Part 153 (1/2)

come in on the second verse.”

”Dad, I couldn't.”

”Of course you could. You know the lyrics, the melody.”

”Yes, but-”

”It's perfect. I don't know why I didn't think of it before. This song

needs a feminine touch. Keep it light, just a little sad.”

”No use arguing,” Johnno said as he fit the headphones over her ears.

”He's on a roll.”

Emma let out a sigh. It wouldn't hurt to humor him. ”What's my

percentage? Do I get a mention in the liner notes? What about artistic

control?”

Brian twisted her nose, hard.

It was enough to see him happy, she thought. There was nothing like a

new idea to send her father off. He was calling out instructions,

deferring to Johnno now and again, keeping what seemed like an eagle eye

on Stevie, and subtly staying aloof from P.M.

She heard the music in her head, the sad and moody strings and flutes.

It was a full, almost cla.s.sical sound. Like rain, she realized-not a

storm, but a gray, unrelenting rain.

Her father's voice flowed into her ears, clear and somehow sweet despite

the melancholy lyrics.

”I looked for your face I called your name / You were the light But

shadows covered me I lost the sun.”

She listened, struck as she had always been by the close, almost eerie

harmony he achieved with Johnno. Her father's voice soared up, hanging

on notes, caressing them. The sad, hopeless lyrics went straight to her