The Song in My Heart Read Online Free Page B

music and was the antithesis of a party girl. Erika wasn’t so sure about Sloane, however, and that gave her pause. She didn’t want destructive distractions around her. To her, it was all about the music, about striving for perfection. Erika was all business in her pursuit for greatness. She didn’t want high-maintenance people around her who were more interested in fun than work. The other thing they all needed to be clear about was that she was the boss here, in spite of her youth and her thin résumé.
    “Well?” Sloane looked at Erika for acknowledgment. Finally . “Do we have a deal?”
    Dess was looking at her too with an unreadable expression.
    Mustering a brand of bravado she reserved usually for the stage, Erika flicked a thumb toward the limited-edition, mahogany Taylor acoustic guitar she’d earlier noticed nestled in a stand in the corner, next to the grand fireplace. “Why don’t you play something for me this time?”
    Amusement flickered in those liquid gray eyes, and the barest hint of a smile spilled from the corners of Dess’s mouth. But she did as she was told, fetching the guitar and plunking down on a high leather stool beside the window. Quickly, she ran through a few scales, her comfort with the instrument evident in the smooth grace with which her fingers moved. She adjusted the tuning as she went, then plunged into the opening notes of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” arpeggio style.
    Erika’s attention was riveted on Dess’s fingers—long, sure, adept, sensuous—moving quickly yet deceptively, the guitar as one with her body. The notes rang out clear and true, yet Dess’s unique musicality bled through in the subtle movements—the pauses, the hammerings, the bending of notes, the transitions. She was putting her own signature on the song, and clearly the woman knew what she was doing. Dess Hampton was every bit as talented with a guitar as she’d once been with her voice.
    With magnetic force, Erika could not take her eyes off Dess. Her eyes were closed, and there was an angelic smile on her lips as she continued to play the guitar. Erika could no more resist joining in the song than a child could resist a sprinkler on a scorching day, and she took her place beside Dess at the window.
    “ I don’t know how someone controlled you, they bought and sold you ,” she sang. They fell into a groove together, neither outshining the other, but rather complementing each other’s gifts perfectly—a true equilibrium of give and take. Dess flashed her a look of silent acknowledgment that the impromptu duet was fine with her, that it was working. And it was. It was lightning and thunder merging to produce an immeasurable power, and it felt and sounded more natural than any duet or collaboration Erika had ever been a part of. An uncanny instinct had them fitting their music around each other, joining, separating, merging seamlessly again.
    The song’s end was met by silence. Sloane’s mouth hung open in what Erika assumed was approval. She glanced at Dess and was rewarded with a nod. Both of them, it seemed, had passed each other’s test. And Sloane’s.
    “My God!” Sloane said, breathless. “Do you two have any idea how incredible that sounded?”
    Two shrugs, both playing it cool, like two champions sizing each other up at the finish line.
    “Well, I sure as hell do,” Sloane answered herself with an enthusiastic clap of her hands. “You two are lethal together. Spectacular! I can’t wait for us to get started.”
    Hmm , thought Erika. Lethal, huh? An interesting choice of words.

Chapter Three
    It took only a few strides for Dess to regret confiding in her sister that she was joining Sloane and Erika for their summer tour. The sisters were running along the path parallel to the lake, dressed in matching Adidas nylon pants and jackets. To outsiders they probably looked like twins, except Carol was two years older and two inches taller. And didn’t have a musical bone in her