Page 99 of Wish You Would

It was showtime.

We were on fire tonight.

Over the last couple weeks, we’d made some changes to the setlist, did some adding and subtracting, until the songs flowed and the vibe was right. We’d pared back on the songs that had fit Jas’s voice better and added some in that worked for me. Now, instead of Mariah Carey in the middle of the set, we had Melissa Etheridge, which flowed right into Alanis so seamlessly it was almost as if they were written that way. We kept the crowd favorites. Britney and Matchbox Twenty and Green Day, which Ryan always killed. But we also worked in an acoustic moment, me and my guitar, for a quiet moment before the last half of the set.

Which was where we were at now. I stood, center stage, as the lights dimmed around me, as the spotlight found me. I strummed the opening notes of Lisa Loeb’s iconic number, smiling when the crowd quieted, then came back to life as I sang the first lines of the song. It only took two words for recognition to hit, to turn it into a singalong, hundreds of voices joining in.

It was as insane as it was magical, and I couldn’t have stopped my grin if I wanted to. Euphoria and adrenaline carried me through the song as I tried to give the audience back everything they were giving me. Behind me, I could hear the rest of the band singing along off-mic, and that made me grin harder. Tossing a glance over my shoulder, I saw Halle mouth Fuck yeah. In that moment, I could almost die happy.

Emphasis on almost.

Facing forward again, I launched into the bridge that had to have inspired T-Swift at some point, relishing in the crowd singing the words right back to me. Then, as if fate and the universe orchestrated this very moment, the lighting guy illuminated the crowd, giving them their moment to shine, as my lips formed the words I missed you. And there she was.

Parker.

There, in the middle of hundreds of singing and dancing people. She stood still, eyes locked on me. Not singing along like everyone around her, not swaying to the music. Just…staring. Everything inside me flared to life. Holding her gaze, I sang, the cavernous room shrinking and shrinking until it was just the two of us. Until I was singing only for her.

As the last line of the song fell from my lips, it was with my heart outside of my chest, the melody carrying it over the crowd, dropping it at the feet of the woman with cloudless-sky eyes and a kitten-covered dress.

The lights went out then, and the rest of the band took their spots beside me, preparing to launch into the next song. When the place lit up again, I searched the human sea before me for my heart, my anchor, my person.

She was gone.

40

40 GIGI

NOBODY KNOWS

I didn’t know how I made it through the rest of the show. It was almost like I blinked and there I was, standing between Halle and Tommy, bowing before a roaring crowd. My bandmates were beaming. I think I was smiling, too? Honestly, I couldn’t tell.

I blinked again, and we were backstage. From a sea of smiling faces to the crashing waves of high fives and hugs and congrats from members of the other bands performing tonight. I bounced around like a tiny lifeboat in a storm, on the verge of capsizing, until Halle pulled me out.

Taking my hand, she led me to the outskirts of the group, then whirled me to face her. “You good?”

That snapped me out of it.

I grabbed her wrists, meeting her gaze with my own wild-eyed stare. “She was here. Did you see her?”

Halle frowned. “Who—”

“Parker.” I ducked out of her grasp and pushed through the crowd, heading for the hallway that led to the main floor. “She was right there. Then she wasn’t.”

“Wait, Parker’s here?” Halle followed me, nodding to the venue staff as we passed them.

“Great show,” the burly security guy said.

“You guys killed it,” someone else added.

Halle smiled her thanks. Maybe I managed a nod of acknowledgement? I’d feel bad about it later, but now…now, I had to find her. Before it was too late. Before—

“Gigi, slow down.” Halle stepped in front of me. “Did you know she was coming? Is that what her text said?”

I shook my head, peering around her to the door. “She told me to break a leg,” I said, “I didn’t know she was coming. She might not even be here anymore. She—”

“Okay.” With a glance over her shoulder, then back to me, Halle nodded. “Well, then we better find her.”

Together, we pushed through the door and into the packed club. Almost instantly, discouragement threatened to swallow me whole. There were too many people in here, too much chaos. No way were we gonna find her. If she was still here, anyway.

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