Music of Souls

When they had finished dinner and were having port back in the drawing room, Jackson asked, "Now that you've seen Sarah's shoe closet, would you like to see the rest of the house?"

"I hoped you would ask."

As they walked from room to room, Elisabeth seemed to be more than impressed, especially at the artwork. "My God, this is better than going to a museum. This must be generations of collecting."

"Yes, we are a long line of art lovers."

When they made their way to Jackson's room, she immediately noticed her oil. "It looks better here than on my mantle."

"First and last thing I see every day." For a moment, he thought she might cry, so he led her back into the hallway. "I've saved my favorite room for last."

As he opened the door and she caught a glimpse of the music room, he heard her sharp intake of breath. "Is that a Steinway?"

"Yes it is." He was about to ask if she played, but she was already appreciating the ceiling."My God, that's hand carved." She walked to the music cabinets and ran her hands across the top. "Exquisite." She turned to Jackson. "I can see why you saved this for last."

Sarah was listening downstairs, and when she knew they were in the music room, she grabbed Connor's hand. "Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"We're going to get Jackson to play for Elisabeth." The two were at the door and Sarah crooned, "Jackson promised he would play for us tonight. Wouldn't you like to hear him Elisabeth?"

He shot daggers at her as Elisabeth said, "I would love to."

"Next time."

Sarah argued, "Oh, come on. The lava cakes won't be ready for another half hour. We won't take no for an answer, will we Connor?"

He looked at Jackson. "Sorry man." Elisabeth didn't say a word. She could see Jackson didn't want to play, but she really wanted to hear him, had a feeling Sarah would win in the end.

"Fine!"

Sarah and Connor sat down, but Elisabeth stood at the piano. Jackson sat and broke into a spirited arrangement of "The Entertainer."

"Come on," groaned Sarah.

Elisabeth immediately deduced what was going on. She picked up a piece of sheet music from the stand and could see it required a far greater command of the piano than he was exhibiting. When he finished, she held the piece up. "Methinks you're holding out on me."

He grinned innocently. "Do you play?"

"Not really, just enough to plink out a vocal line."

"You sing?"

"Yes."

Sarah jumped up. "Yeah! Let's have a concert!"