Chapter 13

thirteen

JACOB

“It looks as though everyone’s getting ready for the dancing,” Pastor Adam said from beside me.

Andrew had left the table a few minutes ago to make sure the band was ready.

“Have you heard Andrew sing?” I asked.

Pastor Adam smiled as another wedding guest returned to their seat. “Not often enough. He’s incredible. Giving up his career must have been a difficult decision.”

From what Andrew had said, I thought he’d stopped singing because he’d been working too hard. “Was it more than exhaustion that stopped him from performing?”

Adam’s face became guarded. “Andrew will tell you the whole story when he’s ready.”

My gaze was caught by the man walking onto the stage at the front of the barn. Andrew’s black shirt and trousers looked great in daylight. Now, with the spotlights focused on him, he was breathtaking.

He stood behind the microphone and smiled at Shane and Jonathon. They were standing in the middle of the room, ready to dance for the first time as a married couple.

When Shane nodded, Andrew turned to the band.

As the opening notes of the song filled the barn, a hushed silence fell across the wedding guests.

Shane and Jonathon took their first steps, holding each other close as they gently swayed to the music.

When Andrew started singing, I held my breath, stunned by the purity of his voice. My eyes never left him. Not for one moment would I have believed that this was the same man who made jams and preserves for my home. The same man who gave up a music career to take photographs.

His gravely voice filled the barn, then dropped to a quiet whisper, taking everyone with him as he told the story within the song.

With his body swaying to the music, Andrew was as lost in the melody as I was, transported to a world filled with love and laughter. A world full of second chances with no time for regrets.

His hands wrapped around the microphone, holding it as gently as a newborn babe. As the last note left his lips, Andrew closed his eyes until there was nothing but silence surrounding him.

Like an ocean wave, the wedding guests stood, clapping and cheering as much for Shane and Jonathon as for Andrew. It was a moment I’d treasure, a turning point that could change my life.

Tears stung my eyes as I thought about my life and the choices I’d made. In that moment, as Jonathon rushed across to Andrew and hugged him tight, I knew there was a reason I was here, a reason to look forward to each day.

And that reason was standing in front of me.