Page 24 of The Sound of Harmony

It took her a moment to answer, but when she did, her voice was as clear as if she was standing in the room with him. The sound of the shower and the traffic on the street faded into nothingness.

“Hi,” she said, her voice bright. “I just sent you an email.”

“That’s why I’m calling. I wanted to thank you, and to tell you I’ll be stopping at Ohio Ivory on my way home tomorrow.”

“I hope I picked a satisfactory selection.”

“And I hope you sweet-talked them into giving me a deal.”

Emma didn’t answer, and Kendrick pulled the phone away to check if the call had dropped. He did that at least once in every conversation with Emma. He’d never met someone so comfortable with silence.

Kendrick brought the phone back to his ear. “You’re waiting for me to say something, aren’t you?”

“I thought there was a punchline coming,” she said. “I didn’t want to throw off your comic timing.”

“There could have been. I’m not sure anymore. Your silence. It’s powerful.”

“Is it?” Emma’s tone wasn’t playful. She sounded genuinely surprised.

“You even shut Ben down, and that’s nearly impossible. I don’t know what to do with the guy half the time and we’ve been friends since we were kids.”

Another pause, but only a brief one this time. “Ben is…a lot,” Emma said in a small voice.

“Too much sometimes. Silence isn’t a bad way to deal with him.” Kendrick got up and paced the small room. He picked up some pens from the nightstand, bundled up his phone charger, and threw out the giveaway magazines they’d gotten in their conference welcome bag. “I hope I’m not too much,” he said.

“You’re not.”

“I’m glad. You’d probably have to charge me extra for that.” Kendrick sat on the bed, cringing into himself for saying something so dumb. He’d reminded her that she was working for him, and theirs was supposed to be a professional relationship. What was Emma doing to him? He was completely off his game. And yet, he wasn’t willing to hang up. Listening to her voice for a few minutes was worth any amount of awkwardness.

Emma laughed, the sound like soft windchimes at a beach cottage, and Kendrick found he could sit up again.

“Phone calls are free,” she said.

“Well, that’s a system ripe for abuse.” Kendrick puttered around the sink area, which jutted out into the room. He put away his toothbrush, toothpaste, and comb. He straightened the towels and put the soap back in the dish.

“No, it’s not,” Emma said. “Most people hate the phone.”

“True,” Kendrick said. Was that a hint? Should he let her go?

“How’s the music conference going?” Emma asked.

“Oh, you know, strings and egos.” He moved to the closet and straightened his shoes, pleased that she wanted to continue the conversation, but unsure of how much to tell her. “They debuted one of my pieces today.”

“That sounds important,” she said. “Did the orchestra play it well?”

“God, I hope so. Do you like classical music?”

“I’m not that familiar with it,” she said.

“What kind of music do you like?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know? How can you not know?”

More silence, but not an uncomfortable one. A thoughtful one. He was learning to interpret the pauses between Emma’s sentences without the need for body language or facial expressions. It was as if he could weigh her silence. This one was lighter than most.

“Tell you what,” he said. “I’ll make a playlist for you. All genres. Everyone likes some kind of music. It’s in our DNA.”