Page 47 of Rebel Moon

She came inside, carrying a small box. “I brought cookies.”

“How about some Jack Daniels?”

She grinned and reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a pint of whiskey. “As a matter of fact, I did bring you some Jack, courtesy of our Jack.”

“God bless him.”

She poured me three fingers and sat on the ottoman, facing me. “How’s your ankle?”

“Luci said the swelling’s down. She said I was a good boy by staying off of it today.”

“What did you do all day?”

“I worked on a new song.”

The music sheets were on the bed where I'd left them, scratched-out lines and arrows and the mess a song looks like before it's a song. She picked them up, smiling when she saw the title.

“Good title,” she said.

“Luci said it yesterday, and I couldn’t get it out of my head.”

“Ivy says it’s like that for her too, when she gets an idea for a new song. I’m amazed by the creative process. Is it done enough to play for me?”

“Um, yeah, I guess so.”

She got up to bring me my guitar and the sheets of music. I didn’t need them though. I played it all the way through, not looking at her until the end. When I did, she had tears in her eyes.

“Is it about me?” Madeleine asked softly.

“Yeah.”

“It’s beautiful.”

“Thanks.” I didn’t know what else to say.

“I talked to Rhett,” she said.

“And? You guys okay?”

“We will be. I’m still angry at him. But he said some things that made sense to me.”

“Care to share?”

“I’m not sure how. I’m not sure how to do any of this.”

“You mean us?”

She tilted her head, watching me. “Do you mean it, what you said in the song?”

“I never lie in a song.”

“Rhett said something that … made me think. He said the reason I didn’t want anyone to know what I’d done to nudge your careers forward was because it would make me seem like Mindy instead of Madeleine.”

“Mindy?”

“That’s my real name. Mindy Sue. Mindy flipping Sue Price.”

“What happened to Mindy?”