BUT I DO LOVE YOU
“And I don't like to be the one with the blues
But I do love you, but I do love you.”
Performed by LeeAnn Rimes
Written by Warren Diane Eve
The opening day of the Apple Jam Music Festhad flown by in a beautiful mix of chaos and structure. Brady’s team and my family had been working shoulder to shoulder with us as the vendors and bands had filtered into town over the course of the week. The booths had gone up, and the carloads of people had begun arriving. Grand Orchard was a bustle of energy you could feel just by walking down Main Street.
It made me proud to be Grams’ granddaughter all over again. That she was responsible for this coming together of people. I was grateful I’d beenable to continue it, and I knew for a fact it wouldn’t have been possible without the man now performing onstage with his band.
Brady worked the crowd into a frenzy. One I understood because I felt it every single time he was in the same room as me. My veins felt like they were bursting open when he was nearby. And when he touched me, it was like every color of the rainbow blended into us.
Brady was a pretty big artist to open the festival with, but we’d been lucky to have several very high-profile bands sign up since Lee and Alice had come onboard to help us. We had musical legends booked for all three nights, and Sunday we’d be closing the festival with Watery Reflection, who’d just released their thirteenth album only to have it go platinum in record time. I was pretty sure half our ticket sales had been because of Derek Waters and his band, although Brady had brought in his fair share.
I wasn’t sure what I’d done to have the worldwide phenomenon known as Brady O’Neil choose me to be at his side. I did know that seeing him like this, onstage, twisting and turning his body, smiling that huge smile at the crowd, was like the tiniest bit of cold water down my back. He was incredible. He could have just about any person in the world that he crooked his finger at, and instead, he’d set his eyes on little ol’ me.
Hannah jiggling at my side brought my eyes down to her. She was dressed in a black velvet dress, cowboy boots, Grams’ maroon shawl, and her top hat. The fringe of her bangs had been trimmed earlier in the week to match her idol’s. As she grew, it seemed she looked more and more like Stevie Nicks. She’d grown almost a half an inch just since her birthday. Two months and our lives had changed completely.
I missed Grams. I missed Darren. But I didn’t feel like there were only lonely aches in our lives anymore. Brady had come storming in and filled them.
As Brady finished his song to a round of applause, the stage went dark while he talked to the audience and the stagehands moved the set so that two grand pianos were facing each other. One black. One white. Classic contrasts.
I felt like I was going to throw up at the thought of Hannah walking onto the stage. It was a place she belonged, just like she belonged with Brady and the music they made together, but it was also like opening our doors wide and inviting strangers into our house. Things and people I wouldn’t be able to protect her from.
Surprisingly, it was Brady’s mom who brought me a shred of comfort. Arlene and Petri had helped more with the festival than I’d ever expected. Not only had they been helping at Cassidy’s food booth as a way of promoting her upcoming grand opening, but they’d been running errands for me and smoothing feathers of bands and vendors as needed. Tonight, they’d watched Brady’s entire set from the sidelines. Another new thing for them.
“I know you want to keep her safe,” Arlene said quietly, eyes going from me to Hannah and then back.
I nodded.
“Brady has her,” she told me. “He won’t let her fall.”
The faith she had in him was new and yet stronger than it had ever been in either of their lifetimes. I hugged her.
“Okay, y’all, for my last song of the night, I have something new I haven’t even recorded yet. It’s something extra special, and for that, I need to have a little help. Will you please put your hands together for the little lady who has taken over my heart, Hannah Morgan.”
I squeezed her hand, kissed her cheek, straightened her top hat, and said, “I love you to infinity.”
“I love you more, Mommy. Gotta go.” And she skipped onto the stage as if the thousands of people sitting on the field in lawn chairs and standing and dancing meant nothing to her. As if she’d been in front of thousands of people every time she’d played the piano.
Arlene wrapped her arms around me while my heart thudded with panic, praying to Grams and Darren that they’d watch over her while she opened herself to the world.
The crowd aww’ed when she joined Brady at the front of the stage. She stuck her hand in his.
“Say hello to the world,Chiquita,” he said, and she waved and did a little curtsey.
The mic taped to her face picked up her little lyrical voice as she said, “Hello, world!”
The crowd burst into laughter and more awws.
“Ready?” he asked her with his heart-stopping Brady smile, and she gave him one back that was as equally heart-stopping.
“Yep.”
They moved to the pianos, and he helped her get seated on the white bench, pushing her in closer while the audience ate it up. Then, he covered her mic and whispered something in her ear that made her smile even more before winking. She winked back, and goddamn, my heart wasn’t sure it could take much more.
