sadie, we need to talk.”
