Before he could call out again, Rob was starting “Crystal Castle” and then Emily’s fingers were on the keys and she was singing her part. She heard the crowd singing along with them, saw them with their arms around one another swaying. She felt the surge of the audience’s love travel through her, grow within her.

Rob turned and winked, as if to say, Even when we’re off, we’re on.

She smiled and kept singing, kept playing. But thoughts of Ezra intruded. He was here. Somewhere out there. Did There aren’t enough words mean that he was going to fly to Mexico? Was she supposed to have figured that out?

When the clapping started, Rob walked toward her on the stage, so their voices were drowned out by the audience. “Who called your name?” he whispered, even though she was pretty sure he already knew. “I saw your face. It’s someone you know.”

“It’s Ezra,” she whispered back.

She could see Rob thinking, and then he said softly, “Do you want to sing for him? Your song?”

“My song?” she echoed.

The applause died down. “Em!” She heard Ezra call again from somewhere down below. He wanted her to know he was there, that he’d come to talk to her. He didn’t disappear this time, and he didn’t let her disappear either. She wanted to send him a message, too.

She turned to Rob and nodded.

He turned to the audience. “We’ve got some’m real special for all y’all tonight. Our girl Emily here’s been working on a brand-new song. And this is the first time anyone but me’s ever gonna hear it.”

The audience cheered. The stage went dark, except for a spot on Emily. She saw Rob sit down and sip a glass of water someone had stuck under a stool for him. Then she started to play.

When she got to the end, she had to push the song around the lump in her throat as she sang:

I hope you can see

That there’s love there waiting

For you, from me

Just before the lights came up on the stage, she saw Rob wiping a tear off his cheek. Then the spot was back on him and he was saying, “I think we’ll leave you there tonight. Thank you for being such a great audience.”

The audience cheered and Emily and Rob headed into the wings to the mic guys. As they were getting unwired, Emily couldn’t stop thinking about Ezra, about the fact that he was here, that he’d heard her song. She had no idea what he would think about it. Whether he would know it was about him, the same way she knew that Rob’s “Crystal Castle” was about her.

The mic guys left, but Emily stood still.

“You’re not happy together right now,” Rob said, “but you still love him.”