Page 19 of Sing with Me

To some Christians, Diehl might be lost and unsaved. To some, he might be a baby Christian without enough spiritual knowledge. Either way, he had such an enormous pride as to declare that he didn’t need God.

Perhaps he was angry at God for taking his wife and leaving his two children motherless.

Perhaps he wanted to be self-sufficient after making such a mess of his life.

Yes, a mess. Brinley had confided in Skye about the strange marriage of Diehl and his wife, Isobel, about all the things that those two had put each other through. If two people had such intense dislike of each other, why had they married—not once, but twice?

Skye shook her head as sounds of piano scales filled the small cottage.

Then arpeggios.

Then scales again, in a different key this time.

Skye wondered if Brinley had sent over the music sheets to Diehl. He was clearly warming up on the Steinway.

She was glad to hear the piano.

It was such a shame that an expensive piano would be left unused in the living room.

If she had the money, Skye would buy this house from Brinley—if she would sell it. However, all her money was going into buying out Talia’s majority shares of Saffron of Jekyll.

After that, she hoped to sell the restaurant back to her brother, Sebastian, if he wanted it. He had started the flagship restaurant some years ago with Talia although their relationship didn’t work out.

If Sebastian didn’t want the restaurant back, Skye would run it alone. She wasn’t sure how, since her plate was full to the brim, but taking over the restaurant sure beat having to deal with an absentee—and voting—business partner who had moved to London, with no plans to return to the States.

So. Skye would have no money left to buy a beach house such as this one.

Her rental house across the island was small. She wanted a bigger kitchen. If she could find the time to look for a house to buy, she could renovate the kitchen. Oh, to have a dream kitchen once again.

Someday.

She had done what she had to when she needed the funds to invest in her brother’s restaurant. She bailed him out and freed him to pursue the love of his life. A noble cause at a great cost to herself.

Sigh.

And then she heard it.

A slow, jazzy, harrowing “His Eye is on the Sparrow” came forth from the piano in the living room, filling the air in the small kitchen and dining area.

Full of sadness and sorrow, the instrumental tune spoke of love and lost love. And hope in Christ.

Skye knew the words well. The poem had first been penned by in 1905, long before anyone put it to music.

I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free,

For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Skye turned down the stove, leaving Marlo to watch them. She hummed the tune as she walked toward the living room.

Diehl looked up from the piano and smiled to her as he continued playing an arrangement she had never heard before.

She waited until he reached the next stanza, and she began to sing.

His eyes widened. He almost lost his place on the piano, and Skye could tell he’d skipped a couple of notes. He resumed playing.

She continued singing, her voice soaring.

Yes, singing was a stress relief for her. She realized that she hadn’t sung all day. No wonder she felt uptight and all stressed out about her challenges.

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