Page 43 of Rock the Chardonnay

I squeeze Declan’s hand once more before he leaps off the stage. People cheer again and pat him on the back as he takes his seat.

“Let’s get this show back on the road,” I say, though my feet are done with wandering. I have my true North, and they’re sitting at a table fifteen feet from me.

Tonight, I play for one table, and one table only.

After the set, while the stage hands prep for the Vendetta, I head straight for Declan’s table and into his waiting arms. “I missed you so much,” I whisper. I hold on tightly, not willing to let go. “I’m so sorry. I let my mom get the best of me, and I freaked out.”

He kisses the top of my head, and I want to swoon. “Did you talk to your mom?”

“Yes.” The anxiety clamps around my spine, but having Declan here makes it lessen. “I’m setting boundaries. I’m going to try not to let her ruin or control my life.”

“Good.” Declan tucks a curl of hair behind my ear. “You deserve to be happy, and to live your own life.”

“I shouldn’t have left.”

“You needed to go. You needed to go so you could come home again. We have time, Daughtry.”

“What about Ciaran?” Hindsight reminds me that it was a dick move to get into his brother’s car, when I know perfectly well that their relationship is strained.

He cups my face between his palms. “Ciaran isn’t here. And you’re right. It was twelve years ago. I’m not going to let jealousy get the better of me. We can figure everything out, as long as we’re together. You’re everything I’ve ever wanted. I love you so much.”

I let those words in, really let them in this time, not through a veil of oxytocin and adrenaline. He loves me. A good man loves me, and wants to be with me. We waited twelve years for this moment, but it doesn’t matter. They’re going to a blip in the years we will spend together, making new memories, forging a new life.

I kiss him again, and pour all my promises to him through this connection. I’ll stay. I love you. We belong to one another.

It’s everything I need, to feel like I belong.

“Daughtry,” Alex says, tapping me on the shoulder. “Does this mean you’ll give me guitar lessons?”

EPILOGUE

Daughtry—Two Years Later

Fifteen minutes. That’s the only window of leeway I have, or this entire plan is going to fall apart.

I’ve been planning this for the past six months, so nothing had better go wrong.

“Calm down, Daughtry.” Louise doesn’t raise her attention from her phone screen. The plane shudders as it drops in preparation for landing. “We’ve been over and over the plan. Everything is going to be perfect.”

“I know.” My tray table convulses when my knee keeps banging into it. I hold my hand over it to settle myself down. “I just don’t want to disappoint them.”

Louise yawns, and my mouth echoes hers. It’s justifiable, after a ten hour flight and amidst a six-month world tour. “Daughtry, Declan thinks the sun rises and sets with you. No one is going to be disappointed, even if you’re ten minutes late.”

But that’s just it. I would be disappointed in myself.

I haven’t been disappointed in myself since the day I called my mom and told her that she would no longer be getting any money from me, nor would I be speaking to her unless she learned to treat me as a person and not an ATM. It’s been two years since we last spoke, and the best two years of my life.

Ever since Declan and I started dating, I committed to make him and Alex a priority. When I tour, we talk every day, multiple times a day. And it never feels like work. It feels like family. Being with them, whether in person or via Skype, fills all the parts of me I haven’t realized were empty.

So we make it work.

For someone so buttoned up in public, I haven’t expected Declan to be a fan of extravagant gestures. But he’s damn good at them.

There was the time I flew back to Wisconsin for a night, simply because I missed him too much to be apart any longer. He was waiting there at the airport for me, with a giant sign, his son, and his parents. They greeted me like I was coming home from war, not a record launch party in New York.

Then there was the time he made a white wine blend for me, the most perfect amalgamation of flavors, and called it One Epic Love Song. It has been winning prizes throughout the Midwest and in some national contests.

Once, I went to Rome, and he ordered my room to be filled with flowers when I arrived. The social media photo of that had gained me four thousand new followers. Most of the comments had read things like Awwww… Heart eyes… He’s a keeper.

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