Page 140 of The Song We Lost

For a second…

Nothing.

Then it breaks.“Rachel…”

Silence.

Then… “Luke?”

My hand shakes harder.

My chest is tight.

Everything is wrong.

Everything is spinning.

“I…”

The words won’t line up.

Not excuses.

No explanations.

Just…

truth.

“I need help.”

chapter 31

bailey

. . .

Iwas relieved to have completed the album, to have it out there in the world and for the final element to my contract… to obligations, I didn't have the energy to focus on right now, to be completed.

But I also had this feeling, this untethered feeling I couldn’t really put words to, now that it was all over.

I was standing next to Cole as we watched the crew pack up and get ready to embark on whatever journey Rachel was going to put them on to get them back to where they needed to be. The single ‘No Place I’d Rather Be’ was dominating the charts and there was so much buzz around the release of the album that it currently held five of the top ten song slots on the country music charts.

I should be on cloud nine, but I had so much anxiety in me about what came next. With the album complete and everyone on their way out… I didn’t have anything to focus on but the truth of what came next. Just as the thought left me Sadie came out of her house, a bright smile on her face. She loved having everyone here, every room filled and a sense of what we had always hoped this place could be.

Sadie walked past Rachel, Rhett, Noah and Jackson, who now that I noticed were all huddled off to the side of the SUV. Cole greeted Sadie by pulling her in his arms, kissing the top of her head and whispering “I missed you.”, she giggled andsnuggled in close to him. But I was almost choking on the grief in his voice that he was desperately trying to hide from her.

Cole and I had agreed to give her everything she wanted, even if that meant me accepting what was to come and silencing the part of me that was screaming I needed to fix this.

The conversation by the SUV’s got a little heated and that drew my attention back to them. Letting my curiosity win, I made my way over to them hugging the crew as they packed their bags and said goodbyes to Cole and Sadie who trailed behind me.

When I got close enough to the group the conversation halted and all eyes turned to me.

What is going on?

I tried to put on a brave smile, even though it felt like something was going on that the four of them didn’t want to loop me into.

I let my eyes trail over all of them and then smiled at Rhett, who in my opinion out of the group was the most likely to spill the beans. His eyes went wide like he knew exactly what I was after.