Page 86 of The Sound of Harmony

ChapterTwenty-Two

Emma missed Kendrick. Between his doctor’s appointments and meetings with the Columbus Philharmonic Orchestra, he was constantly leaving Cannondale, and living a part of his life she had no access to. They still talked on the phone, their conversations as lively as ever, but she felt like she barely saw him.

Maybe it was karma, she thought, since she was working with Mitch so that other people could sell their houses and leave Cannondale forever. Mitch kept giving her referrals, and she didn’t want to turn down the higher pay, so she found herself working for him almost exclusively as The Clutter Whisperer business dwindled.

Emma couldn’t wait for the CPO concert. Not only would she finally hear what Kendrick had been working on, but when it was done, the two of them could go back to spending Friday nights watching movies and lazy Sunday mornings cuddled in bed.

His bed, not hers. He hadn’t spent the night at her apartment yet. She kept thinking that today would be the day that she let him in, let him stay over, locked her one and only door with him inside it. But then she’d put it off another day, and another. The time was never right.

Three days before the concert, Kendrick canceled a date, claiming he had a headache. Emma knew it wasn’t a headache, but didn’t call him on it. Kendrick worked through his attacks of vertigo alone. He said he got better faster in the quiet and the dark.

He always bounced back happier the following day. Feeling better seemed to make him giddy, as if the contrast with the day before made him appreciate normal life.

“What is this?” she asked, looking at her calendar the next day. She kept it on the clipboard with her other lists, and rarely let it out of her sight. But she must have turned her back long enough for Kendrick to write on it.

“Just helping you set your agenda,” Kendrick answered with a wicked grin. “That’s your to-do list, isn’t it?

Saturday was circled in red, with the letters CPO in bold print. Each calendar square for the following week was filled with his name.

“Looks like I’ll be busy,” she said.

“Can’t wait.” Kendrick’s eyebrows jumped up and down.

Emma flipped the pages of her calendar. Holidays were coming up. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. She vowed that before she turned the page to a new year, she would bring Kendrick to her apartment, let him in, and let him stay.

Kendrick knew he shouldn’t rely on one concert, one piece of music, one performance in one Midwestern town to change the arc of his career. It would take more than that to turn him into a working composer. But it was the start of something that would lead to better somethings. Longer compositions, better venues, higher pay, more respect.

He’d been too busy lately to scroll social media, so he wasn’t seeing posts of his far-away friends. He wasn’t looking out the window at the houses on Cricket Lane, thinking about the neighbors and their unhealthy interest in him. He didn’t spend time thinking about what Cannondale lacked.

He had some decisions to make, but those could wait. For now, things were exactly as they should be. For the first time since moving to Ohio, Kendrick felt like he was standing on solid ground.

The night before the concert, Kendrick FaceTimed Emma from the hotel he was staying at near Orchestra Hall. They were usually happier with voice calls, but he needed her to see him today. He was trying to decide if he should wear a suit to the concert or go all in and wear his tuxedo. He wouldn’t be on stage, only in the audience, but he owned his tux and he felt comfortable in it, so maybe he could get away with it. He’d try on both and get Emma’s opinion.

“You’re kidding me,” Emma said.

“It’s too much, isn’t it?” Kendrick plucked at the lapels of his tuxedo jacket. It was definitely too much.

“Nooo,” Emma cooed. “It’s the right amount.”

“Of?”

“Of hot-damn, panty-dropping, yes-please. You tried on the tuxedo first because you knew that was going to be the one.”

Oh. Kendrick’s groin tightened at Emma’s expression of lust. He wanted to leap through the internet connection and ravage her.

“I want to see something.” Emma’s voice was a soft purr. “Will you show me?”

“Anything you want.”

“Will you undo your bowtie?”

Kendrick’s hand flew to his collar. He unknotted his tie and let the tails hang. He looked into the camera. “Now what?”

“Unbutton your top button,” Emma said. “One more. Sit back in the chair. Look at the ceiling. Perfect.”

“For what?” he asked. This was not how he imagined this conversation going, but he was more than willing to play.

“Just let me do a screenshot real quick,” Emma said. “It would be better if you hadn’t shaved today, but we can’t have everything.”