Page 71 of A Touch of Spring Magic

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By the timeChloe did a karaoke mash-up of Taylor Swift’s ‘Invisible String’ and ‘Lover,’ most of the guests had gathered around like it was a Chloe concert.

There were shouts for more, and even through her regret, confusion and embarrassment, Jessica couldn’t help but to be proud of her sister. Chloe had a beautiful voice, and she just lit up whenever she was singing, and every once in a while Jessica wondered why Chloe hadn’t pursued, if not opera, then writing some of her own music and singing locally at the very least, but no, she hadn’t wanted to leave Belmont or Grandma Millie or her sisters.

Even when we left her.

“Anyone else?” Chloe waved the mic around, but it was challenging to her over the sounds of cheering and the chants of ‘Chloe.’

She sparkled, and her luminous dark eyes lit on Rustin, who smiled a secret smile at her, and she mouthed ‘I love you.’

One more thing she’d blown again and again.

How was her sister so fearless in the face of the early rejection and teasing and dismissal she’d faced for years? She wasn’t that strong, but she could be.

“Hey, Chloe, how about a duet?” Jessica shouted and jumped up on the steps of the gazebo Storm had built, sanded, stained with so much attention to detail, before she could lose her nerve.

“Yes.” Chloe happy hopped. “My sister, Jessica Maye, often inflicted with duets when we were kids, and now she’s the owner of the Cramer-Maye Nursery and Botanical Gardens, and don’t think y’all are getting out of here without your gift of a plant and a ten percent off discount gift card good for the rest of May. Maye—get it?” Chloe laughed.

“No pressure.” Jessica looked out over the crowd. “There were a lot of potential customers out there,” she said softly, both amazed and daunted by Chloe’s marketing idea. She tried not to scan the crowd for Storm.

“I can help in the summers and holidays,” Chloe said, her voice a little hesitant, and her look wistful. “We could see more of each other and…”

Who knew what Chloe would say next because Jessica crushed her sister to her and furiously blinked back tears. Chloe yipped a little but hugged her back just as hard.

“Okay, let’s sing before my mascara runs,” Jessica said.

“Okay. What do you want to sing?”

“‘Starting Over’ by Chris Stapleton.”

“Yes.” Chloe pumped her fist and Rustin plugged in the code.

Jessica didn’t sing nearly as well as her sister in her opinion, but she did have a bit of a gift for harmonizing, and Chloe could do all the runs and trills, and somehow Jessica had always been intuitively able to follow. And as they sang, Jessica spied Storm near Rustin. He was talking rather intently, but his eyes were on hers the whole time.

Could he?

Would he?

Was it real?

Wasn’t attraction magical and it did or didn’t turn into love? And then love could deepen to a soul love or fizzle out if left unattended. What to do? What to do?

Sing. So she sang the song that felt like a vowel and let herself put all of her thwarted feelings and concerns and doubt and hope into her voice.

Fierce clapping had Jessica feel a little like a country singer for a moment.

“Hey, Jay and Chloe, you gonna let anyone else get up there?” Storm used the microphone that Rustin’s brother, Lucas, had been holding to announce the next singers on the list.

“Yes.” Chloe grabbed Jessica’s arm and tugged her off the stage, handing off her microphone.

“Sing like you mean it,” she told Storm.

And then Jessica stood close to the gazebo instead of fading into the crowd.

A bluesy strum of chords had her catching her breath as the notes held a hint of the familiar and yet were elusive, and then Storm started to sing in a surprising dusty, raspy voice reminiscent a bit of Zach Bryan. Who knew? She stared at him in awe as he sang Austin Giorgio’s ‘You Put a Spell on Me’ that was the sexiest song she’d ever heard.

She was melting, and it had nothing to do with the first hint of spring humidity.

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