Chapter 4 - The Song of Remembrance
Julian Vance’s entire body went rigid.
The air rushed out of his lungs as if he had been struck in the chest with an iron bar. His hands gripped the edge of the mahogany desk so tightly his knuckles turned paper-white.
Morning Will Find Us.
No.
That was impossible.
That song didn't exist in the public domain. It had never been recorded. It had never been published. It was written on a paper napkin in a small, greasy-spoon diner in Nashville eight years ago by two twenty-four-year-old musicians who had five dollars between them and the entire world ahead of them.
Grace.
Lily struck the first chord.
C-major. G-major. A-minor. F-major.
The exact, warm, bittersweet progression.
Then she sang.
"If the shadow stays too long upon the floor, Leave a lantern burnin’ by the wooden door. Don’t you weep for the miles that went astray, Morning will find us, come what may..."
The sound of her voice vibrated through the silent auditorium, soaring up into the rafters, pure, heartbreaking, and drenched in an old, ancient grief that no seven-year-old should ever have possessed.
Brianna Cole was openly weeping, tears leaving dark trails through her makeup. Beau Montgomery had pulled off his cowboy hat, holding it over his heart, staring at the floor in sheer reverence.
But Julian Vance didn't cry.
He couldn't breathe.
As he listened to the child’s voice, the world around him dissolved. He was no longer a billionaire judge in a tailored suit. He was twenty-four again, sitting on a threadbare porch in the Tennessee rain, holding a girl with soft brown hair, gray-green eyes, and a laugh that made him feel invincible.
Grace Parker.
The woman who had vanished eight years ago. The woman he thought had walked away from him to pursue her own life. The woman whose father had told Julian: "She left you. She took the money and she doesn't want you in her life anymore."
Lily hit the final, high note of the chorus, her small thumb sliding down the guitar strings, letting the last chord fade into the heavy air of the arena.
Silence held the room for three long seconds.
Then Beau Montgomery stood up, clapping frantically. Brianna was on her feet, screaming with joy and wiping her face.
Julian didn't wait for his fellow judges.
He stood up so fast his leather chair crashed backward onto the riser. He didn't look at the cameras. He didn't care about the producers screaming in his earpiece.
Julian slammed his hand down on the center of the desk.
SLAM!
The Golden Buzzer erupted.
Massive cannons fired from the ceiling, showering the dark stage in a roaring waterfall of brilliant gold foil and shimmering glitter. The explosive sound echoed through the theater as gold lights flashed violently overhead.
Lily gasped, stepping back, her hands shielding her eyes as gold paper rained down around her small yellow jacket.
By the rules of the show, the Golden Buzzer meant she bypassed every preliminary round, sending her straight to the Live Grand Finale in Los Angeles.
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Julian walked down the stairs from the judges' platform. He didn't walk—he sprinted up the wooden steps of the stage, his polished shoes crunching through the golden confetti scattered across the floor.
He dropped to his knees right in front of the little girl.
