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“I uh…I just came in from the fields and was getting lunch and heard you playing.”
Again Sarah didn’t answer.
Eli, thoroughly confused, pointed over her shoulder with her thumb toward the kitchen. “Uh…I’m just going to get food, I guess. I’m sorry, really. I didn’t mean to intrude. I’m so sorry.”
Backing away until she reached the stairs, Eli then turned on the balls of her feet and booked it for the kitchen. As soon as she was away from Sarah, she pressed both her hands to the cold granite counter tops. Whatever she had done had been the wrong thing. She should not have eavesdropped that way.
Yelling at herself internally, Eli grabbed a plate and the makings for a sandwich. She was halfway through when she felt Sarah in the room. Eli wondered if everything was going to unravel in that moment, if she’d have to confess her star-struck crush or if she’d get away with hiding it for longer, but she was pretty sure her entire heart was about to be laid bare.
“I…I don’t normally play in front of other people when I’m writing something.”
Eli’s shoulders tensed as she slid the knife along the flat side of the bread, spreading out the mayonnaise. She had no idea what to say.
“You just took me by surprise is all.”
Glancing over her shoulder, Eli nodded. “Like I said, I’m sorry. I came home to get a late lunch before I go out to fix the fence. I didn’t mean to disturb you. You can go back to playing if you want.”
“I don’t.” Sarah’s voice had an air of resignation to it.
Eli skimmed her gaze up and down Sarah’s form. Her shoulders were drawn in, and her eyes cast down toward the floor. Her hair was a mess, like she hadn’t brushed it in days, and all Eli wanted to do was walk toward her, tangle her fingers in Sarah’s mess of hair and kiss her senseless. Swallowing down the feeling, she focused on her sandwich.
“You eat yet?”
“No,” Sarah’s voice was quiet.
“Want one?”
“Sure.”
Eli set out a double helping of what she was making. When she turned around with Sarah’s food on a plate, she set it down in front of her. Sarah slid onto the stool and took a tentative first bite. Eli went to the fridge and grabbed some waters before she stood across from Sarah, not daring to get any closer to her. Her crush was only growing instead of dissipating like she had hoped earlier when out in the fields. She was going to have to watch that.
They ate mostly in silence, and just as Eli was finishing up and about to wash her plate, Sarah’s voice distracted her.
“You said you were fixing the fence?”
“Uh…yeah. I can’t keep having Cassie getting out and eating Bill’s wheat.”
Sarah nodded, her dark eyes locked on Eli’s face. “Can I help you?”
Stunned, Eli wasn’t quite sure what to say. “You don’t have to work for your room and board, you know.”
“I know.” Sarah shrugged. “Thought it’d be nice to get outside for a bit instead of staying cooped up.”
“You don’t want to…you know…” Eli waved her hand toward the den “…finish writing whatever that was.”
Sarah’s lips quirked into a half-smile. “It’ll take weeks if not months to get the full song out. I need a break from it. Breaks are good.”
“Oh. Okay. I mean, I guess you can come. Have you ever dug a post hole before?”
“No.”
“Ah.” Eli leaned against the sink, facing Sarah. “Got gloves?”
“Work gloves? No.”
“Didn’t think so. I’ve got some. You’ll need them, especially if you want to play guitar tomorrow. Don’t need blisters on those pretty hands of yours.”
“Pretty?”
