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Andi laughed and leaned against the counter. “I know what you mean. And I’m not going to interfere in my brother's love life but I have never seen him look at another woman the way he looks at you.” Andi seemed to sober then, sneaking a peak at Rhys. “I honestly thought for a while we were gonna lose him. I didn’t think the music was gonna be enough to keep him above ground, and it wasn’t. I think he needed more than the music, Shay; he needed you.”
Shay felt emotion thicken in her throat and she had to clear it before she could respond. “Rhys was the one who put in the work. He was the one who tried to be better, to do better. You give me too much credit.”
“And I think you don’t give yourself enough credit. Thank you for loving him even when he couldn’t love himself.”
Shay wasn’t prepared for Andi to embrace her, and it took her by surprise even as she wrapped her arms around the other woman and awkwardly patted her back. Rhys lifted his brows in question as Shay gave him a puzzled look before Andi stepped out of the embrace.
Andi was grinning, and Shay watched as Declan and Andi shared a look, then Declan nodded, and Andi all but dragged Shay over to where Rhys was still talking to Declan. Andi seemed excited as she reached for Declan’s hand, leaning into him.
“Go on, tell him...You’ve been dying to tell him.” Declan said with a grin.
Rhys glanced from Declan to Andi and back again. “Jesus, Christ, are you pregnant?”
Declan made a strangled sound as Andi smacked her little brother on the arm. “No, I’m fucking not, you idiot. But I do have a surprise for you. Remember your old piano teacher, Mrs. Canning?”
“Ya, we only talked about her a little while ago,” Rhys replied, his hand coming around her waist and pulling Shay closer.
Andi smiled, her face almost giddy as she said. “Well she lives in New York now with her son, and one of her former students is a member of the board of directors for Carnegie Hall, and she emailed me last week to ask if you would be interested in being the main performer for their Irish celebration, where all Irish musicians played a fundraiser for funding for music for underprivileged children.”
“So, she wants the band to play a gig for charity?” Rhys asked, and Shay felt his fingers dig into her hip.
“No doofus...just you. She wanted to know if you would fulfil her dream of seeing you play piano in Carnegie Hall. Just you Rhys. When I told her that you had found your voice again, she said that fate had aligned and there was no other musician she wanted to close out the show than you.”
Rhys seemed stunned into silence, his entire body tense and when he didn’t say anything for the longest time, Andi looked at Declan, almost pleading with him to help him out, but Declan just shook his head as if to say give him time.
“Is she sure she wants just me...I mean, the band would be more of an asset than me on my own.”
Andi let go of Declan’s hand and reached for Rhys. “Yes, I’m sure. It’s a classical music thing and she asked for you. We will be there, in the audience, for moral support. It’s your time to shine, Rhys.”
Everyone started to congratulate Rhys and Shay was so excited for this opportunity for him, even if it meant more time away from each other. Shay moved to the side, so the other members of the band could get to him, but Rhys seemed to sense her moving away and he came towards her, a stupid grin on his face.
“You fancy a trip to New York?”
“You want me to come?” She asked, then Rhys cupped her face and kissed her hard.
“Of course I do. No way I’m gonna do this without the woman I love.”
Shay felt her heart explode, knowing that everyone in the room had heard Rhys's declaration. She hadn’t been looking for Rhys when she had found him, but now that he was hers, she wasn’t about to let him go.
“I love you too, Rhys. I love you too.”
ChapterThirty
Rhys
Rhys had feltlike he was about to vomit the entire day leading up to his performance. He’d barely slept the night before, tossing and turning in bed and keeping Shay awake, the only thing that could distract him was the heat of her touch, the warmth of her lips, and the deliciousness of her body.
The trip to New York had been filled with laughter and memories, the entire band, their partners, and his parents had travelled over to watch Rhys perform and he still hadn’t decided what song he was going to perform. There was barely an hour to go before he went on stage and he had no clue what he was going to play, let alone if he could find the nerve to sing.
“Rhys?”
Rhys glanced up from where he was sat backstage to see an older woman smiling at him brightly. She reached him, then rested a hand on his shoulder as he began to rise, choosing to take a seat beside him.
“It makes an old woman happy to finally see you in the place I always envisioned I would.”
“It’s nice to see ya again, Mrs. Canning. Thank you for pulling the strings to get me invited.”
The older woman grinned, patting his knee. “You were always my most talented student, Rhys. You could hear the music like no one else could.”
