Page 120 of The Song We Lost

She touches my arm gently. “But I’m here if you need anything.” She clears her throat. “The studio.”

I look up.

“They’re asking about that new contract.” She says.

Of course they are. Vultures.

“They want more from you,” she continues. “I told them now isn’t the time, but they’re pushing.”

I shake my head. “I’m not signing anything else right now.”

Rachel nods slowly.

“I need to be here,” I say quietly. “I don’t know how much more time Sadie has.” My voice cracks. “And when she’s gone… Cole is going to need help.”

Rachel exhales. “Okay. We’ll talk about this later.” She straightens and adds, “I’ll tell them you need time off, a break. And that we can open discussions next year.”

Relief swooshes out of me on an exhale. I know it would be easier for me to tell the studio what is going on, but I also know they would try to capitalize on it. And Sadie isn’t for sale.

We start walking toward the studio. Sadie’s laugh floats out through the open door. I latch on to the sound, the feeling it brings to me. That sound is the only thing I focus on.

chapter 28

bailey

. . .

Sadie’s laugh floats through the open studio door as Rachel and I walk down the slope, the gravel crunching under our boots. For a second I stop outside the building and just listen to it. That sound has become my compass. If Sadie is laughing, the world hasn’t ended yet.

I step into the studio, that still smells new. Fresh wood, lingering paint and the scent of new electronics. Guitars leaning along one wall, cables snaking across the floor toward the console Cory is already hunched over. The big windows look out over the property, the orchard rolling down the hill in a patchwork of gold and red.

Sadie is perched on the edge of one of the big armchairs like she’s watching a movie she’s been waiting years to see.

Jackson is standing near one of the mics with a guitar slung low across his chest, talking with Gary.

Rhett is pacing in a loose circle, hat tipped back, humming something under his breath like a man trying to trap a melody before it escapes.

Jackson glances up when I walk in.

“Perfect timing,” he says.

Sadie beams at me. “You missed Jackson explaining microphone science.”

I shrug out of my jacket and hang it over the back of a chair. “That is tragic.”

Jackson grins. “I think we should start with No Place I’d Rather Be.”

I feel all eyes on me. He rests the guitar against his thigh.

“It’s already got momentum,” he continues. “Fans know the story behind it. If we release it early as a single it’ll pull a lot of attention.”

Gary nods from behind the console.

“And the artists from the bus sessions?” I ask.

Jackson shrugs slightly. “They’ve agreed to send in recordings and video clips for the teasers. Everyone wants in.”

Sadie bounces a little in her seat. “I still can’t believe that song came out of one chaotic night on a tour bus.”