“But we are not alone, we never were…”
“Bright clouds, bright eyes are…”
“The sun and the moon out shone…”
And we joined on the last three lines.
“To the ends of the earth, but never alone
Your smile, your eyes, your life
No matter where, I'd go there.”
There was another chorus, and that time Bryce and Miranda carried it. Everyone else, including her mother Lydia, joined in for the rest of the song.
“My heart, my life, my love
I'd buy the world to keep you safe
for you, for us
until the end of time
“Someday child, your bright blues
Will match the sky and kiss the clouds
I will hold you up, keep you there
And say sweet, sweet hello goodbye.
We slipped down to harmony for Miranda and Taylor to sing the last chorus, then all came back for our usual parts to end the song.
“Sweet, sweet mine
Sweet, sweet sky
Sweet, Sweet hello
Sweet, Sweet...”
Lydia and Miranda laughed, hard and I could see that there were tears in Lydia’s eyes. I really understood. The first time we’d all heard the song on a rough piano demo, we’d all teared up. Being able to really unleash my voice was freeing, too and it felt good.
The whole restaurant was clapping, I realized. There were even bussers and chefs in the door watching us and applauding. Angela leaned forward and grabbed my hand.
“Damn, Austin. He really was holding your voice back,” she said.
“I just came from full final dress rehearsal, too,” I answered. “My voice is really limber right now.”
“Feh,” she said. “You can sing, Aus. You can really, truly sing.”
Hailey was nodding and grabbed her phone. “I need to make a note that youmusthave that in your set line up for the tour. There’s no way you’re skipping that.”
All of sudden, all of our phones started pinging. I laughed. Someone in the restaurant had recorded us and uploaded it to YouTube and someone else to Instagram.
I looked at Miranda and Lydia. “You’re going to be internet famous by the time you get home. Let’s get fed before they start asking for your autographs too.”
* * *
