“I can imagine. That’s partly why I came, for the quiet.”
“Yeah? Well, you’ve got it in abundance, I’m sure.”
Eli’s tone had turned harsh toward the end of the comment, and Sarah wasn’t quite sure what to do with it. Eli was at it again—one minute sweet and talking freely, and then next it was like she was putting up walls. Sighing, Sarah reached for the door handle and exited the vehicle.
Eli went into the barn, silence reverberating around Sarah like a large, overhanging cloud. Sarah nodded her head. “All right then.”
She went back to the house, holding the coffee she hadn’t drunk. She tugged off the boots, leaving them outside the back door, and tugged off the jacket as soon as she got inside. Sarah dumped her coffee down the sink and went upstairs to fall back asleep if she could, but she knew she would probably end up awake for the rest of the day. Perhaps if Eli stayed away from the house, she’d have time to work on that new melody and maybe even some lyrics to go with it.
Chapter 10
Eli stayedout in the fields as much as she could that day. Her morning with Sarah had left a bad taste in her mouth. She would not continue down that road. She may have wanted to, but she was in no position for it, and she had to put a stop to it. She’d tried while they’d still been together, but she was pretty sure she was just giving off a very odd impression. In hindsight, Eli was kind of okay with that. If Sarah thought she was weird or mean, then she would have to worry less about the star-struck crush she still couldn’t get rid of.
With Sarah’s first week almost halfway over, she knew she could make it through the rest of the two weeks fine. She’d keep her distance, and everything would be perfect. Without Buddy around, she’d likely be seeing a whole lot less of the curious Sarah anyway.
When her stomach rumbled in the early afternoon, she knew she had to go into the house and get something to fill it. Not to mention exhaustion had seeped into her bones, and food would no doubt help. Eli still had to fix the darned fence Cassie kept breaking through, and this time she had to really fix it. But to do that, she was going to need two people.
Sighing, she rubbed the headache building in the back of her skull. Sarah would be the obvious choice since she was around and not really doing anything, not to mention she did seem interested in what it meant to be a rancher. Most people who stayed with her didn’t. They wanted the grand tour, to do the fun stuff, and didn’t really want to do the stuff that sucked, like mucking out stalls, or having to put an animal down she desperately liked and didn’t want to see gone. Cassie was going to be one of those cows when her time came. As much as she irked Eli with her antics, she’d been around for years, and Eli loved her quirky personality.
She parked her truck, moved through the barn to get everything ready for fixing the fence, and to check on the horse she had stalled since he was having some eating issues. His grain seemed to be gone, so she let him be after a few pets. She’d have to take him for a ride sooner or later. She missed riding, but she had been so busy lately there wasn’t a chance.
Eli left the barn door open as she trudged her way to the house. It had warmed up since early that morning, but the air still had a chill to it. It was certainly not the time of year when she’d want to be fixing the fence line, but it had to be done. She sat on the chair outside the back door and untied her muddy boots so she could leave them there.
Her old and cantankerous dog meandered toward her. She petted his head with a chuckle as he set it on her thigh, and she closed her eyes. Sarah was playing. If she hadn’t known who Sarah was before then, she would have known after. It was her most recent number one hit, but it was just her and the guitar.
Sarah’s voice was firm, loud, and confident as it echoed through the house and out to where Eli sat. As much as she wanted to go inside, she didn’t want to disturb music in the making, and the last time she had snuck in on Sarah, she’d stopped playing immediately and had looked utterly embarrassed and closed off, which had seemed odd for someone whose literal career it was to perform.
Eli relaxed as Sarah’s voice filled her head. Her voice was clear, firm in each note she sang, the emotion from the song no doubt leading her. That had been why Eli had been attracted to her music in the first place. Sarah hit the pinnacle of the song and lingered on one of the high notes. Eli drew in a shuddering breath, opening her eyes and staring at the door.
She had to go inside. As Sarah began singing again, and knowing there was only a fraction of the song left, Eli turned the handle on the doorknob and slipped inside as quietly as possible. She shucked her jacket in the kitchen, hanging it on the hook by the back door, and padded in her socks through the kitchen, down the hall, and toward the den.
Sarah sat facing the window and away from her. Eli leaned on the wall, holding herself up. Sarah didn’t budge as she moved right from one song into the next. Eli’s heart pounded, a voyeur in her own home, witness to something that was by far one of the most intimate things she had ever walked in on.
With her head bent over the strings, Sarah strummed. This time much quieter than before. She hummed through the melody first, then repeated herself. Eli held her breath tightly in her chest and watched in awe as she was pretty sure music was being created right in front of her. Eli’s stomach tightened. She was intruding, but she couldn’t stop listening.
The third time through, Sarah’s tender voice made words, humming some of the places where she obviously hadn’t figured out what to say yet.
“It’s a playful kind of love…”
Eli swallowed. She should leave, but she couldn’t make herself turn around and go, couldn’t make herself move. Sarah’s fingers slid back and forth on the neck of the guitar as she played different chords repeating and alternating.
“Hush little baby doesn’t seem right, this is a playful kind of love.”
With no idea who Sarah was singing about, Eli sighed. It was beautiful to watch her like this, so focused, so narrowed in on what she was doing. Eli wondered briefly how long Sarah had been singing and playing that day. The piano was also uncovered and the bench askew, so she’d obviously worked on the piano as well as the guitar.
Taking a huge risk, Eli stepped closer and down the two steps into the den. She kept her feet as quiet as possible as she inched forward. She came to a stop at the long couch that faced the window where Sarah sat, continuing to play. Eli rocked up on her toes, her gaze skimming up and down Sarah’s lithe body.
She was smaller, but she wasn’t small by any means. Sarah had height on her rivaling Eli’s, but when she sat like this, half-covered by the guitar, she looked much smaller. Her hair moved to obscure her face, and Eli imagined her eyes were closed as she focused on what she was doing next. Her heart pounded in her chest as Sarah strummed a chord multiple times in a row as she listened and then changed it.
Sarah licked her lips and tilted her head back as she hummed again, the melody echoing in the quiet of the house. Eli didn’t want to disturb her, didn’t want to mess up the beauty Sarah was creating right in front of her, but it seemed she wasn’t going to get much of a choice. Her stomach grumbled, rather loudly, and Sarah jerked with a start.
She twisted around, and Eli stood up straight, her hands out to her sides with her palms facing out. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to disturb you.”
Sarah didn’t answer.
“Whatever you were creating is beautiful.”
Sarah’s cheeks paled, her thin lips thinned even more, and she gave Eli a blank, hard stare. Eli wasn’t sure what she’d done to piss her off, but she hoped she’d be able to make it right in some way.