“And you’re stuck with me.”
He kissed her lips, softly.Then, he wrapped his arms around her and held her close.They didn’t need music because they already had rhythm.
The barn door creaked open.Tony’s voice broke the silence.“Hey, lovebirds, Quinn forgot his drawings.”
Carlene pressed her forehead to Jami’s chest and groaned.“Timing.”
Jami laughed, still holding her.“Yes.We seem to live from one interruption to the next."
She looked up at him.“No headlines.”
“No headlines,” he promised.“Just heartlines.”
Tony’s footsteps grew louder.“Everything good?”
Jami called back, “Better than good.”
Carlene leaned in, kissed him once, and whispered, “Looks like we just found our encore.”
He smiled into her hair.“Yeah,” he whispered.“And this time, we’re playing it our way.”
Epilogue
The barn smelled of cedar and fresh paint, but beneath it was the same heartbeat that had always lived inside its walls.The floors gleamed now, the wood smooth and warm under bare feet.Quinn and his crew had finished just two weeks ago, leaving behind silence, sawdust, and something close to perfection.
Sunlight spilled through the windows, catching the new glass wall that divided the studio from the recording room.The reflection bent across the room and shimmered on the wide-plank floors where chairs had been arranged in two soft arcs facing the small stage.
Jami stood there now, his guitar slung low, testing a single string.The sound echoed through the barn, clean, grounded, home.
“You’re not supposed to see me yet,” she said from the doorway.
He turned.“You’re not supposed to talk to me yet either.”
She smiled.“Rules were never really our thing.”
The dress wasn’t white; it was cream with lace at the sleeves, the hem brushing just above her boots.Her hair was down, curls tamed only enough to stay out of her eyes.She’d never imagined she’d wear a wedding dress in a barn, but this one felt right.The walls knew their story better than anyone else did.
He crossed the space to her, stopping when he was close enough to see the small tremor in her hands.“You look…” He shook his head.“There’s not a word.”
“Good,” she said.“Because you’ve already used the best ones in songs.”
He chuckled, the kind that reached his eyes.“And you keep proving I didn’t exaggerate a thing.”
The door opened behind her.Maddyn peeked in, bouquet in hand.“Five minutes.”
Carlene nodded.“Thank you.”
When Maddyn left, Jami reached for her hand.“You ready?”
She looked around at the space they’d built, the polished railings, her office window above them, the stage where everything had started.“More than ready.”
The band waited near the front, Tony standing with a folded program that looked suspiciously like a setlist.Sean adjusted his tie.Axel fidgeted with the boutonniere pinned crookedly to his shirt.Livia wiped her eyes before the ceremony even began.
When the music started, it wasn’t a march.It was “Keys”.The soft acoustic version, stripped down to just melody and truth.Maddyn’s voice floated through the air, tender and steady.
Jami took his place by the mic as she walked toward him, the wood floor creaking under each careful step.Every board they’d sanded, every nail Quinn had hammered, seemed to hum beneath her feet.
When she reached him, he smiled, a slow, knowing thing that saidwe built this.
