“Oh…no. We’re just old friends,” I mutter loosely crossing my arms. I glance at Josh whose face remains impassive.
“Gotcha, so how did you reconnect?” Jim asks, this time looking at Josh.
Josh stifles a cough, rubbing the back of his neck like the words got caught in his throat. “I came up here looking for inspiration. I haven’t been here in nearly twenty-five years. I’m not sure if you know this, Jim, but my older sister Cara was killed in a car accident her senior year of high school. My family moved shortly after.” Josh pauses, and it looks to me like he needs a minute. When he speaks again, his voice wavers. “I am sure you heard, I broke up with my band—or rather, they broke up with me, I guess. So, I set out to write a solo acoustic album. But I needed inspiration and a change of scenery, so I thought, what better to do than come home?” Josh glances my way and offers me a smile. The tips of his ears are pink.
“I did hear about the breakup, Josh. I’m sorry about that,” Jim offers. “And about your recent split from Kiera Muller too.”
When I look at Josh, he looks uncomfortable, but he leans into his mic and says, “Hey, everything happens for a reason, Jim, am I right?”
“You are.” Jim nods. “So, tell us how you reconnected with Melanie.”
“She was working at The Ugly Mug when I walked in,” Josh says. “I knew it was her immediately.” This time, Josh looks directly at me, and my heart lurches into my throat.
“Melanie, did you know it was Josh?” Jim asks.
I clear my throat. “I did.” I meet Josh’s gaze. “We reconnected like no time had passed.”
“When I was at The Ugly Mug, I had the pleasure of hearing you two play a cover song together. Have you always played music together?” Jim directs the question at me, but Josh answers.
“Not in twenty-five years.” He huffs a laugh. “But we did, yeah. We started writing music together when we were just teenagers.”
“Teenagers, wow.” He quirks his eyebrows at us. My stomach twists, and feelings of unease rumble in my gut.
Josh laughs easily. “You know, crazy teens and their love songs.”
Jim’s eyes light up at this, his curiosity piqued. “And were you in love when you wrote songs together?”
The question comes point-blank. Before I can stop myself, I’m answering at the same time as Josh.
“Oh, I don’t know. No. Jim, like we said, we were teenagers.” I give a casual wave of my hand.
“I’ve always loved Melanie.”
Josh’s words overpower mine.
Suddenly, the air is too thick. I’m uncomfortable. Josh’s words hit me like a dropped chord reverberating long after the sound is gone.
Jim thinks this is hilarious, and Josh and I look at each other, having no choice but to laugh with him. What else can we do? But something inside me clenches, and I’m unsure if it’s from shock or something deeper.
“Sounds like you two need to talk.” Jim lets out another nervous chuckle, but Josh and I only look at each other. Questions swirl in my mind—he’s always loved me?
It feels like hours before anyone speaks again though I’m sure it’s only a matter of seconds since we’re live on the air.
“Would you play one of your own for us now?” Jim asks, perhaps sensing the awkwardness.
“Our own…Mel?” Josh looks to me for approval. “‘Every Song’?”
“Uh, sure. Okay.” I nod, swallowing hard. We’ve only played it in the safety of my
apartment. Now suddenly, we’re going to play it live on the radio. Josh picks up his guitar and begins strumming the intro.
The first verse has always been mine, so I suck in a breath and will my heart to stop racing. My first notes are shaky but by the time I get to the third line, I’ve found my voice, the soft melody coming out stronger.
We swore forever in the back of your car,
Snuck out to the beach, counting every star.
Didn’t know then, but we had it all,
