The house lights dimmed, and the chatter of the crowd softened into a hush. Elias struck a soft, resonant chord. It was the opening of "Don't Know Much."

“I don't know much, but I know I love you. And that may be all I need to know.”

Elias sat at the piano, his fingers tracing the keys without pressing them. He was waiting. Across the room, tucked into a velvet booth that had seen better decades, sat Clara. They hadn't spoken in three years—not since the tour ended and the silence began.

From the shadows of the booth, Clara’s voice rose to meet his. It was pure silver, fluttering with that unmistakable, delicate vibrato that had once been the only thing he needed to hear to feel home. “But look at this heart, there's still a lot of growing.”

He began to sing, his voice a gravelly baritone that anchored the room. “Look at this face, I know the years are showing...”

Elias closed the keyboard cover. Clara didn't go back to her booth. She reached out a hand, and for the first time in years, the melody didn't have to end.

The rain didn't just fall in New Orleans; it hung in the air like a heavy curtain. Inside the dimly lit bar on Frenchman Street, the air smelled of stale bourbon and damp wool.