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“Nothing at all, truthfully. But it’s only been a few weeks. She plays a long game.”
“I hope she’s changed.” Sarah’s voice got quiet.
“Me too. But I think I’ll always have my doubts about that, especially after the last time.”
“I don’t blame you.” Sarah caught sight of someone beckoning her through the door. She held up a finger, telling them she wanted more time. “Eli, what would you say if I came out for a visit again?”
“You know how to reserve a booking, Sarah. I don’t know why you’re asking me.”
And that was her answer. Tears stung at Sarah’s eyes as she hung her head down. “No, Eli, the room I want isn’t available on your website.”
“Hmmm...you sure that’s the room you want?”
Sarah narrowed her eyes. She couldn’t tell for sure, but she thought there might be a tone of teasing in Eli’s voice. She certainly hoped there was, but she didn’t want to read into it if it wasn’t there.
“You going to cook your own meals while you’re here, too?”
“I’ll cook you anything, Eli, you know that.”
The sigh echoed through the line. Sarah closed her eyes, wishing Eli would just answer already, give her some sort of hint as to what she wanted because Sarah really didn’t want to have to work out the words to ask her bluntly—although she knew Kara would yell at her for not just doing that first.
“Sarah...”
That tone was back again. Sarah wanted to run and hide from it, completely afraid of what it meant and where the conversation was going. She cut the conversation off before it could go anywhere. “Yeah, never mind, that was stupid. I’m on a six-month tour and barely two weeks in. I won’t be able to set up another vacation until next year at this rate. I’ll see you around, Eli.”
“Sarah—”
But Sarah didn’t answer as she hung up and stared at the small device in her hand. She rubbed her temple and the back of her neck. She had taken the risk, taken the chance on calling, and she had no idea what had just happened in that conversation. They really should have talked before she’d left, she should have just delayed her flight and gone to find Eli—wherever she had been—and forced her to have a conversation about what they wanted, what they needed. Instead, they had both willingly thrust themselves into this awkward tension.
Sarah finished everything she needed to do and grabbed her jacket and her guitar as she headed out the back way. Sure enough, for some strange reason, there were still a couple fans out back waiting for her. She signed autographs, took pictures, made nice, but as soon as she got into the bus, she was exhausted. Maybe she was getting too old to be out on tour for so long. Two weeks in and she was already complaining about how tired she was—that didn’t bode well for the rest of it. Putting her feet up, she closed her eyes and drifted off until morning.
* * *
Morning came way too early. She would have to talk to them about scheduling her an early morning show right after a big concert. She spent an hour warming up her voice and getting it ready to sing after such a late night.
When she got to the studio, she was ushered in with her guitar, learning last minute she’d be doing both songs all by herself—which wasn’t a problem, it was just unexpected. Sarah sat down in the plush chair and smiled at the daytime show host. They’d done up her hair and makeup, as much as she begged them not to because whenever they did, she barely recognized herself.
“Today we are here with rising country music star, Sadie Bade. She’s at the start of a tour for her newest album release, and you’ve probably heard her number one hit, which I believe, she’ll be singing for us later.”
“Thanks, Carrie. Yes, I will be singing it for you in a minute, along with another song I wrote just this past winter.” Sarah gave a beaming grin like she was supposed to.
“Now, you write songs that are kind of out of the box. I hesitate to even call them country songs because you cross over multiple genres of music.”
Sarah’s heart thumped, her stomach a twisting ball of nerves. She’d gladly sing a concert any day instead of sitting there while being interviewed. Talking to people was not her strong suit, and with the conversation with Eli still fresh in her mind, it was a struggle to focus on anything.
“I do, I do. I really try to go where the music takes me, and I love all kinds of music, so that plays out when I write songs.”
“That’s right, because you write all of your own songs, don’t you?”
“I do.” Sarah grinned again, a flush rising to her cheeks.
“So what inspired you to writeNow’s the Time?”
“I wrote this song probably a decade ago but trust me when I say it is not what it was then. It’s much different now. But it started that long ago for me when I was really struggling with finding a balance of life and family and friends. And to be honest, I still don’t have that balance down.”
“Who does?” Carrie giggled.
Sarah’s stomach pulled tighter. “For sure. Anyway, this song was a representation of those struggles that many of us face. I think that’s why so many people can relate to it. It’s not easy to live life, but we’ve still got to do it.”
