Page 99 of When You Wish Upon a Wideout

“Fine,” Beau said with little defeat.

There was enough background noise and thumps that Sienna could hear Beau was busy even with all the rushing people in the stadium. “What are you up to tonight?”

“I’m... ” Beau paused. “I’ve got some of the guys here. Movie night. We’re, uh, putting a projector up.”

Sienna knitted her brow. “Sounds like a heavy projector.”

“Yeah,” Beau’s tone grew rushed. “Listen, enjoy the concert. Let me know when you get home.”

Sienna stared confusingly at the phone in her hand when he hung up, unsure of how it felt to have Beau end a call so quickly. But she didn’t have time to think too much about it because Grace and Lilah were in front of her, donning matching shirts and shaking with excitement.

“Floor seats!” Grace shrieked over and over as they made their way into the arena as the lighting began to dim.

Sienna sucked in a nervous breath.Have fun for her, she reminded herself. She gripped her phone tightly, afraid to lose it in the sea of the screaming crowd. She stepped even closer to the girls. She was more afraid of losing them than her phone but wanted to text Henry and check in.

I’d call but I can’t hear anything. Everything ok?

“We aresoclose!”

Everyone is so close, Sienna said to herself. She tried to apologize to someone she bumped into but couldn’t even hear her voice over the music.

Henry texted back.Do we have more rum?

Rum?Sienna couldn’t remember the last rum drink she had poured at Maloney’s. It was usually a low-shelf vodka and whiskey type of crowd.

Check stockroom.

“Mom!” Grace’s voice was nearly a hum over the music. She looked annoyingly at Sienna’s phone.

Sienna quickly opened her camera. “Look here,” she shouted to Grace and Lilah.

After she had taken the photo and the girls turned to face the stage again, Sienna held the phone in her hand, staring at the image.Another moment, she thought silently.Another living moment she gets. First concert.Sienna wanted to stare at the photo forever—at the way Grace’s smile stretched ear to ear, how she held one arm up in excitement, the other wrapped tightly around her friend. With the fluorescent lights beaming down from the top of the stadium, Sienna could feel theliferadiating from the photo. It made her heart burst with joy and twist with anxiety.More concerts,Sienna wished.More happiness and joy and living.

“Mom!” Grace screamed again, holding her hand out, beckoning.

Live with her, Sienna reminded herself. How many sad, difficult memories had she been focusing on since the fateful day of Grace’s diagnosis? How many moments—beautiful, joyful, even if they were bittersweet—did she miss by thinking of the past? She could hear Beau’s voice float through her mind.

“I don’t spend too much time celebrating in the moment. Seconds later, you might miss something great.”

Pocketing the phone, Sienna took Grace’s hand and let her daughter spin her in the minuscule space they occupied in the thick crowd.

Sienna didn’t know any of the words to the songs—she didn’t even like the music that she realized she wasfartoo old for. But what she wasn’t too old for was having fun and dancing, twirling her daughter, and hearing her loud, living laughter over booming instruments and electronic beats.

* * *

Sienna had thought that since it was after eleven, both Lilah and Grace might pass out from exhaustion during the drive home, but instead, a replay of the entire concert bounced around Sienna’s car.

“Turn it down,” Sienna told Grace. “The ringing in my ears wasalmostgone.”

“Can you believe it? We wererightthere! I can’t get over it. It was like a dream.”

The swooning in Grace’s voice made Sienna smile from the driver’s seat. She was over the music but not over her daughter’s happiness.

Lilah sighed in agreement. “This was seriously thebestnight ever.”

Sienna stared at the girls in the rearview mirror.Thank you, Beau.She knew that even if they sat in the nosebleed seats as planned, it would’ve been a great night. But Beau had gone and made an unforgettable one.

Pulling up to Lilah’s house, both girls got out, and she was thankful to see a yawn from Grace. “Don’t stay up too late watching all those videos over and over,” she said, waving at Lilah’s mother, who opened the front door. “Call me when you want to be picked up tomorrow.”

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