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“Thank you.” He nodded.
I backed further away, pretending to focus my attention on the guitars on the wall when the glass door opened, and they all came out of the small room. The kids were louder than I wanted, but they all dispersed, each heading towards a different guitar. Jillian followed her twins, and Dustin went directly to a guitar just like the one Elliot had picked. I watched them for a moment, but my eyes landed on Elliot as he smirked at me.
“You found me,” he whispered, his arm slinking around my waist.
“I did,” I whispered back. “You found a guitar?”
Raising his eyebrows and chin, he gave me a small nod. “I did. Do you think Park City will like an acoustic set?”
“Sing that song and yes, they would.”
Scrunching his nose he shook his head, pulling away slightly. “Nah, that song isn’t finished yet.”
Mimicking his expression, I added an eyebrow wiggle and turned my back, only to feel his hand slip into mine, keeping me from going too far.
“Come on, let’s go find everyone else. Believe it or not, I think I’m done here. I just need to get a case and a few picks.” Elliot picked up his pace to walk next to me. “I think I sparked something in Dustin, you should have seen him as I was playing.”
“If only they were old enough to come to the shows. I doubt Holden will want his eleven-year-old in a bar.” I laughed, spinning my head to see Dustin looking at the acoustic guitar that he had picked up.
We left the room and walked over to the cases, Elliot’s eyes moving to the electric guitars as we passed. “I can teach him a few things if he’d like, and I’m pretty sure the bar is an all-ages type of place . . . isn’t it?”
“Not sure.” I reached out to touch one of the guitars as Elliot’s hand led me towards the small alcove. “But lessons would be cool, give that kid something to focus on other than video games.”
With no response Elliot dropped my hand to open a guitar case, both hands feeling the velvety fabric inside. Closing it, he picked up the case and reached for my hand again. An entire two minutes felt like so much longer, and without his hand, I was missing those sparks he always gave me.
He grabbed a pack of guitar picks, being pickier on these than he was on anything else, we cashed out and met my family at the front of the store.
“When is the show?” My dad asked, the sounds of the street filling the void that was left from the store.
“Thursday, and then the one with my band is next week. Pete wants me every night if he could.”
“We’ll make sure to contact a sitter for the night your band is here. We’re all coming,” my mom added.
Elliot raised his eyebrows and turned to look at me. “I’ll make sure to tell the guys. They will be thrilled.”
Chapter Thirty-One
-Elliot-
The days before the show started to go slower and slower. I had picked songs to fit the time limit Pete had given me, and was able to run through the set in private, while Jamie had left for the gallery. I had Bennett on FaceTime as I ran through all the songs, and sent him over the final lyrics for the new one I had been working on.
“We all got our plane tickets the other day. This Pete guy is really into it, huh?” Bennett asked as I packed up the guitar.
“He’s excited, that’s for sure. Do you think you guys can get that new song down before next week?”
“You’re really determined about playing it in a week? I mean, yeah, we can work on it for sure but maybe save it for the studio?”
I shook my head and locked the case. Running my hands through my hair, I leaned on the counter where the phone waspropped up. “No, we have to play it that night. In case you haven’t guessed—”
“It’s for Jamie. We figured. Interested to see where the sunflowers come into play. You don’t like flowers.”
“I’ll send you the photo, but it would be better to go see it at the gallery. It’s stunning. And she’s working on something upstairs but she won’t let me see it until it’s finished.” I glanced upstairs, as if I suddenly gained x-ray vision and could see the canvas through the flooring and cloth that covered it.
Each night, before we climbed into bed, she would cover the painting and turn the easel away from the bed, taking no chance in the fact that I’ll see it. We even made a bet one night that I could send her over the edge using just my fingers and tongue, and if I won, she had to show me the painting. And even though I won the bet, she distracted me, and I forgot about the painting altogether. Jamie had a way of doing that, she could clear my mind in seconds. She could help me forget about selling my company and playing a solo gig in front of a crowd when I had no idea how they would react. She only made me think of the moment we were in.
“Go up and sneak a peek, it wouldn’t hurt,” Bennett’s voice snapped me back to reality.
“Yeah, no. It would. She’s only heard a few lines of the song, and I can’t see that painting until she’s ready. She spends a lot of time on it though. I’ll play and she’ll paint, it’s becoming our rhythm.” I racked my teeth on my bottom lip. “Jamie has a way of making me focus. I don’t think I’ve ever been this into a song before, or enjoyed simply watching someone as they did what they love.”
