Otto blew the horn three times, and that had been a week ago. Which meant an entire week of skulking around her own house while doing her best not to be seen or heard by Eli or his entourage. Granted, there weren't all that many of them, but there were a few, and if she had understood Phoebe correctly there were more on their way. Including Mason Stevens and his wife, Cassandra Stevens, who was helping to co-write the soundtrack for the movie in which she and Mason were starring.
Mason's arrival would mean that she would have to be twice as careful because Mason had a knack for finding out the impossible. Although, even with the possibility of Mason outing her, Rhea was eager to meet his wife, she couldn't picture the fun-loving Mason married. There was no doubt that she would have to be an amazing woman to hold Mason's attention because not much did.
The same day that Eli had arrived so had a piano tuner, and the baby grand had never sounded so good. She could now hear him from the kitchen as his music filled every corner of the house. It was becoming more and more impossible to pretend that he wasn't there.
Rhea was making pastry for pie shells, and she was doing her best to stay focused so she didn't over work the dough.
She had been lucky that Phoebe had actually kept her promise and was helping around the inn. There hadn't been many guests scheduled, there never were in the late fall, and Eli had booked the entire hotel for the next three months. Every room sold out. Phoebe had been right, he had brought them much needed income, and she had finally been able to pay off some bills and squirrel the rest away in an account her parents didn't know about. But it was only a matter of time before they put two and two together and demanded the rest of the money.
Rhea looked over her shoulder at the clock, she only had half of an hour before she had to catch the mid-day ferry so that she could put a few hours in at the restaurant, balancing the books. She was wrapping the last of the dough to place in the fridge when she heard it, his voice. She hadn't heard it in person in over five years, and she froze, closing her eyes at the sound.
He was playing Georgia's state song, 'Georgia on My Mind', and the slow bluesy sound suited his gravelly voice. He had played that for her as a joke the day he had learned she was from Georgia, and he had done it without any sheet music.
She closed the door to the fridge and wandered out of the kitchen into the hallway, a little bit closer, she just wanted to hear his voice a little bit better. She crept slowly down the hall and past the massive center staircase. She stopped with her back against the wall at the edge of the door, just out of sight. The mirror in the hall reflected his down bent head as he looked down at his hands as the stroked the keys of the piano. There was the edge of a smile across his lips. It was the first time she had seen him, and he looked...wonderful. His hair was longer than it had been, and he had some scruff on his jaw, but otherwise he appeared unchanged.
She closed her eyes as she let the music wash over her, her knees a bit wobbly, her heart beating erratically. Time had not made a difference to her feelings for the man. She was pulled back into the memory of a hot summer's evening, a night spent under the stars, the one and only night that she had ever spent in Eli's arms. It had been a dream come true.
The song slowly ended and it took a few seconds to come back to earth, and she did so with a bump because when she opened her eyes she saw Eli looking at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes locked with his and she was once again frozen in place. Neither one of them said a word as they stared at each other. His eyes searched her face for something, she want sure what.
"Are you a ghost or a mirage?" he asked softly.
Rhea realized she hadn't been breathing, and she forced herself to take a deep shaky breath which sound outrageously loud in the tense silence that surrounded them.
Eli's gaze had fallen to her chest as it rose and fell rapidly. "You're breathing so I'm guessing it's neither. I was wondering when you were going to come out of hiding." He stood up suddenly, and Rhea made a little choking noise before she darted down the hallway and out of sight, retreating to her comfort zone, the kitchen. She stood still clutching the counter, knowing she should move and disappear altogether.
How had he known that she was there? Had Phoebe told him, had he known the entire time? Had he known before he had come?
At that last ridiculous thought, she pushed away from the counter. She had to get it together, she would venture into the real world and away from her little paradise, the real world had a way of helping her keep her head on straight, just as it had six years earlier. There was no way he had known where she was before he had come, he wasn't that interested. If he was, he would have followed her into the kitchen and not let her runaway like he had the last time they had been together.
She picked up her bag and swung it over her shoulder, walking to the door on shaky legs. Phoebe and Aion would return with her, and they would help her keep Eli at a distance. She walked briskly down to the dock, noting that she had timed it perfect. Otto had already helped his passengers off and was waving to her. Rhea waved back as she noted the couple that was walking up the dirt road towards her. She wanted to groan as she watched a huge grin cover Mason Stevens's face.
Rhea did her best to make her own smile as natural as possible.
"Sunny!" he greeted, as he enveloped her in a big hug. "You look..." he held her away from him frowning, "tired."
"Mason!" The beautiful redhead standing next to him admonished.
