Page 158 of Fire and Icing

And she loves me better than I imagined anyone would

He sings the chorus again and then he lands on two lines that nearly break me in the best of ways.

Let ‘em keep the city and the sold-out show

I’ve got everything I need in the place I call home

Syd looks at me and says, “That’s not a man looking for fame. That’s a man looking for you.”

“I know. I thought he might leave me behind. But he’s waiting for me to catch up. I’ve been dragging my feet.”

“No. You haven’t. You’ve been honest with him. And you’ve been trying to get here. You’re here now.”

“I am. And I’m going to Nashville. I need to get to him. I need to see him perform tomorrow.”

“Yes. You do. And I’m coming with you. We can close the bakery for a day.”

“You’re coming with me?”

“If you’ll have me.”

“Absolutely. I want you to come.”

Chapter 34

Dustin

There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.

~ Judy Garland (Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz)

“You are on in twenty,”a stagehand pops into the green room to update me. Tonight I sing for a live crowd. Then I’m free to leave and head back to Waterford. I could already write a song about sitting in greenrooms. I hum a tune and start composing a random song.

Sat in so many greenrooms, counting cracks in the floor

One more mirror, one more coffee, one more knock on the door

My name on a clipboard, but my heart’s back home …

The guy across from me smiles. “That’s good, man.”

“Just playing around with something in the moment.”

“Dang. Okay then.”

I glance at the door. I’m next then there’s a short break and he goes on. We’re two of the four singers the label booked tonight.

Emberleigh called earlier today wishing me luck. She called. Not a text. Not a photo with a carefully crafted caption. An actual call. I’m still living on the fumes of that call. She said she watched me last night and she liked the song.

Was I bold? Sure. But go big or go home—that’s a motto a man can live by. I sang about our future, lacing in a few personal jokes I knew would tell her there’s no mistaking this song is about her—about us.

“Pre-show nerves?” the other musician asks me.

I glance at him and realize I’ve been pacing ever since the dude with the clipboard popped his head in.

“A little, I guess. Mostly I’m itching to get home to my girlfriend.”

“Ahhh. Yeah. Being on the road will do that to you. Make you chant the words of that old movie,The Wizard of Oz. There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.” He clicks his heels for emphasis.

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