Holden Brody and his wife, Maren, were staring into each other’s eyes like fate had decreed they would never fall out of love. Sadie wished she could take that photo down and get a closer look, so she could discover any secrets it held that might help her understand Max and convince him to come back to Nashville. But maybe she also wanted to look at it so she could understand true love. And maybe she couldn’t stop staring at the photo because the way Holden and Maren Brody were looking at each other reminded her of herself and Max when they sang together.
Sadie glanced back at the karaoke stage. If they could sing together, she and Max, would that help? Would it start to feel like old times—when they were getting along and making great music? She glanced over at Max to see if he felt it, too, but it was impossible to read his expression.
“Do you think your mom regretted not pursuing her career?” Sadie asked. After Maren Brody became a mother, she just dropped out of the music business, and never sang publicly again.
“Of course not,” Max replied, with a hint of defensiveness. “She wanted what we had as a family. Can we drop this?”
Sadie realized that maybe Max was just as invested in guarding his pain as she was. She felt a wave of empathy for him. The walls he had built around himself were so well-constructed.
In the background, someone was testing out the karaoke mic. Moments later, a group of young women took the stage and launched into a version of “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’.” There were five of them, all crowded around one mic. The one in the middle had her head thrown back, and Sadie felt a tug. She understood that joyful abandon. She knew that when shewas down, or anxious, there was only one thing that could make her feel better: singing. Impulsively, she walked up to the stage and wrote a fake name down on the sign-up sheet—but the young man running the machine recognized her.
“Sadie Hunter! I don’t think anyone will mind if you jump the line. What song do you want to do?”
“Tasha Munroe’s ‘Don’t Come Callin’,’ ” Sadie said, thinking fast.
“You and Max planning to treat us to a duet? Should I wait for him to start the music?”
“No, I’ll go ahead. He’s not in the mood,” Sadie said with a laugh.
“Alright! Sadie Hunter is in the house,” he crooned into the microphone. The bar erupted in hoots and hollers. The only one not cheering was Max. He looked like he wished the sawdust and peanut-shell-covered floor would open up and swallow him.
Sadie took the two steps up to the stage and nearly stumbled, but stayed upright. She grabbed the microphone and felt that familiar burst of energy. Even though she was in a tiny northern town singing karaoke in the middle of the afternoon, it felt just the way it did when she was on tour with Tasha. She loved this.
Sadie sang the opening verse, about a woman who was on a mission, at a bar to drown her sorrows and forget about her man. She found herself beckoning to Max and mouthing,Come on. He didn’t move, but she no longer cared. Suddenly, it felt like she was singing out all the hurt she had felt as months had passed and she hadn’t heard from someone she had grown to care about. Someone who wasn’t giving her the chance to sayshe was sorry for being so harsh during a very bad night.“Baby, I know you’ve got my number...”She closed her eyes and shimmied her hips.
When she opened her eyes, she thought the whiskey had caused her to hallucinate. Was that Max Brody, stepping onto the stage beside her, his smile tentative? Then he grabbed the mic and sang a verse, shooting her a wink halfway through. Even after a year, they could still pick up where they left off—onstage, at least.“You act like you’re all high and mighty, but you know what? You’re just too flighty.”He was grinning down at her as she sang, and she smiled up at him—and wondered for a moment if the two of them looked just the same as Holden and Maren, all those years before. She grabbed back the mic and sang her musical rebuttal, feeling the warmth from the whiskey turn into full-on heat.This always happens when I sing with Max, she reminded herself.It doesn’t really mean anything. It’s probably just that I haven’t seen him in such a long time.
That was why the heat felt so strong today.
Everyone in the bar had moved to the dancefloor now. Sadie and Max bumped hips—and Sadie was almost sure she saw sparks of electricity between them as their bodies touched, even briefly. If she didn’t know better, she’d think Max was actually having fun, too. The song ended with the two of them crooning into the mic together,“Whatever you do, babe... don’t come callin’ me! Cause I’m not home...”And the crowd in the bar went as wild as they would have if Sadie had been standing in a stadium with Tasha herself. “See ya,” Sadie growled into the microphone as the song ended, doing her best Tasha impersonation. Max put his arm around her waist and leaned in. He took the mic out of her hand.
“You’re plastered,” he said softly. “Let’s go outside for some air.”
She made her way unsteadily down the steps of the stage and toward the door, smiling at patrons who waved their phones in her face and took photos.
Outside, she spun around. “Why’d you always have to be telling me what to do?” she slurred.
“Last I checked, you came all the way here to try to tellmewhat to do.”
He was standing close, looking intently at her. His breath was even more cinnamon-scented than usual, because of the whiskey.
“Why’d you come up onstage with me if you said you didn’t wanna sing?”
“I came up there because...” He stared into her eyes for a long moment. “Because I had to. Because I couldn’tnot.”
Their lips were close and Sadie felt electricity flow through her body. She wanted him to kiss her, she realized. The very idea of that was making her dizzy. She tried to take a step back and get her bearings, but nearly stumbled and lost her balance. Max grabbed her and held her steady. They swayed for a moment, there in the gently falling snow. Like they were dancing.
“I’m sorry,” Max said softly.
“What exactly are you sorry for, Max?” She pulled him closer to her, avoiding his gaze. She thought she could feel his heartbeat underneath her cheek.
“I’m sorry I didn’t call,” he said. And he did sound genuinely sorry. Before she could think too much about what she was doing, she reached up to touch the new beard she liked so much.
“Sadie...” He put his hand to hers. “Why are things always so difficult between us?” He looked agonized, and suddenly Sadie wanted him to be happy. She didn’t want things to be difficult between them. She wanted everything between them to be as easy as it was when they sang together. As it had that last night together onstage when they wonStarmaker. And in the minutes before, in her dressing room, when she had actually thought that this was someone she wanted in her life forever.
But for now, she gave in to the kiss. The spicy, familiar taste of his lips, the new scratchy feeling of his beard on her skin, the way his hands felt on her back as their bodies were pressed close, making her feel shivery all over, but hot at the same time. It wasn’t clear who had kissed whom first. When they finally came up for air, she kept her body where it was, warm against his.
“Sadie,” Max said.
