Before the Heat

Before the heat
(before the heat)

You came up the stairs with a thermos of soup
Second-hand blanket, your scarf pulled through
Space heater dead and the window cracked
You sat on the floor and you leaned on my back
Said, "Show me the plan," and I showed you the page
Numbers in pencil, a date, and a wage
You didn't say rich, you didn't say when
You said, "Read it again," so I read it again
Breath on the glass, two names in the fog
You wrote 'em with your finger and you drew a small box
Said, "That's the house," I said, "It's a square"
You said, "It's a house if we both stay there"

No ring
(not yet)
No roof
(not yet)
Just a coat
And a promise kept

You loved me before the heat
Before the lights, before the receipts
Anybody can love the roof
You loved the room when the room was cold too

Before the heat
(mm, before the heat)
Before the heat

Before the heat
(mm, before the heat)
Before the heat
(you were there)

Thermostat seventy-two, hallway wide
Furnace humming through a January night
And you still sleep in that same gray coat
Sleeve torn, button gone, you won't let it go
I bought the ring with the quiet money
You said, "Don't post it, that's ours, honey"
Kitchen table, first warm month's bill
Paid in full, and you cried real still
I said, "The square," you said, "The house"
Same two names, I just traced 'em out
Everybody meets me now in the warm
Nobody but you ever shivered through the storm

Got the ring
(got it)
Got the roof
(got it)
Still the coat
Is the only proof

You loved me before the heat
(before the heat)
Before the lights, before the receipts
(before the receipts)
Anybody can love the roof
You loved the room when the room was cold too

They see the house and they call it love.
They never saw the floor.
You sat on the floor in my coat
with the soup going cold
and said, "Read it again."
That's the whole marriage.

You loved me before the heat
(before the heat)
Before the lights, before the receipts
(before the receipts)
Anybody can love the roof
You loved the room, so I built it for you

Read it again.
(before the heat)