I sang the last line and then let my eyes fall to the wood under my feet. The piano grew silent soon after, and the lights faded again. I listened through the quiet for a moment. Then, suddenly, the crowd’s cheers returned, and they were the loudest they had been all night.

After several moments, I lifted my head, and out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Alex near the back of the crowd, waving his skinny, little arm again. I narrowed my eyes. There were spots still floating around everywhere. But I could see him just enough to notice that he was dramatically lifting and lowering his arm, and he was pointing. I stood up. It looked as if he was pointing toward the parking lot.

“Jules,” I whispered to myself.

In no more than a second, I was off the stool and darting toward the side of the stage.

“Will, where are you going?” Matt asked, grabbing my arm and stopping me fast.

“She’s leaving,” I said.

He loosened his grip on my arm, and I took off again.

“I’ll be back,” I shouted over my shoulder.

I made it to Lou behind the stage, jumped behind the wheel and turned the key. There was a second way out of the field. It was the same way we had gotten the trailer in. I flipped on my brights and stepped on the gas.

After a rough and fast hundred yards, my wheels hit the blacktop, just as a car was pulling out of the parking lot. I sped and caught up to it. Its license plates were from Tennessee. So, unless someone else had come across the state boarder to see this concert, it was a rental, and it was her. I quit tailing her and fell back. There were two places she could be going. She was either on her way back to her new job and her new life in South Carolina or she was going home — either way, I’d follow her.

The sedan slowed when it reached a highway that led out of town. I tapped my brakes and watched as the car turned and hit the blacktop. Then, I knew for sure; it was Jules, and she was going home.

I slowed up and fell farther behind her. I didn’t want to scare her. And through bends and turns in the path, I stayed just close enough that I could see her as she made her way down the highway and then onto the winding gravel road.

Eventually, she made the last turn before her parents’ house. I watched the sedan kick up a dust trail as it neared the white-graveled drive, and I waited for it to slow down and turn, but it never did. Instead, the car stayed on a straight path.

My foot slowly fell off the gas pedal and hit the brake, causing Lou to come to a stop. Then, I sat back in my seat and let my head fall against the headrest. Moments later, a big smile edged its way across my face, and I glanced out the window and up into the heavens.

“Gonna see some stars tonight, Jules?” I asked out loud.

Then, I set my eyes onto the gravel road again and stepped on the gas.

“It’s a good night for it,” I said to myself, smiling a wide, happy grin.

I made my way across the creek slab and pulled off to the side of the road. There was a black sedan already waiting there. I smiled, reached into my backseat and then climbed out of the truck.

It was dark, but there was still a piece of the moon in the sky, so I could make out her silhouette on the hood of the sedan. She was sitting up, and her face was turned back toward me.

“Hi, Jules,” I said.

She seemed to hesitate before she spoke.

“Hi,” she eventually said.

Her voice was cheerful. She didn’t seem surprised. It made me smile wider, as I walked toward her.

“Mind if I take a seat?” I asked, when I reached the car.

“Not at all; it’s a rental,” she said, patting a spot next to her on the hood.

I nodded my head and chuckled to myself.

“Aah,” I said.

My eyes traveled from her hand to the color in her eyes. Then, I cautiously climbed onto the car’s hood, leaned my back against the windshield and made myself comfortable, all the while, trying my best to conceal the object in my hand.

“Did you know I was here?” she asked.

There was a suspicious air attached to her question. I was quiet for a second but then turned my face toward hers.

“Of course. Where else would you be?” I asked.

I watched her pause in what looked as if it was a thought.

“But how? I never…,” she started.

“Oh, you want to know how I knew you came at all?” I asked.

“That would be a start,” she said, shooting me a coy smile.

“You promised,” I said.

“Wait, you remembered that?” she asked.

“Of course, and from the looks of it, you did too,” I said, gently elbowing her arm.

“A promise is a promise,” she said so softly I almost didn’t hear it.

There was silence for a second then — that perfect kind of silence, when it almost had a hum of its own.

“But seriously, how could you have known?” she asked.

I paused and met her eyes again. She looked puzzled. I missed that puzzled face of hers. I missed all of her faces.

“Did you see the camera guy scanning the crowd?” I asked.

“Umm…yeah, I guess I might have noticed him,” she said, slowing shaking her head.

“Before the show, I gave him a photo and asked him to look for you,” I said.

“You didn’t?” she demanded.

“I did,” I said. “And turns out, he’s got a good eye.”

I gave her a wink, shrugged my shoulders and then sent a wide grin up into the heavens.

I felt her eyes linger on me before, eventually, her head fell softly back onto the windshield.

“You never cease to amaze me, Will Stephens,” she said, laughing softly to herself.

I listened to her soft laughter until it faded. Then, there was silence again — well, except for the crickets and the tree frogs. It had its place, but I wasn’t much for the quiet in this stage of the game.

“Did you hear the last song?” I asked.

She took a moment before she spoke.

“I did,” she eventually whispered.

“I meant every word of it,” I said.

“It’s a beautiful song, Will,” she said, slowly nodding her head as she spoke. “And how does ‘the one’ feel about this song?”

My head shifted to the side, and my eyes darted to her eyes. She looked serious. But it was too late to stop the smile already squeezing past my lips.

“I don’t know, Jules, how do you feel?” I asked, chuckling to myself.

I watched her let out a slow, uneasy breath before she locked her stare onto the moon again.

“You’re the one, Jules, and I should have told you years ago, but I knew it wasn’t the right time. I knew that you weren’t ready yet.”

Her eyes quickly darted toward mine again.

“Ready?” she asked. “Will, what…”

She let her words trail off.

“Jules, you’ve always been the only one for me,” I confessed.

I stopped then. I knew I had to tell her everything now, but I had to start from the beginning. I sucked in a breath and swallowed hard.

“Jules, I know I let life get in the way of us, and I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m so sorry. But I didn’t take the record deal in search of some kind of fame or elusive fortune or anything like that. I didn’t take it for me, Jules. It’s been great. You were right; it’s all been great. But you know that I would have been just as happy to spend the rest of my days playing my guitar for my number-one fan.”

I turned onto my side and faced her. Her eyes were still on me.

“But when I realized that I might not even get that dream — my dream of playing for you for the rest of my life — I remembered a promise you had made to me,” I said.

I paused and watched as a word formed on her soft lips.

“Why did you wait so long to tell me this?” she asked. “I had thought that you had moved on. I moved on. I almost got married. You know that.”

Her voice was stern, but I felt the corner of my mouth slowly lifting into a boyish grin despite it.