Wait for Me

Two months after their meeting, Marijohn has not heard from Elle and feels a deep sense of loss. Lazarus releases a new, upbeat single that Marijohn dislikes for its inauthenticity. Soon after, she receives a letter from him containing a new chorus and the words, “I want to come home” (261), but she throws it away, determined not to wait for him.

Elle suddenly reappears at Abe’s gas station. After authenticating some of Abe’s memorabilia, Elle finds a distraught Marijohn and gives her a copy of her birth certificate, revealing that her mother is Josie Starling. Elle explains that she has seen Josie, but warns Marijohn that Josie is not ready to meet her. Elle then asks Marijohn to play mandolin and sing with her for a live recording of the Merry album, which Elle intends to finally reclaim as her own. They spend two weeks rehearsing in the old luthier’s cabin. Elle reveals her plan is to perform the concert on Arlo’s lawn—without his permission—on the 18th anniversary of her disappearance. During their time together, Elle tells Marijohn that “love is good while you’re making a record, but it has to die for the music to live” (269), and admits she is afraid to see Luke Weston again. The chapter ends with Lazarus unexpectedly showing up at Marijohn’s house.

Lazarus tells Marijohn he has been recording at Weston Studios and came back to warn her that he heard Elle Harlow is alive. Marijohn reveals Elle is upstairs and insists they drive back to Nashville immediately, leaving a note for Elle promising her return. During the drive, Lazarus admits he hates his experience of performing commercially and pursued the recording opportunity because Marijohn could not. After a heated argument, they share a passionate kiss.

In Nashville, Marijohn goes to a small cabin on Arlo’s property and meets Weston. She shows him the broken mandolin, and he confirms that his supposed romance with Josie was a lie and that he has always loved Elle. Marijohn tells him about the planned concert and asks him to prevent Arlo from stopping it. Weston gives her an address, and she and Lazarus drive to the Starling mansion.

Marijohn meets Josie, who is cold and assumes Elle sent her as a form of punishment or because she needs money. When Marijohn asks the one question she has carried her whole life—if Josie ever sang to her—Josie says no and flees back into the house. Devastated by the rejection, Marijohn returns home with Lazarus. During the journey, Lazarus confesses that he loves her but fears hurting her because he cannot stay in Lenora. That night, she processes her grief by writing a new song called “Hear Me Out.”

The next day, Marijohn tells Elle about the painful meeting with Josie. Elle comforts her, calling her actions brave, not stupid. After Marijohn plays her new song, “Hear Me Out,” Elle spends the day coaching her as a songwriter. On December 15, 1991, they perform the Merry album live on Arlo’s lawn for a massive, adoring crowd. Elle reclaims her music by performing the songs herself, without publicly accusing Josie of stealing them. For the encore, Elle hits an A minor to cue Marijohn, then steps back so the crowd can watch Marijohn perform “Hear Me Out,” remaining onstage throughout. During Marijohn’s performance, Elle notices Josie standing at the edge of the property, watching her daughter sing.

The concert is a triumph. After the crowd disperses, Elle finds herself alone on the property. She walks toward a small, lit cabin, strips off her clothes, and plunges into the frigid lake. When she surfaces, she finds Weston waiting for her on the dock, holding a lantern.

Weston joins Elle in the freezing water, and they retreat to his cabin. There, he finally explains the past: He concealed his identity as Luke Weston, and his family was financially dependent on Arlo’s after his father was injured. He confirms his televised romance with Josie was a publicity stunt. He reveals that he had gone to his main workshop off I-79 for supplies when he found Josie waiting there; rather than bring her back to the cabin where Elle was, he went along with the arrangement and kept Josie away from Elle.

Weston explains that he put Merry’s mandolin in a wicker trunk in Elle’s car at the Opry that night, intending to give it back to her. Elle shocks him by revealing that Josie’s baby, Marijohn, was also in that trunk. Weston confesses that he played backup on Josie’s Soldier album and knew from the lyrics that the songs could only have been written by Elle. He tells her she was his “beautiful thing” and that his greatest regret was not leaving with her when she asked. They reconcile passionately, making love and spending the night together.

Elle disappears for a second time; her truck is found abandoned on the bank of a river. Three months later, the live Merry album is a huge success, and Marijohn is fielding offers from music producers. Lazarus returns from college, having canceled his contract with Weston Studios. He takes Marijohn into the woods and shows her the third, long-lost piece of the meteor, telling her that “lost things are never truly lost at all” (314). Marijohn decides to leave it buried.

Marijohn decides to move to Nashville and record her music with an indie label run by women. She realizes the “third outlaw” in Elle’s song refers to the powerful, filial love between an older and younger woman—first between Merry and Elle, and then between Elle and herself. Before leaving town, Marijohn visits the old cabin one last time. Inside, she finds that Elle has left her a familiar heart and a note with three words: “I’m coming back” (317). Marijohn understands that Elle and Weston have found their way back to each other and that Elle’s old belief—that love must die for music to live—was a lie. She accepts that some wounds are worth having.