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“Are you happy, June?” Alex asks.
“You knew?”
She nods excitedly.
I walk back to our spot in a daze, watching as Cash comes onto the stage. He’s wearing worn blue jeans and a plaid shirt, rolled up to show his tanned forearms. He’s holding his guitar, the strap against his chest. He sits down on a stool that’s been placed in the center of stage and adjusts the microphone in front of him.
And then he searches the crowd until his gaze lands on me.
“June,” he says, “this is for you.”
Fifty-One
CASH
I sworethat I would never do this again.
That I would never hum again. But I did when she came back into my life.
That I would never play the guitar again. I did that for her too.
And now this.
I strum my fingers over the strings, keeping my gaze fixed on her as I pick out the tune that’s been trapped in my head for months. If I’m honest, it’s been in there for years. Ever since we were kids.
Snatches of a song that I could never quite find until now.
I lean into the music, gazing out at the starlit sky and then back to June’s face. She’s crying, smiling, as I croon words I’ve written for her. She’s the only person who exists to me.
I want her to feel what I’ve been feeling inside. I want her to know how much she means to me, because I wouldn’t do this for anyone but her.
I reach the chorus, holding the guitar steady, my voice breaking with emotion.
Before you, I was dark and cold
Spent my life chasing a dream that ain’t mine
But you came in, baby, and showed me right from wrong
Cos, honey, you’re not my sunshine
You’re my sun
Baby, you’re not the reason
You’re my only one.
I finish the song, and the crowd roars. Jesse and Hannah appear next to June, cheering like crazy, but I only have eyes for her. I set my guitar down, balancing it against my stool, and then I walk toward the edge of the stage.
I bend down and grab June underneath her arms and lift her up to meet me.
The crowd goes wild.
I hold her to my chest. “I love you, June,” I say, making sure she sees it on my face, feels it in the way I hold her.
Her feet aren’t touching the ground, and she leans into me, her arms looped around my neck. “I love you too, Cash.”
I kiss her in front of everyone, tenderly, then with more pressure, more need. She responds in kind, grasping the back of my neck.
