“She does. I put a ring on that finger first chance I could because she deserved it. Not because it was the thing to do or I needed to assert some sort of ownership over her. Regardless, five years is a long time to wait on a question,” Harrison says. “So quit waiting for it. Tell him you’re not asking him to get down on one knee, you’re telling him you need to know where this is going. If marriage is something you want and he doesn’t, you’ll have to have the hard conversation.”
We take a breath and I put on a slow one, and for the length of it neither of us says a word. Harrison has his eyes closed again, keeping time to a song we wrote at my grandmother’s or in the backroom at Metro when we were nobodies. It’s good to be working next to him. I’d let myself forget how good.
“What do you think?”
“I never thought I’d have the answers, but everything is so relatable. Like the marriage one. Katelyn was clear, I never pushed her to change her mind.”
“Would you today?”
He shakes his head. “A piece of paper isn’t going to change anything. She owns me, through and through.”
I smile and press the button for the next call. “You’re on The Love Line with Liam and Harrison.”
“Oh my god, hi, I can’t believe I got through. I’ve been a 4225 West fan my whole life, my mom raised me on you guys, and the station, is it real? Is there going to be new music?”
Harrison grins. “It’s real. And yeah. We’re not done. Not close to done.”
“Tell your mom we said hello,” I say.
“She is going to lose her mind,” the kid says, and I don’t doubt it for a second.
Bex feeds us a few more, and Harrison gets steadier with every one. He’s blunt where I’m soft and soft where I’m blunt, and somewhere in there we stop trading the callers back and forth and start actually working them together.
“One more tonight. You’re on The Love Line with Harrison and Liam.”
“My husband and I just found out we’re having a baby, later than most people do, and everyone has an opinion, and I’m scared we’re too old to be starting this,” the woman says.
“I’ve got a grown son and a little one at the same time,” Harrison says. “Bedtime stories with one and mortgage advice for the other, same night. Am I tired? Always. Would I trade either of them? Not a chance. You’re not too old. You waited for this, and you’re going to feel every second of it.”
“Let them talk,” I add. “You don’t have to listen. You nod and move on.”
Bex gives me the wrap sign. I close us out the same as every night, except tonight I’ve got company.
“That’s our show. I’ve been Liam.”
“And I’ve been Harrison, and I have no earthly idea how he does this five nights a week.”
“You’ll be back?”
“Try and stop me.”
The light goes dark. Harrison pulls off the headphones and sits there a second, and I know the exact look on his face, because I wore it after my first one too. “That was fun,” he says. He sounds surprised to be saying it.
“Told you.”
Paige is already in front of me with her phone. The clip of Harrison telling the divorced woman to make the call is climbing by the second. “This is the one,” she says. “Look at the comments coming in.”
“Let me see,” Harrison says. Paige shows him her phone. “Thirty years of drum solos, and the thing that takes off is me telling a stranger to go on a date.”
“Welcome to my life,” I tell him. “Paige gets a lot of credit for putting the show where it is. Without her, we may not grow as fast as we are.”
Harrison gives Paige a high-five. “I know Elle appreciates everything you do for the bands.”
Paige beams. “Marketing may be my thing.”
“Is she on payroll?” Harrison asks.
I nod. “Yep, and worth every penny.”
