Richardcame to stand with us as I watched her go, and reluctantly I turned to them,unsure of how long I’d be able to listen to them talk before I couldn’t take itany longer.
“IsKylie okay?” Richard asked.
“Shesays she’s fine,” Grace replied. “I’ll check on her in a few minutes, butfirst—"
“Ishould probably—” I began, but Grace squeezed my arm.
“Devin,I just have to tell you, that show was absolutely phenomenal, and that lastsong!” She pressed her hands to her mouth. “That last song …” She gently wipeda finger under her eye, catching a tear that had yet to fall. “Devin, that lastsong is beautiful.”
Sheknew what it was about. She knew the inspiration.
Thatsummer. That day. The daisies.
Kylie.
Shemight’ve been the only other person that knew.
“Thankyou,” I said, nodding. I caught a glimpse of the woman she used to be. Thesullen-faced, broken woman, grieving the husband she had loved and lost.
Richardclapped a hand on my shoulder. “Devin, I would like to discuss some businesswith you,” he said, and I cocked my head, thoughts of Kylie fading onlyslightly from my mind.
“Business?”
“Rememberwhat Kylie said, about someone walking in and offering you a deal?” He noddedonce and dug into his pocket for his wallet. He pulled out a business card andhanded it to me. “Well, I’m that someone.”
RichardBrewer. Manager/Producer.
Thecard began to shake in my hand and I damn near dropped the thing trying to getmy shit together.
Richardlaughed, clapping a hand against my back. “I take it Grace didn’t tell you whatI do.”
Ishook my head, swallowing hard around my tongue and excitement and panic. “Uh,nope. She neglected to divulge that little detail.”
“Hey,I said he worked in management, didn’t I?” Grace teased as she gripped my arm.“Kylie has some clips of you playing on her website. I showed them to Richard,and suddenly, he had interests other than just meeting my daughter and herboyfriend,” she said, reaching out to touch him affectionately on the wrist.“We wanted to surprise you.”
Wasit possible for so much to change in such a short period of time? Was that howthese things always happened? Sharp and quick?
Iblinked down at the card, hardly able to believe that this moment was happeningfor me. That some record producing hot shot hadactuallywalkedinto the place and wanted to do business with me. Just the wayKylie said it would happen.
“Ireally think you have what it takes to make this a career, Devin,” Richard wassaying, as I kept staring at the glossy, raised letters of that card. “You havean incredible amount of talent and I think that, with the right management andband to back you up, you could really be a star,” he continued, and I wonderedhow long I could keep standing before I short-circuited and passed out. “We canstart working right away and get you in the studio in a few months’ time. Whatdo you think?”
Myinsides had churned to a liquified state and I felt the bile rising in mythroat. I held a fist to my mouth and, goddammit, the tears pricked at my eyes.I coughed, attempting to clear the lump that kept rising with my burger fromdinner, and I looked up to see Kylie coming back down the stairs.
Shecaught sight of me and she came right over. I saw the tear-stains striping herface, and I would talk to her about that later. But inthatmoment, allI could do was throw my arms around her and pick her up, acting like a totalidiot in front of this guy that wanted to change my life.
And,with her in my arms, there was no bile in my throat. There was no fear, noconcern. There was just excitement, and the jittering joy of dreams comingtrue.
Thebest, the absolute best one, always being her.
“Devin?”With her arms looped around my neck, she held herself away, looking into myeyes. “What’s—” I handed her the card, and she stared at it for three secondsbefore looking back up at me, her jaw hanging open. “Oh my God,” she whispered,and then, “Oh myGod!”
Graceand Richard had sat down, smiling in the way that older people do when watchingyoungsters, happy and in love. Kylie hugged me tighter, burying her face in myneck, and I buried mine in hers, calming myself with the beat of her heart andthe scent of her hair.
“Itold you it would happen,” she said, lips moving against my skin. “Oh my God, Ifuckingtold you, Devin.”
Inodded. “You told me.”
“Ilove you,” she whispered against my skin, and I squeezed her tighter.
