Noah (The Mitchell/Healy Family #1)(74)
Author: Jennifer Foor

She started without any background music.

It’s been six days since I felt your kiss

Sweet bliss.

You gave me nothing but my dreams come true

I owe you.

Your touch keeps on haunting me,

I need your arms again holding thee.

I’ve tried to let you go,

but there’s just something that keeps on telling me no.

Broken Love Darlin’.

I wish there was a way to make things right.

I think I’m dying deep inside.

I need those arms to hold me tight.

Broken Love Darlin’.

I can’t ever forget.

It’s my biggest regret.

There’s no future… unless you’re in it.

In front of all those people, my parents and cousin included, I felt my eyes watering up. She was singing her song to me, and my body went numb. Words could not begin to describe what it felt like knowing that the words were written about me. She didn’t owe me, I owed her, for showing me what love felt like.

I stared up at that stage praying to God that she’d find me out of all those faces staring back at her.

It’s been six months since I felt your kiss

Sweet bliss.

Now my dreams are all coming true

I still owe you.

Your touch still haunts me,

I need those arms to once more hold thee.

I’ve finally let you go,

but there’s just something that keeps on telling me no.

Broken Love Darlin’.

I wish there was a way to make things right.

I think I’ve already died deep inside.

I need you back to hold me tight.

Broken Love Darlin’.

I will never forget.

It’s my biggest regret.

There’s no future… unless you’re in it.

Broken Love Darlin’.

It’s been six years since I felt that kiss

Sweet bliss.

I thought my dreams had all come true,

But they’re nothing without you.

Your touch will always haunt me,

I wish I could feel what your arms felt like to hold thee.

I’ve tried so hard to let you go,

but there’s still something that keeps on telling me no.

Broken Love Darlin’.

I wish there was a way to make things right.

I think I’m dead deep inside.

I want you back to hold me tight.

Broken Love Darlin’.

I will never forget.

You are my biggest regret.

I don’t want a future… unless you’re in it.

It’s my Broken Love Darlin’.

I Love You, Darlin’.

Finally as the song finished, like she knew where I was all along, her eyes met mine. Her smiled never wavered as she went into the next tune, but her eyes never left mine.

Bella grabbed my arm and started shaking me. “Noah, can you believe it? I think your parents knew. They watched you that whole time. Oh my god this is crazy. She’s freaking on stage singin’ to you. TO YOU! Holy shit!”

I heard my cousin, but I couldn’t respond. My heart was so full that I didn’t want to move. Life stood still.

Shalan

My decision wasn’t easy. I knew what I was risking. Being fully aware that he could have already moved on, I still made that call.

I had to.

I couldn’t look in the mirror every single day and wonder if I’d made the biggest mistake of my life. What if I was different? What if he never would have hurt me? Did I just walk away from something people wait their whole lives for?

Every single time I had to sing that song I thought of what could have been. I was tired of wondering. Being alone wasn’t a life, not one for me, not when I knew how good it felt to be loved.

My six months probationary period was over in my contract, and it was time for me to get my own place. I could live anywhere I wanted to, so I knew the deciding factor was going to fall on my plan. If it worked out, I’d be with Noah. If it didn’t, I’d find somewhere to call home, and do my best at being happy with what I had.

His mother was very kind when I contacted her. I don’t know what I expected. I guess knowing how much I hurt her son I figured she’d hate me. Instead she offered to do whatever it took. Since I already knew I had to perform the song, it was just a matter of getting him there to hear it.

The rest would be up to him.

Noah would decide if I could have another chance. He’d decide if we could make it work.

In the six months that we’d been apart I’d done a lot of soul searching. My single was set to drop in another week, and as nervous as I was about showing the world my talent, I longed for stability. The traveling was hard on me, maybe because I’d never done it when I was a child. Unfamiliar places made me uneasy, and even though I had friends in the business, they never made me feel whole.

I needed Noah, because no one had ever made me feel so complete.

Right before the show my nerves got the best of me. My hands started tingling and I felt as if I was going to pass out as soon as I walked out on the stage. Since I’d given them the tickets I’d memorized where I shouldn’t look until I was fully prepared to see him again, after so long.

I’d waited for what felt like forever, and I had to peek. I had to see those green eyes looking up at me, telling me whether this was the worst mistake of my life, or the beginning of my future.

God, he was still such a beautiful man.

It was difficult to get through my next few songs without sitting down the mic and running into his waiting arms. When I finally finished, I noticed he was gone. Fear swept over me and I wondered if at some point I’d made him angry. Did he hate me for waiting so long? His mother had told me that he hadn’t moved on, so I knew there wasn’t anyone else.

I rushed through all of the people congratulating me on my performance, desperately searching for that one man that would repair my soul. Just when I’d given up hope that he was back there, I spotted his mother and father. Then there, sitting on a bench with his head looking down, I spotted him.

I froze.

His mother leaned down, and the next thing I knew he was turning in my direction, standing up and taking his first step toward me. I wanted to run, but I kept my composure and matched his strides. We met, face to face with so much to say to each other.

“I’m so glad you came.” He was so much taller than me, even with my heels on.

“What am I doin’ here, Shalan? Was that song about us? Did you write that to try to get me back?” His eyes were so serious. My face changed from excited to afraid. These weren’t the questions that I expected. This wasn’t how I saw it all working out.