the bar. They head straight toward me and pull up more chairs around the small table.
“What are you doing here?” Somehow I manage to form words.
“We came to watch Trace sing,” Felise whispers.
“He hates karaoke!” I whisper back.
“I know.” She smiles, eyes on the stage.
“This song is for you, Romy,” Trace says into the microphone.
Oh. My. God.
My fingers fly to my lips as I watch.
The first notes of the song play. I recognize it immediately. I gasp.
Then Trace opens his mouth and sings, “Fly me to the moon.”
He’s singing. A song I love.
He has a good voice!
I listen to the words in a daze, hands on my cheeks, watching him move on the stage, getting right into the jazzy music. A veritable Frank Sinatra. He ends the song on a flourish, holding the long notes impressively, then slowing down and capturing my gaze across the room to sing the last line. “I…”
My eyes tear up.
“…love…”
He points at me.
“…you.”
The applause is rowdy and appreciative as he takes a bow and jumps off the stage to walk toward me.
What has he done? I gulp and my gaze bounces around the table. Cassie and Joe are beaming. Felise and Magan too, all of them clapping wildly. Felise sticks her fingers in her mouth and emits an earsplitting whistle.
My mind is in a spin cycle, my heart hammering wildly. I rub tears off my face, shaking everywhere, inside and outside.
Trace stops in front of me and drops to a crouch. “I love you, Romy.”
My eyes are ready to pop out of their sockets. “What are you doing?” I whisper, jerking my head toward the others at the table.
He grins. Grins! “They already know I’m crazy about you.”
“Whaaaat!” My head shakes no; my mouth is dangling open. “But…”
“It’s okay. They’re good. Now you need to know. I love you.”
I gaze at him helplessly, so confused. “You do?”
“I do.”
“This is unbelievable. I c-can’t believe you did that.”
He smiles. “I did it for you.”
“Oh, Trace.” More water spills from my eyes. I need to get a grip. My mom would be horrified at this public display of emotion.
The rest of the family pushes their chairs back and stand. “We’ll leave you two alone,” Cassie says, her smile as big and bright as a full moon.
“That was epic, Trace!” Felise says.
He rolls his eyes.
I smile. “It really was.”
“Good. Because I was an epic asshole.”
My family vanishes out the door.
Trace uses his thumb to erase some of the tears on my cheek. “I’m sorry I let you end things between us because I was a selfish bastard. I thought maybe you were right. Maybe I’d have a better chance of convincing the board to let me try a portal I found.”
“You found a portal?”
“Yeah. But it doesn’t matter now. Can you forgive me?” He stares intently into my eyes.
I can’t breathe. “Wait. Did you know about the Triad Energy?”
“I suspected.”
My heart pounds painfully. “Was that why you wanted to teach me? So I could do that for you?”
“No!” His eyes bug out and his chin jerks down. “Hell no! I suspected your powers, and I told Joe about it, but I never even imagined that would be something you could do. That was Joe’s idea.”
I slump and nearly fall off my chair in relief. “Oh.”
“Truly, Romy. It was when you agreed to do that for me, I realized everything I’d be giving up.” He swallows. “I love you. And I’m sorry I was too chickenshit to admit it.”
I hold my bottom lip between my teeth briefly. “You kind of were.”
He laughs. “Yeah. Always be honest with me, my little purpose-driven, save-the-world warrior princess. I love your courage. Your intelligence. I love your sense of right and wrong and fairness. I love how you feel comforted by the moon, how you paint beautiful pictures. How you inspire people.”
“Oh.” Emotion swirls in my chest, filling me with warmth. “I love you too. So much.” I hiccup. “And I wanted to make you happy, more than anything. Even if… you’d be gone.”
“You have no idea how much that meant to me.” His voice chokes up, and he cups my face, leans over, and kisses me. “But I’m not leaving you. Ever.”
I fight back the tears, not wanting to disintegrate here in the Singing Horse. Relief flows through me like a waterfall, weakening my muscles.
Trace brushes more moisture off my cheeks. “It’s okay, sweet thing. It’s going to be okay. In fact… it’s going to be great.”