Page 160 of He's The Reason Why

It was a signal that her secret wasn’t out yet.

The audience started to get restless as the clapping died down.

Why was Piper standing so still? Why wasn’t the band playing something?

The drummer kept a steady beat going, but everyone else simply stood and waited. All eyes were on Piper.

She was the center of attention.

The spotlight was on her.

A chant rose at the back of the stadium. “Piper! Piper! Piper!”

She looked around with a sly smile. “Are you ready to hear my secret?”

“We love you, Piper!”

“We love you, Blake!”

She glanced off stage to check on her sisters.

Della and Mattie waited side by side, looking excited and happy and ready. Lizzie, Renic, and Adam stood behind them.

“Are you ready?” she said again, but this time the question was meant for Della and Mattie.

Della nodded, and Mattie gave her a thumbs-up.

“First, I want to tell you all how much you mean to me. I love these concerts. I love getting to see you in a smaller place like this. I can see your faces. I feel connected to you and I hope you feel that connection back to me. So the big news is…no, I’m not pregnant. I’m really not.” She laughed. “And I’m not getting married. At least not yet.”

She winked at Blake to let him know that wasn’t a hint.

He winked back, but the look on his face seemed intense and serious, as if he was considering the idea and liking it.

Piper lost track of what she was going to say for a second.

Right. Her big secret.

“The real secret is…the thing I wanted to tell you…and I hope you’re as happy about this as I am…The Bellamy Sisters are back!”

She held her hand out to Della and Mattie, and they rushed out on stage to join her. The roar of the crowd was so deafening, it would have taken down the roof if there’d been one. As it was, she was pretty sure it could be heard from the moon.

Piper threw her arms around her sisters, and they giggled and bounced like little girls.

Girls in the front row screamed and cried, and the chants went on and on.

“Piper! Piper! Piper!”

“Della!”

“Mattie!”

“Bellamy! Bellamy! Bellamy!”

Piper soaked it all in with Blake’s arm around her and tears streaming down her face.

This was better than any movie. She was part of The Bellamy Sisters again, a movie star in her own right, and she was probably going to marry Blake Ryan.

She cued the band, and the intro to Mattie’s new song started. They had to repeat it five times before the crowd calmed down enough to listen to The Bellamy Sisters’ newest song with a solo for each of them and featuring Blake Ryan on the chorus.

The audience loved it.

By the third time through the chorus, the audience was singing along, and by the end of the song, she couldn’t hear the band, they were so loud.

Piper had a feeling the end credit song forConnedwas about to be knocked off the top of the charts, but she didn’t think Blake would mind.

She squeezed his hand and sang her solo with all the love and passion he’d inspired in her.

She wasn’t in the shadows anymore.

The spotlight was shining bright, on both of them.

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