The Prince's Devious Proposal - Holly Rayner Page 0,57
because your first attempt ended, that doesn’t mean you can’t try again.”
“Besides,” Sarah said, “it’s not just about trying to start a career again. I mean, if that happens, that’s great. But Harry’s right. You’re a musician, and musicians should play. Even if a few open mic nights a week are all that ever comes of it…don’t you want to do that, Naomi? Wouldn’t that make you happy?”
Naomi hesitated.
The truth was that the idea of playing for a live audience again was intoxicating. It had been so long since she had stood in front of people, feeding off the energy of the crowd, pouring that energy back out to them in her songs.
She did want to do it. Suddenly, she wanted it more than almost anything.
And she was in New York. What a fun place to start. It wasn’t like Los Angeles, where everyone was clamoring for fame. Here, she thought, she would be among people who performed for the love of their art.
“Okay,” she said. “I’ll do it.”
Sarah grinned. “Fantastic,” she said. “We’ll go this weekend. Harry and I will get a babysitter, and we’ll all go together.”
That was a nerve-racking idea. “You’re going to come?”
“Of course,” Sarah said. “I can’t miss my own sister’s return to the stage.”
“And I never pass up on an opportunity to see a famous musician play,” Harry said.
Naomi groaned. “I’m not famous, Harry.”
“You’re a household name,” he said, smiling. “Why, I’ve even got a copy of your CD!”
“You’re married to my sister.”
“Be that as it may.” He laughed.
Naomi stood up. “If I’m going to perform this weekend, I’d better start working on some words for the song,” she said.
She took the guitar up to her room, strummed quietly through the song one more time to finalize the chords in her mind, then sat down with a notebook and began to write.
The theme tying all her past songs together had been stars and other celestial bodies. She had written about moons and galaxies, about the vastness of the universe and the miracle of every chance meeting that happened within it. It was a theme that had always moved her.
But it didn’t feel right to write about that same topic now. This was a new phase in her career—if it was, indeed, a career move, and not just a whim. She was older and wiser now, and she wanted to write something different.
She began by writing a few words down, as she always did. Words that resonated with the way she was feeling. She pulled from her memories of Europe and the beautiful things she had seen. Gelato from Rome. Mountains from Switzerland. Sunset from Barcelona.
Journey. That was a good word. It described not only the trip she had taken, but the way she had gone from feeling trapped in her own life to feeling in control once more.
The next step was to find words that rhymed with the first set. She scribbled down every rhyming word she could think of, though she wasn’t sure which ones she would use. The story had to come together first. Then she would see which words made sense.
She tore out the page of words and set it beside her.
It was time to begin writing the lines of the song.
She closed her eyes. It had been so long since she’d done this, and yet it was all coming back to her so easily. Why had she ever stopped?
She leaned over and added one more word to her page—love.
Then, satisfied that she had put together the collection of words she needed to create the song she wanted, she began to write the story of her romance with Petr Agridis.
Chapter 19
“I should really go home,” Naomi said. “I’ve been here two weeks now. I must be outstaying my welcome.”
“Of course you’re not,” Sarah said, placing a mug of coffee before her. Over the past two weeks, she had learned how Naomi liked her coffee and was now able to prepare it without asking.
Harry, his hands occupied with his omelets, agreed. “You should stay as long as you want to. Give me the opportunity to really get to know my sister-in-law. I’ve hardly spent any time with you since the wedding!”
“Are you bored?” Sarah asked. “Is that the problem? You have been a bit cooped up inside. Maybe we should plan some activities. Get out and see the city. I bet I could get tickets for a Broadway show, if there’s something you want to see.”
“No, no,” Naomi protested. “You don’t have