Page 45 of Sing with Me

She could FaceTime him from afar, but it was only half an hour of driving from her house. She could have dinner at Saffron and not have to cook.

“Any time before Saturday is fine,” Diehl said.

“Okay.”

“One more thing. Mom wants us to eat out on Friday night, so you don’t have to make dinner that night. However, I don’t want you to take it off the cost.”

“You want to pay me for not cooking?”

“I don’t want to put your chefs out of work because of our constant change of meal plans.”

“It happens,” Skye said. “You’re on vacation.”

“How do you get paid when people cancel their plans?”

“We get paid. God always provides.” Skye shrugged. “We have corporate customers who sometimes pick up the slack. Also I just cook the dishes for myself.”

They placed the keyboard and stand near the microphone, and started to set it up. They had maybe twenty minutes left for soundcheck.

Hayden Hartley, one of the Sunday School teachers at Seaside Chapel, ambled over. He introduced himself to Diehl. “I heard you play on Sunday night, but I had to leave right after the service and didn’t get a chance to meet you.”

They made small talk while Skye texted Avery to ask if she was coming to the service even though she wasn’t singing. Avery said she was running late, but she’d do her best to make it.

Skye made a note on her phone to bake Avery something as a surprise. That girl worked hard. She was not only the principal trumpet in the Sea Islands Symphony Orchestra here in town, but she also had a trumpet studio at home where she taught brass instruments to students. That was in addition to being an assistant editor, telecommuting for a small press out of state.

“Skye and I go way back.” Hayden put his arm across Skye’s shoulders. “Though not as far back as Matt.”

Were Skye’s eyes deceiving her or was that a slight frown on Diehl’s face?

She saw that brief irritation.

“He’s trying to say that I never left town—that I was born here, I live here, and I will probably die here.” She tried to make light of Hayden’s words because there was no reason for her to explain that she and Hayden dated briefly a long time ago.

“You forgot the rest of it.” Hayden laughed. “You might also marry and have kids here.”

Diehl looked at Skye.

No, stared.

Stop staring, Diehl.

A light rain fell all around the pavilion in the waning light. Some people scrambled around them and left the pavilion.

“I don’t think we’ll be lighting the fire pit tonight,” Hayden said, letting go of Skye finally. “I hope you’ll stay around for the message. I prepared a long time for it. Months.”

“Of course, I’ll stay for the entire service, music or no music. It’s the Word of God that matters.” Skye turned to Diehl. “Let’s do our soundcheck.”

It went quickly. Everything worked. They left everything as it was, and Skye followed Diehl to get some food at the potluck table. Rain sprinkled on part of the table, but the plastic table cloth stayed in place.

“Did you bring anything?” Diehl asked.

“Not when I’m singing. I didn’t have time to cook and practice before tonight.”

Diehl leaned toward Skye to whisper in her ear. “Do we even know what are in these dishes?”

“Even if they’re labeled, we don’t always know for sure.”

Diehl chuckled. He tried what looked like chicken pot pie. “Oooh. This is delicious.”

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