Page 181 of We Redeemed the Rain

My love will be your lifeline

When you’re drowning in pain,

And my love will be your company

When you’re alone in the rain.

Declan allowed a few moments for me to finish the soft ending run on Glory, her final chords concluding the album from my heart. I took a shaky exhale and swiped the tears off my chin with the cap sleeve of my shirt.

A soft click sounded then Declan’s voice boomed over the speakers. “Damngirl.”

I smiled as I reached to set Glory on her stand.

“That was fire. Get out here.”

Muted, nearly inaudible cheering, like people screaming through a brick fortress, reached my ears. I looked to the one way window and flashed my family a thumbs up. Everyone but Hollie made the time to be here today, and the gesture meant so much to me. I’d spent the last week alone. Which was exactly what I needed, but my heart’s state was tender and fragile. I needed to rest my voice for a few days and get some better, less fitful sleep.

Although I didn’t know how I would achieve a good night’s sleep without Tag.

In some ways, my heart was lighter. I’d said what I needed to say. Eventually, Tag would hear these songs, and maybe they would give him hope. Maybe they wouldn’t. But, whether or not they meant anything to him, they meant something to me.

We gave each other our hearts—scribbles for strings.

Even as I ached for him, a soft smile touched my face. From the very first moments together, what we had was so beautifully unique. If Tag didn’t want forever, I knew I’d spend the rest of my life chasing what we had—on a never ending journey to find it again.

I stood, stretched, rolled my neck, and meandered out of the studio to see my family. My time block had a few more minutes, so I wasn’t in a rush.

When I came out, Declan cheered. “Bea Thompson. Holy cow.Thatwas phenomenal. I got a few of your songs on my phone—I’ll send them to you. You should absolutely put them on your social media. A few of these songs have the potential toblowup.”

“Thanks Declan.” He was flattering me, I knew that. Nothing about the songs I wrote had the potential to blow up. But for the first time ever, I didn’t care. I wasn’t trying to write the next big hit. This album was Tag’s, and I had zero intention of releasing it. There was no point in telling Declan that though.

He followed me to the viewing room to see my family. As we walked down the hall, I sucked in water like a camel, as dry as if I’d just trekked the Sahara. He turned back to look at me, saying over the shoulder of his polo shirt, “From what I could hear, your family loved it, too.”

I capped my water and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

Declan held the door open.

A room ofginormoussmiles greeted me.

Mom was still wiping tears out of her eyes.

Dad had his arm around her, beamed at me with pride.

My sisters were?—

The water bottle slipped from my fingers. I thought I heard it hit the ground, but every detail—sounds, sights, feels, smells—warped. I gasped as fresh tears blurred my vision.

Tag.

Red-eyed and smiling, he stood there.

My family seemed to pause, hesitate, as the universe snagged on us for a moment.

I couldn’t comprehend what I was seeing.

For one terrible moment, I thought I was dreaming. I thought my alarm was going to go off and I’d roll out of bed for a riveting day of data entry.

But in the next moment, I flew through the time warp and into his open arms.

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