Page 72 of The Sound of Harmony

He felt Brooke’s eyes on him as they entered the store. “Do we need a map?” he asked as they took the escalator to the second floor.

“Nope,” Emma said.

Brooke laughed. “Emma has the map in her head. Don’t you love how her brain works?”

Kendrick loved how all of Emma worked. He followed her from room to room as she checked things off her list.

The store was overwhelming, yet familiar. He’d always lived in rented apartments that came with furniture like this. He liked the idea of using IKEA furniture. It was cheap and would easily move with him when he left Cannondale, but he was starting to wonder how it would look in a Queen Anne house.

After an hour, everything blurred together and he was sure they were walking in circles. He stuck close to Emma so he wouldn’t get lost.

Brooke poked behind them, lagging further behind in each room. When they got to the office furniture, she sat in one of the desk chairs and spun in a lazy circle. “How much longer is this going to take?”

Emma snapped her tape measure closed and wrote on her legal pad. “What are you talking about? You wanted to come.”

“How about this?” Brooke asked. “How about you give me the fun list.”

“There’s a fun list?” Kendrick asked.

“Yes,” Brooke insisted. “Come on, Emma, give it up.”

Emma put her hands on her hips. “All my lists are fun.”

Brooke continued to spin. “As great as it is to measure yet another dresser or look for the perfect bookshelf, I want to go buy candles and lamps and picture frames. You know, the fun list.”

“Fine.” Emma turned to another page of her legal pad and ripped it off the clipboard. She held it out to Brooke. “Go play house.”

“At last.” Brooke leapt out of the chair and snatched the list out of Emma’s hand.

“But don’t fill the cart with crap,” Emma said. “If I didn’t write it down, Kendrick doesn’t need it.”

“Sure, sure. Tell you what. He can go with me. Keep me honest.”

“Are you okay with that?” Emma asked.

“I guess?” Kendrick looked around the impeccable IKEA rooms. “To tell you the truth, this all looks the same to me. I promise I’ll like whatever you pick out.”

Emma pointed to Brooke, who was already edging away from them. “Don’t let her get carried away.”

“Your list is my command.” He gave her a quick kiss and followed Brooke to the housewares department.

Kendrick soon learned that fun was a relative term. This area of the store was just as overwhelming as the furniture, but at least Brooke had brightened up. It was as if she’d been raised a half step into a higher key. She pushed a cart through aisles of dishes and lamps, weaving past other shoppers and checking things off Emma’s list.

He took over the cart when it was half full, letting her add ice cube trays and measuring spoons as they chatted about color choices and how modern European design would fit into an older house. That quickly segued into Cannondale and how he was settling in. Brooke had lived in Cannondale her entire life, and had a wealth of local knowledge. She knew where the best hiking trails were, where to find a plumber or an electrician, and which family-run restaurants were the most authentic.

“But you’re from Washington, DC,” Brooke said. She’d become distracted by a scented candle display and refused to budge until she’d sampled each one. “You probably had brilliant chefs from all over the world right at your doorstep.”

“You know what people in DC eat?” Kendrick asked. “American food.”

Brooke replaced one candle and picked up another. “What about Europe? Did you like the food over there?”

“Who wouldn’t?”

“Mmm, this is like a whole bakery in a jar.” Brooke handed Kendrick the candle. He held it under his nose. It smelled like German Bienenstich—layers of cake and cream topped with honey and almonds. It was a painful reminder that foreign travel was off limits to him. He returned the candle to the shelf.

“You’re not going to get that one?” Brooke asked.

“It’s not on the list.”