“You’ve been making bear pancakes at home?”
He nods and places the plate on the table. “Molly missed yours.”
He walks back over to the counter and picks up two mugs. I know he doesn’t mean anything by that. But knowing Molly missed me when we were apart makes my heart heavy.
Sullivan comes back, placing a coffee on the tablefor me.
“Thanks.” I smile up at him gratefully and he leans down to kiss me.
I motion with my eyes to Molly who’s too busy eating her pancake to notice. Sullivan’s eyes twinkle and he pulls out the chair beside me and sits down.
“Sweetheart?” he says to Molly, keeping his eyes on mine. “Shall we show Tate that thing we talked about?”
“Yeah!” Molly bounces down from her chair and runs over to the counter, coming back, holding a book.
Sullivan’s eyes are on my face as Molly thrusts it into my lap proudly.
“What’s this?”
“Open,” she instructs.
I look at the plain blue cover, then open it.
“What are these?” I frown as I turn the first three pages, staring at the small pieces of card stuck to each one.
“I think you know what they are,” Sullivan says softly.
I glance up at him, my breath hitching. “You were there?”
“At every one.”
My throat clogs as I trace a fingertip over one of the many ticket stubs. “Oh… wow.”
They’re all here. Every concert I ever played as a support act. All the different cities. All the venues in each one. Glued inside the book in chronological order, marking every moment we spent apart.
“I never saw you.”
“You weren’t supposed to. But I heard you. All of your songs. And I heard every lyric ofthatone.”
I swallow. I know exactly which song he’s referring to.
“Blue Eyes?” I whisper.
“Blue Eyes,” he repeats, taking my hands inside his.
“I wrote that song before I left New York. It was about falling in love for the first time.”
“I know,”he rasps.
I look up at him, searching his eyes, a confession dangling from the tip of my tongue. “It wasn’t?—”
“About me?” He arches a brow. “I know.” His eyes move to Molly, and they soften with adoration. “It was about Molly.”
“It was,” I whisper, the emotion in my voice turning into a giggle as Molly beams brightly at me.
“You were singing about her. And every time I heard that song I prayed that things could be different.”
“Sullivan…” I give him a soft smile. “We don’t need to go over this anymore. What’s done is done. It’s all in the past now.”
