Chasing Abby(86)

The makeup girl finishes powdering Abby’s face, and she slides off the chair and turns to me. “I’m so nervous.”
I step forward and hold my hand out to her. She reaches out and I pull her into a hug. Her arms wrap around my waist and I kiss her forehead.
“You have nothing to be nervous about. Even if you mess up, I’m sure people will be too busy wiping away their tears to notice.” I stroke her hair as I hold her close, reveling in the sensation of her heart beating against my chest. “You ready, princess?”
She shakes her head, so I hold her a while longer until she’s so calm I can no longer feel her heart pounding. When she lets me go, I’m surprised to see her smiling.
She lays a soft kiss on my cheek and shrugs. “I guess it’s showtime.”
I kiss Claire and Caleb, then Abby and I set off through the crowd of crew members scurrying about the grassy field behind the stage. As we approach the steps leading up to the stage, the hum of the crowd gets louder. We stop at the bottom of the stairs and Abby looks around for Jaxon. Within minutes, he comes bounding out of a pack of lighting techs and Abby sighs with relief as she turns to me.
“Good luck, baby.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
She kisses my cheek and she and Jaxon set off up the stairs, leaving me in a daze. I’m tempted to reach up and pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming, so instead I dig my fists into my pockets. My left hand slides over something smooth and I feel around a bit, trying to figure out what it is. I slide it out of my pocket and find it’s a picture.
In the photo, Abby is smiling as she stands in a tattoo parlor. The left strap of her tank top is hanging off her shoulder as she shows off a new tattoo on the left side of her chest. Right over her heart. The tattoo depicts a craggily elm tree with nine blackbirds flying out of the tree and into the sky. One blackbird is left perched in the branches. The trunk of the tree curves downward and the roots bend to form a heart, split down the center by the trunk of the tree. Inside the left side of the heart is the word Family. Inside the right side is the word Music.
I turn the picture over and there’s a note in Abby’s handwriting.

EPILOGUE #2


JAXON AND I race behind the red curtain. A sound tech helps me put on my earpiece. Then a team of crew members helps me up a rolling staircase onto a circular platform as the opening music for the song “Fearless Heart” plays. The screaming in the crowd almost drowns out the music. I blow Jaxon a kiss from atop the platform and he flashes me a proud smile as he backs away.
His dirty-blonde hair and athletic six-foot-two frame disappear behind the backdrop with the other crew members and I know he’s in his place when the red lights behind me illuminate the curtain in front of me. A white spotlight behind me casts a silhouette of my body on the curtain as the red lights flash to the beat of the heartbeat in the song. With every beat, a row of fire blasts upward at the front of the stage. The cheering from the crowd is so loud I can feel their screams rattling my insides.
I feel sick to my stomach. My body is breaking out in a cold sweat and my mouth is gushing saliva. Then the sound of the heartbeat stops and the smell of smoke is thick in the air as the curtains part. It’s showtime.
Nine songs and three wardrobe changes later, the smell of sweat from the crowd is stronger than the sweet smell of the fog machine. A white screen slowly rolls down behind me as a crew member rushes onto the stage with a wooden stool for me to sit on and a wireless mic for me to hold. He sets down the stool and I hand him my guitar to take backstage. The lights dim and a soft spotlight shines down on me. I take a seat on the stool and sigh into the microphone.
“This next song is going to be the final song of the night.” A roar of disapproval erupts from the crowd and I laugh. “I know. But I promise it will be good. You’ve probably all heard this song before, but I’ve never performed it live. So you all are seeing the world-premiere performance.” I pause for a moment until the cheers die down. “But before I perform this song, I have a story that needs to be told. You see, two years ago today, a very special person helped me find the other half of my broken heart. And a few months later, when my heart was completely shattered beyond repair, he gave me his. The world never got to know Caleb Everett’s talent, as he was taken from us far too soon. But after tonight, everyone will know him. And to know him is to love him. Take it away, Caleb.”