Page 224 of Safe With You

Tonight, she closed her notebook, got to her feet, and walked toward the microphone.

She was still nervous.

I could see it in the way her fingers tightened around the notebook and the breath she took once she was standing in front of everyone.

But she didn’t look at me for reassurance this time.

She opened to the page she marked and began.

Her voice shook on the first few words.

Then steadied.

I smiled before I could help it.

Across the room, Ellis raised his camera.

The shutter clicked.

For a second, I remembered the first photograph he took of her standing in that same spot.

Same microphone.

Same bookstore.

But not quite the same woman.

Rachel made it through the entire piece without stopping.

The applause started almost before she finished the last line.

Her head dipped, and when she looked up again, she was smiling.

Really smiling.

I clapped harder.

When she passed me on her way back to her seat, I leaned toward her.

“I knew you’d come back.”

She laughed softly. “I almost didn’t.”

“But you did.”

“I did.”

She returned to her seat, and I watched her for another second before looking across the room.

Ellis was checking the screen on his camera.

Something about the moment caught in my chest.

The first time we did this, I was so worried about everything going right that I barely had time to think about what might come after.

Whether Rachel would come back.

Whether people would want another Open Mic.