Page 171 of The Song We Lost

“Five!” Sadie shouted from the couch. She had a twinkle in her eye and her cheeks were flushed pink I laughed helplessly while Noah yelled something about making shirts.

And through all of it…

I looked at Luke. He wasn’t celebrating wildly like everyone else. He was just watching me. Like seeing me smile was enough. Like getting to be in this room, holding Iris… being near me was all he needed. That look almost undid me.

Later that night the bonfire crackled beneath a sky littered with stars. We all settled at the central fire pit, someone had dragged blankets and extra chairs down and Iris was bundled up like a tiny marshmallow in Rose’s arms while music drifted through the cold night air.

It felt achingly familiar. Like the night we recorded together, but also like the nights where Luke and I dreamed this whole thing up.

Before everything broke.

Sadie sat curled against Cole beneath a mountain of blankets, her cheeks pink from the firelight and excitement.

“I want music,” she announced.

“You always want music,” Noah muttered.

“Yes and somehow you still give me a hard time, every time.”

Laughter rolled around the fire. Then Sadie looked directly at Luke.

“Will you play the song?”

The entire energy shifted. Luke went still across from me, guitar resting across his knee. Even Cole looked surprised.

Luke glanced at Sadie carefully. “You sure?”

She nodded softly. “Please.”

I frowned slightly.

What song? Was this what Luke had been signing to Iris earlier?

Luke looked down at the guitar for a long second before looking across the fire at me. Then he started to play. The first few notes wrapped around my chest immediately. They were soft and raw. The conversation around the fire slowly disappeared.

Luke’s voice was rougher than usual when he started singing.

“Little girl with your mama’s eyes

Got her laugh and her wild inside

Whole damn world stopped spinning that night

The second you arrived”

Rachel inhaled sharply beside me. Across the fire Jackson went completely still. Rhett lowered the beer in his hand slowly and I couldn’t breathe. Because I had never heard Luke sing like this before. It was pure adoration, pure love.

“Tiny hands wrapped around her thumb

Like you already knew her love

She held you like an answered prayer

Like heaven finally sent you there”

Every word wrapped around Iris.

Around Sadie.