“Hi honey,” Ella’s heart lifted at seeing her daughter’s face.The girls inherited her red hair, her brown eyes but Zee’s high cheekbones.
“Mom, guess what?”
“Can Dad guess too?”Zee teased.
Annie rolled her eyes at them but smiled hugely.“Fine, Dad, guess what?”
“What’s up?”Zee asked.
“I got a solo!At the opening exhibition on Friday for the Art Gallery of the Pacific.I can’t wait!The college president is going to be there, and music executives!It’s going to be live-streamed so you can hear it!”
“Congratulations, Annie!That’s super.”
“I didn’t even know you auditioned for this?”Ella asked.Her cheeks ached with how big she smiled.
Annie shook her head, her long hair falling off her cheek.
“No, I didn’t know if I was going to do it, Mom.I had talked myself out of it, but I decided at the last minute to take a chance.”
“And you did it!I’m proud of you, Annie!”Zee high-fived their daughter through the screen.
Ella’s heart exploded with a burst of joy.
She had tried to pass on her love of music to both daughters, but only Annie stuck with violin and piano and ended up going to university on a music scholarship and when she switched to piano to finish her studies, Ella couldn't help the rush of pride that flooded her system, every time she thought about it.
It couldn’t have worked out better because Madison was offered a scholarship for soccer.
She loved that her daughters went to the same school but hated being so far away from them.
“Mom, you’re not upset that I didn’t run it past you?”Annie bit her lip, and Ella wanted to reach through the screen and hug her.
“No, of course not.I’m proud of you for being so brave.”Ella’s throat closed tight with tears.
Annie was way braver than she’d ever be.She loved playing the piano, even taught lessons here and there over the years, but to make a living out of it wasn’t something she could let herself dream.
Her stomach twisted thinking of the job posting Annie had sent her last month.
The university was searching for a piano mentor, but there was no way Ella would apply for that.
She hadn’t ever played professionally, and Club Bandit and Zee’s demanding job kept her busy.
She didn’t need a job.
So she brushed thoughts of the posting to the side, but now and then it crept into her thoughts… what if she did audition for the job?What if she did get it?The far-flung thought made her swallow a laugh.
“Are you sure, Mom?I was so nervous, I thought telling anyone would make it worse.”
“Annie, you did what was right for you,” Ella said, her voice full of pride.
Though it was slightly atypical of Annie not to tell her about the audition or ask her to hear a piece she was working on, Ella understood her daughter’s anxiety and her need not to talk about it until after the fact.
“Aunt Rosalind might be able to make it.”
“Good,” Zee said.“I’ll ask her to take lots of pictures.”
Ella’s heart jerked with a flash of jealousy.
She wanted to be there more than anything, but what had sealed the decision of the girls going to the small arts college was that their Aunt Rosalind, the wife of Zee’s late brother, lived forty-five minutes away.
