Matchmakers Box Set: Matchmakers, Encore, Finding Hope by Bernadette Marie

light.”
    “Sounds wonderful. Anything you chose will be perfect.” She patted Sophia’s hand. “He left his car for you. The keys are on the rack by the door.”
    “Great.” She sipped her coffee.
    “Can I make you something to eat?”
    “No. I’m not very hungry.”
    Sophia walked to the sink and rinsed out her cup just as a familiar sound touched her ears. She turned around and listened more.
    “Is that Carissa?” she asked. The closed doors of the study muffled the cello’s hum.
    “Yes. School starts in a few weeks, and she’s been practicing hard. She really wants that first chair.”
    “Of course,” Sophia said, as though it was what everyone wanted. She listened longer. “She’s too soft. She needs to pull her bow longer.” The notes fell into a familiar pattern. “That’s one of Pablo’s pieces.”
    “She’s only just started that one. She’s a little weak on it, but she’ll improve.”
    Sophia walked from the kitchen and stood just beyond the glass doors to the study. It had once been her music room as well.
    She watched Carissa play the instrument she loved, and the sound filled her with longing for what might have been. She had real talent, Sophia thought. There was potential in the girl who seemed to despise her so much.
    Sophia closed her eyes and listened to the piece. She knew it so well. Her eyes would squeeze tight if the note missed a bit, but for the most part, it was perfect.
    Then the music stopped, and Sophia opened her eyes to see the young girl looking right at her.
    Cautiously, Sophia opened the French doors. “You play so nicely. I just, well, I had to stop and listen.” She rambled on, bracing herself against the string of curses that would surely be flung her way.
    “I’m struggling with this piece. It’s my audition piece for first chair.”
    “I thought it sounded wonderful.” Her opinion was genuine.
    “Really?”
    “Yes, you’re very talented.” She slowly moved into the study. “Pablo doesn’t like that piece very much. He wrote it after a lover left him, but it’s so popular.” Nerves rolled in her stomach, and she rested her hand there to ease them.
    “It’s a beautiful piece. I’ve heard him sing it a lot. I don’t understand Italian, but music is universal.”
    “That it is.” Sophia was next to Carissa now, and she noticed her heavily darkened eyes were not bitter as they had been the day before.
    “Would you help me while you’re here?”
    “Help you with the piece?” Her voice lifted with the shock of the request.
    “I’m sure you have other things to do.” Carissa slumped. “I’d understand…”
    “I’d love to.” Anticipation took over any bad feelings. She wasn’t certain what had prompted the abrupt change in Carissa’s attitude, but she welcomed the second chance to bond with David’s daughter. “I have to be at the caterer’s at one. We could start now if you’d like.”
    “I’d love that.” Carissa grinned. “Dad left the car for you so you could run your errands. I’d be happy to go with you if you’d like. I don’t have to be to work until six.”
    “That would be nice.”
    “Let me go get my cello, and we can play together,” Sophia offered.
    Sophia returned only a few minutes later and set up her instrument next to Carissa. The girl’s eyes were wide, and it was at that moment Sophia realized Carissa had been guarding herself against her. Perhaps she had finally realized that she wasn’t a threat to her. They might not be friends once she returned to Seattle or Rome, but while she was here, perhaps they could be cordial.
    “Let’s start here.” She touched the sheet of music. “This is the hardest part of the piece. It’s a decrescendo so that the voice can crescendo. You have to play it right or the mix throws off the dynamics. Now, even though you aren’t playing with a voice mix, it’s appropriate. If your teacher knows the piece, he’ll know you paid attention to detail.”
    Carissa