AllFreeNovel
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After a woman doing a cover of a popular country song finished, Delia walked onto the stage. “It is with great honor I invite my friend up here to entertain you all with something special.”
“Be right back,” Emma said, heading straight for the stage. She grabbed her guitar from Delia and adjusted the mic just a couple of inches higher. Keeping her head tilted, she spoke into the mic. “Hello, Denver. How are you all tonight?”
A few claps and shouts were her response. It was hard to make out Link on the far side of the room, but his body shifted towards her.
“This song is dedicated to my dad, who passed recently.” She strummed the first chords of “My Girl” by Elvie Shane. Country was not her usual genre of choice, but the lyrics summed up exactly the relationship she’d had with her father, Solomon Owusu. She’d never gotten to sing it to him. She hoped, somehow, somewhere, he was looking down with a smile as she sang about a man falling in love with a daughter who wasn’t biologically his.
“Thank you, Papa.”
Applause and whistles came from the crowd as several of them got to their feet. Her eyes flicked to Link, who stood in the back, his fingers going to his mouth before an ear-piercing whistle sounded in the room.
Her emotion was so thick, it was hard to breathe. She pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep inhale. “Now I’d like to invite Link up here for this next song.”
Link shook his head vigorously and slammed into his seat.
“Looks like he might need some encouragement, Denver.”
Heads turned to where she pointed. Link crossed his arms in front of him.
“Come on, Link. Don’t be a chicken.”
Several people in the audience began to make clucking sounds before Link held up his hands and got to his feet once more. He stalked towards her, shaking his head. “You owe me for this,” he grumbled.
“Whatever you say.” She smirked.
She pointed to her song choice on the screen to the side and asked him, “Think you can keep up, old man?”
“It’s only six years difference. If I’m old, so are you.”
Emma nodded to Delia, who played the soundtrack to “Love Me Harder” by Ariana Grande and The Weekend.
Emma closed her eyes and let the music flow over her as she sang into the mic, facing Link. She knew how to put on a show for an audience, and that was what she did. As she sang about asking the man she loved to let her into his space, she pretended they weren’t the words from her heart to Link. But it was all bullshit.
When it was his turn, he leaned into the mic, his deep voice softening. His eyes locked on hers, darkening as he sang the sensual lyrics. She joined back on the chorus, each of them on one side of the mic, breaths mingling. Eyes connecting. Voices syncing. He was the missing piece of her, and he made her whole for a few seconds in time.
Did he understand what she was telling him through the song?
The last notes faded as the room erupted in applause again. She backed away and took a bow, motioning for Link to do the same. Instead, he tapped the bill of her hat and led her down the stage stairs to her guitar case.
“You didn’t tell me you still had that old thing.” He pointed to the turquoise Gibson he’d gotten her years ago.
She set the instrument down and locked the case before standing and meeting his eyes. “It’s the most valuable thing I own. Of course I still use it. All my songs are written with it.”
He blinked as if he hadn’t been expecting it to mean that much to her. Did he not remember how much time they’d pored over this very guitar? How special he’d made her feel—like she was the only person in the world? I’ve never told him how much he means to me.
She wrapped her free arm around him, hugging him close. Soft lips brushed her forehead as he hugged her back. She waited for him to pull away first. If she could suspend a moment in time, she would. Just to be in his arms—whole, despite the lingering pain of grief.
He pulled away to meet her gaze, and what reflected in his eyes—it looked a lot like lust. “Em—”
“Hey, you look just like Emma Sterling.”
Emma pulled out of his embrace and faced the young woman. “I get that a lot.”
Link took the guitar from her hand. His body tensed beside her.
“You sound just like her too.” The woman squinted her eyes at Emma. “Oh my God!” she squealed. “Can I have your autograph?”
Emma scanned the room. A few more people turned their heads in her direction. It was better to sign the paper and get out of there before causing a scene if they could manage it. “Sure.”
