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“Love isn’t something to be nervous about,” Milo had told me. “When you find that right person, it just makes sense. You and Jamie . . . make sense.”
After his call I texted Jamie, the nerves shooting through my fingers. I wasn’t nervous about the show, I was nervous for these feelings that seemed to creep up without notice. A part of me wanted to tell her through text, get those three simple words out in the open, but that wasn’t the way to do it. When she offered a kiss for good luck, I was tempted to run out and take her in my arms in the five seconds we had before Pete dimmed the lights.
But now, here on the stage, the words flowing effortlessly, and the band not missing a single beat, she was my only focus. I was no longer nervous about the way I felt for her. Jamie Gaines was my world, my life, my heart . . . Jamie Gaines was my everything.
After a lot of upbeat songs, with the crowd dancing and even singing along, I turned to Bennett and gave him a quick nod. Slipping my white electric guitar off my neck, I casually walked to the stand next to Chase, setting it down gingerly while using my other free hand to grab the new acoustic guitar. Bennett came up to my side, grabbing a bottle of water.
“We’re ready for it.” He smiled. “She’s ready for it too.”
Wiping the sweat from my brow, I looked over at Chase. The grin and stick flip that followed was his classic move. Once the stick was still he lightly began to tap the cymbal. Jameson gave the crowd a wave, reaching down to shake a few hands. The moment lasted less than a minute before I was back at the mic, situating my guitar over my shoulder.
“You having fun so far?” I asked, getting a loud cheer in response. “We’re slowing it down for just a second to bring you a new song, and I meannew. Basically, so new I wrote it here in Park City and we’ve only played it once as a band, but there’s no better place to bring this song to the world.”
I locked onto Jamie’s eyes, slowly starting to begin the song. She knew the melody, I had played it multiple times while she painted, but she still hadn’t heard the lyrics. They were her, in a song—completely inspired by her painting that hung in the gallery. The looks she had as she painted, full concentration with each stroke. The beauty, the elegance she created with her craft, I had to immortalize it in a song. One that I would sing to her every night if she let me.
“She painted their beauty, but little did she know – the love in my world was continuing to grow. Sunflowers bloomed beneath her skilled hand – the golden light enchanting a love so grand… Together they danced and swayed, the bristles capturing the summer’s day. He whispered his love into her heart…The sunflowers that came alive sang, Open your heart, for love will find you, let the light guide you.”
Jamie was frozen, I couldn’t even tell if she was blinking, she was just transfixed on me. Her family that surrounded her looked from me to her, their looks telling me they knew my feelings simply from my song. It was hard to miss. Surely, she knew exactly what was going through my mind.
None of this was pretend for me, ever. My hope was always to have Jamie in my arms for the rest of my life, and here I was.
When the song ended, the last strum melting from the guitar, I gave Jamie a wink. Her body relaxed and she took a breath through her mouth. If I didn’t have to play a few more songs I would have jumped off that stage and kissed her, telling her the words I so desperately wanted to. But alas, Bennett pulled me back, handing me my white electric, and taking the acoustic from me.
I turned around from the mic. “We gotta switch it up.” I smiled.
“To . . . ?” Bennett raised his eyebrows. Deviating from the set list was never his favorite thing.
“T-Shirt.”
“Seriously?” one eyebrow lowered as he cocked a smile. He hated—and I mean hated—this song.
I chuckled. “Oh, yeah.”
“I hate you.”
“I know . . .” I turned back to the mic as Bennett went to tell Jameson and Chase the change in plans. I heard Chase laugh as he started the song with his drums. Unlike Bennett, he loved the song.
“Now, this next one . . .” I said into the mic. “Is going to embarrass the shit out of my girl, but after this morning . . . well . . . hot damn she just looked so damn hot in my t-shirt.”
Even in the low-lighting I could see Jamie’s cheeks turned red. She covered her face with her hands and shook her head, slinking down into her chair slowly. Jillian laughed and turned to her, nudging her with her shoulder and her brothers just bobbed to the music. Howard and Janet clapped and stood up from their seats, enjoying every moment of the song. All while Jamie gave me soft glares as she tried her hardest to hold back her grins.
I keep her gaze as I sang
During a bass solo I called Jameson out, stepping away from the mic to give him his moment. He was truly a god of the bass. He looked over at me and bobbed his head, a rare smile forming as he took the solo and ended it as I stepped up again with lyrics. The song references Gun’s n Roses, but I had another plan. I changed Gun’s n Roses to Savaged Whittakers, which made Jamie jump and cheer. The crowd laughed and I knew I had caught their attention. Jameson even let out a laugh that was caught by his mic.
Nothing would ever beat this.
The song ended and the crowd screamed.
“That was supposed to be our last song . . .” Bennett said into the mic, the banter between us only just starting. “But he decided to mix things up.”
“Hey, I had to.” I laughed. “After singing the most perfect love song, seeing the woman of my dreams melting in her chair, I had to give her exactly the opposite reaction.”
The crowd laughed.
“We can do some more covers . . . ?” I asked.
“You promised me only two Thomas Rhett . . .”
