Page 126 of The Song We Lost

I shift in the chair and pull the guitar into my playing position.

Tim and Cory immediately stop talking in the control room and Rhett leans forward.

Sadie sits up as I strum the first chord.

My voice follows almost automatically.

“There’s a quiet kind of magic

In the way you say my name…”

The words settle into the room like they’ve been waiting for it.

“Like the whole wide world gets softer

Every time you look my way…”

My chest tightens slightly. But I keep playing.

“I don’t need the lights or diamonds

I don’t need a big dream view…”

My voice wavers just enough that I feel it. I close my eyes.

“If I wake up in the morning

And the first thing that I see is you…”

My fingers slow. Emotion catches in my throat. For a second the guitar falters, and then I stop playing. Silence fills the room. Then another guitar joins the chord, steady and familiar.

I open my eyes. Noah is sitting beside me now. He doesn’t look at me. Just keeps playing. His hands pick up the rhythm gently like nothing happened. Like he’s been here the whole time.

The support is quiet. Unspoken.

I swallow and start again.

I picture the summer sun on my face and the sounds of the river that I was sitting beside as I daydreamed of the boy who stole my heart when I wrote this song.

“I don’t need a perfect skyline

Or a house up on a hill…”

The words come easier this time. Noah keeps the rhythm steady under my voice.

“You call me sunshine walking

Say I light up every room

But you’re the one who keeps me steady

Like the pull of the moon

And I don’t know where this road goes

Or the dreams we’ll chase someday

But if loving you’s the journey