I stood back up and addressed the crowd. “Lucy here gets to pick our final song tonight.”
“YAY!!!”
“What do you wanna hear, darlin’?” I handed her the microphone, steadying it when her grip wavered.
Lucy’s voice was soft, barely a whisper, but the microphone managed to pick it up. “What Changed.”
The lump in my throat threatened to choke me. I’d taken that one out of my set years ago. I’d written that one right after I left Odin. Right after?—
No.
I shoved that thought off the cliff in my mind where it belonged. I wasn’t going there.
Not tonight.
Not here when this was all about Lucy.
“If that’s what you wanna hear, darlin’, that’s what I’m gonna sing.”
Taking a deep breath, I settled back on my stool and positioned my fingers on the frets of my Gibson guitar, then strummed the first chord. As it rang out, haunting and raw, the entire arena fell silent. Even the air seemed to still.
“You said you loved me, and I believed every word.
Then you left without looking back.
Tell me what changed, what changed
‘Cause I’m still the same...”
I closed my eyes and poured my heart out.
All the wounds that I’d thought had long healed were ripped open wide. Verse by verse, the pain came pouring back in, but I didn’t stop.
I couldn’t.
I had to push through for Lucy.
When I opened my eyes again, the crowd was swaying along to the beat and sixty thousand phones lit up the ceiling, creating a galaxy of stars for a little girl fighting for her life.
“You said you loved me.
You said you’d stay.
Then you threw it all away
Tell me what changed, what changed
‘Cause my heart’s still the same...”
The arena was completely still as the last note faded to nothing, and then suddenly everyone erupted all at once. It was so loud that I worried about Lucy’s fragile ears.
“Chicago!” I shouted, climbing to my feet. “Thank you all so much for coming out!”
Raising my arms in the air, I waved, took a bow, then moved behind Lucy’s chair. “Let’s get you back to your momma.”
Lucy’s parents were there the second we made it backstage. “Thank you so much, Ms. Jackson.”
I let go of the chair and wrapped Terri in my arms, holding on tight. I couldn’t even imagine what she was going through. “It was my pleasure,” I whispered, my voice cracking.
