“Have a good night,” Margaret and Tim waved as everyone got into their respective cars. Rae and JC had a little further to walk to their cars. They waved back and continued walking. 

“So, your dad is Tim Arata, and you are Rae Arata. I guess we both have bones in the closet, huh?” JC assessed as Rae continued walking with him to his car. 

“What gave it away?” Rae quietly asked, not surprised that he’d pieced it together. If anything, she was still embarrassed about not recognizing him earlier. 

“Your dad just looked familiar, and I knew him because Lance’s favorite Garth song is ‘The Dance’. When we went out back, we were talking music and his knowledge is just wow. I just knew it then, that’s who he was. But, you, well, you just stumped me. Until just now, I passed by a room by the restroom and I saw your Grammy. Then, I just felt silly,” he explained, turning to face her. 

“2002, Staples Center,” she replied, answering his silent question. 

“You were talking to Lance,” the memory reliving in his mind. She’d stood there in a black little black dress with ruby red heels and lipstick, and she’d praised them on their album. He hadn’t given her a second glance except to check out her legs in that dress. 

“And you smiled and walked on,” she smiled softly. No harm, no foul. 

“Then I asked you to dance at the afterparty,” he smirked, knowing what came next. 

“And I declined to dance with Justin,” she laughed, quietly. 

“I deserved that,” he cemented. 

“No, you didn’t. My ego was a little crushed and I acted childish,” she apologetically replied, laying a hand on his forearm, which lay crossed at his chest. 

“Make it up to me then,” he challenged. Her eyebrow raised in response, and a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. 

“How so Popstar?” she pressed. 

“The night is young. Let’s go get some ice cream, Cowgirl,” he offered, tilting his head back towards the road. 

“No harm in that, right?” she replied, giving him her answer. 

“Take both cars?” he asked, realizing that they’d both driven. 

“I live on the way back to downtown, mind if we drop my car off there?” she offered, and he agreed. Getting into their respective cars, JC followed Rae the fifteen minutes or so to her house. Turning off the main road, he eased his car through a large gate. A seemingly never-ending dirt driveway was exposed under the shimmering light from their headlights. Large, ominous oak trees draped in Spanish moss canvassed the road with azalea bushes lining either sides. Looking around, JC couldn’t see any neighboring houses or even her house. 

After a while, the lights from her grand home began to light the way. A smile came over his face seeing her home. It was the typical antebellum country home that might be seen in a Better Homes and Garden magazine. A large wraparound porch hugged the estate, and a warm glow from the outdoor lights basked the home. He watched Rae pull her SUV into the garage on the side of the home, and he pulled up closer to wait for her to climb in. The dirt road wrapped around the front of the home and led back towards the main road. He would guess it lay 1 or 2 miles from the main road. 

“All set?” he asked as she gingerly sat down on the passenger seat. She smiled in response and secured the seatbelt. 

“Beautiful home,” he observed, looking at the now fading lights in his rearview mirror. 

“Thank you. You’ll have to come back in the daytime to see it all,” she replied, smiling at him and settling into the seat. 

“How big of a plot do you have here?” he questioned, easing the vehicle down towards the main road. He could see the wrought-iron gates coming up ahead, and his headlights shone brightly. Under the bright lights, he read the signage atop the gates’ arch. 

“Elysian Farms?” he read aloud. 

“I live on 2 acres, and 400 acres of farmland,” she replied. 

“400 hundred?!?! That’s a small country,” he wowed, turning his wide-eyed gaze to Rae. 

“Not really, but it is pretty huge,” she shrugged. 

“Working farmland?” he asked. She nodded and his gaze prodded her to elaborate. 

“Vidalia onion and cattle.” He nodded, and remained silent. He was blown away. With each discovery, something grew inside him. Her every achievement, every record, every song, his curiosity was peaked. 

“Is this why you left music?” he questioned as he continued driving towards the downtown district of Savannah. 

“What? The farm?” she questioned, confused. He nodded and she laughed. 

“No, the farm came about because of me leaving. I needed a getaway. I needed to startover and to focus my energy on something else. Plus, I never really left music. I just needed a break,” she defended, and he laughed. 

“Its been what 4, 5 years?” he retorted. 

“6 years and 4 months,” she automatically replied, causing him to laugh more. 

“See, you miss it.” “As do you, so why haven’t you gone back?” she challenged. 

“Music industry is unforgiving. It’s not about the music anymore,” he sadly admitted. 

“And I remember reading that for you it was about the music and the fans, not the industry. And certainly not about the money, do you still write?” she questioned. 

“For others, yeah,” he eased the car into a side parking space and cut off the engine. 

“And I bet there have been songs you’ve given away that you wished were yours,” she said, climbing out and walking around to the front to wait on him. He climbed out and joined her on the sidewalk. Leading the way, he stayed silent contemplating his response. 

“No, I’ve kept my best songs in hopes of one day going back into the studio. How about you? Don’t you miss it?” he opened the door to the local creamery before following after her. 

“Of course, I miss it. But, I lost a lot of friends because of it. And, I never again found the spark with another set of producers or writers. And my daddy always said, if there’s no spark, there’s no bark,” she laughed, hearing the silliness in his statement after all these years. 

“Well, that’s not the soundest analogy but I see what he means,” he laughed, along with her. They paused their conversation long enough to order their desserts. Watching the employees prepare their waffle cones, they remained silent. Both contemplating opening their wounds for the other to lick. 

“Has it felt the same writing, singing, or performing without the guys?” Rae questioned, as they sat outside on one of the patio tables. JC licked at his cone and shook his head. 

“Not for one second.” 

“So, you understand my weariness,” she panned, and he nodded. 

“Yeah, but I think I’ve done well on my own,” he replied. And she didn’t believe his statement for one second. 

“Oh yeah, me too. That’s why I’ve been making music like a crazy rabbit the past six years,” she snorted. 

“You and I aren’t all that alike, Rae,” his defensiveness began to break through. Rae caught on to the sharp tone, and almost felt bad for pushing him. But, she hated to see incredible talent being wasted. 

“We’re a lot more alike than you are willing to see, JC,” she shrugged, and relaxed back in her seat. His eyes, strong and tense, bore her own. 

“Explain,” he requested. His jaw set and the vein in his forehead making a sudden appearance. 

“Tell me a secret, something that no one else knows,” she challenged him. 

“What kind of secret?” he questioned, confused by her question. 

“Anything. Here, I’ll tell you something. Every time I’ve been asked why I left music, I give them the same answer that I gave you. But, it’s a lie. I left because the man that I loved with all my heart and soul didn’t love me enough to stay with me. He was my muse, my inspiration, my every song, and without him, the music left with him,” she admitted, tears making her green eyes shine. 

“And I was a fool to let him take that from me, and so I’m asking you right now to drop your guard the same way I just did. You don’t have to be invincible, because I’m no saint. My halo is off,” she continued, reaching her hand to her head and removing an imaginary halo from atop. Placing it in the center of the patio table, she looked up at him expectedly. 

“Take off those wings of yours, and tell me a secret.” 

JC’s eyes shifted from her face to the imaginary halo that she’d set on the table. The emotion of the moment crumbling every wall he’d ever erected. Reaching out, he offered her his waffle cone. Confused, she took it from his hand and watched as he shifted his arms back. Like taking off a backpach, she knew he was shedding his wings. Dropping them besides his chair, he reached back and took his waffle cone. 

“I left music because I felt betrayed by my best friend, my brother,” he admitted, and tears escaped the corners of Rae’s eyes. She knew exactly whom it referenced. 

“He never betrayed you,” she whispered, dabbing a napkin at the corners of her eyes. 

“And he never knew you loved him,” he guessed correctly. 

“The feeling of liberty that comes just by being you,” she amazed, breathing deeply and feeling a great weight lifting from her shoulders. 

“And it’s incredibly humbling to know that we made stupid decisions,” he assessed, drawing a chuckle from both of them. 

“I wouldn’t change it, though. Because then, would we be having this conversation?” she provided some brewing thoughts. 

“We wouldn’t have ran away to a place closer to the truth,” he concluded. And silence overcame them once again. Both, leaning back in their seats, enjoyed their ice cream in silence. Allowing the conversation to soak in, they stared at one another. Nothing was spoken for a long while, long after the ice cream disappeared. 

“This all sounds like a great song,” she laughed, lightly. And he sat up. The look on his face was indescribable. It was a mixture of serenity with excitement, and dabble of fear and recognition. His attention snapped and he pushed away from chair, roughly. 

“Come on, let’s go!” he exclaimed, taking her hand and pulling her down the sidewalk towards his car. Rae stumbled behind him, laughing at his actions. 

“Slow down! Where are we going?!?!” she exclaimed/laughed. Quickly unlocking the doors, he gestured for her to climb in as he, too, climbed in. 

“How do you feel about coming back to music? Together?” he asked, stopping his excited actions and turning to face her. The seriousness of his question caused her eyes to widen and her body to stiffen. Emotionless, her eyes wide, her jaw dropped, and her body went numb. 

“Super,” he surmised, and backed the car out of the parking space and back onto the road.