"Sunny is an old friend Cassie, I can be honest with her. Is Eli keeping you up at night?" He wiggled his eyebrows, and Rhea didn't know if she should laugh or cry as a blush stole up her cheeks.
At least now she didn't have to worry about Mason letting the cat out of the bag about her presence.
Rhea held out her hand to Cassandra Stevens. "I'm Rhea Harris."
"Cassandra Stevens, call me Cassie, do I call you Sunny?"
"No!" Mason insisted. "Just a slip of the tongue."
Rhea shook her head at his constant weirdness. "Rhea is fine."
Otto let out a piercing whistle.
"I'm sorry, I have to go, it was nice to meet you Cassie." Before either one of them had a chance to say anything else she made a break for it, hurrying towards the ferry and Otto's waiting helping hand.
*******
"Was that The Sunny?" Cassie asked softly as she watched the young girls retreating form.
"Yep, and this trip just got very interesting," Mason said, grabbing Cassie's hand and pulling her up the dirt path. "Who knows, you might actually get to see a happy Eli for a change."
"I've seen Eli happy!" Cassie insisted.
"Nope, you've seen Eli pretending to be happy."
They charged up the steps of the beautiful plantation house and Cassie's head swiveled as she tried to take in the grandeur of the old house with its massive porches and columns.
"Let's stay here instead of in town," Cassie insisted.
"Sure, Eli already suggested as much." Mason was pulling his beautiful wife towards the sound of the piano notes that floated towards them. "Uh-oh, Vivaldi is never a good thing."
"It's not?"
"Nope."
"It sounds beautiful."
Mason led the way into a large room that had a massive fireplace. There were bookshelves and deep plush couches and chairs scattered around the room atop beautiful rich colored rugs. In one corner there was baby grand and at it sat Elias Emory, head bent as he leaned into the piano, playing with a passion Cassie had never heard before.
They waited until he finished and looked up at them, blinking as if he was coming out of another world.
"Hey guys!" He greeted with a smile that looked genuine to Cassie. He hugged them both then fell into one of the couches as Cassie sat next to him, watching him with a worried frown
Mason assessed him, not saying a word, until, eventually, Eli couldn't take the silence anymore and he broke it. "What's on your mind Mason?"
"Sunny, I saw her as we arrived."
Eli nodded, not giving anything away to his friend.
"As far as I know, no one knows she's Sunny and I'd like to keep it that way." He added, answering one of Mason's questions. There had not been a happy reunion between the two lovers.
"I figured as much, although I greeted her as Sunny so Cassie knows." He looked at Cassie as if she had forced the truth out of him.
"Don't look at me like that Mason Stevens, it was your big mouth opening before you thought about it that let truth slip, but don't worry; I know how to keep a secret."
Mason snorted his disbelief and Cassie's eyes narrowed.
Eli threw his arm over Cassie's shoulders. "I'm glad you two are here, how long can you stay?"
"We have two weeks until we start filming. Then we'll have to move back to the house in town." Mason plopped down on the other side of his wife with a long-suffering sigh. "You're not going to talk about it, are you?"
"No, I'm not, so let it go, please."
"Fine." Mason sounded like a churlish child.
"So how are the amenities here?" Mason asked looking around. "I'm impressed so far."
Eli got a devilish smile on his face. "Weeeelllll, there is no television, no internet, no cell service, and everyone has to share a bathroom."
"Son-of-a-"
"But! There is a private beach too far away for even the longest camera lens to reach, wild horses, long meandering walking trails, and Rhea's cooking."
Mason didn't miss the fact that he had called Sunny, Rhea. "All you had to say was Rhea's cooking, I'd suffer though just about anything for that." Mason rubbed his stomach at the thought. "Another bonus is we'll be out of reach of the family for two whole weeks."
"Until they send out a search party," Cassie agreed as she stood. "If I'm officially on vacation I want a nap, where is our room?"
"Pick any one you want, no one else is staying here, they couldn't be bothered once they heard about the lack of internet. I have the one that is in the attic."
"Sounds dreary and cold," Mason said as he stood.
"It's the only one with a private bathroom."
Mason shot Eli a look and mumbled something under his breath about 'friends like you' before he escorted Cassie from the room.
"Dinner is at seven!" Eli called over his shoulder as he closed his eyes, leaving Mason and Cassie no closer to knowing what the current status quo was between him and Rhea.
"All is not good," Mason said frowning, deep in thought.
"No, but it will work itself out, we did."
"Yes, we did." Mason looked at her with a smile. "Let's go discuss how well it did work out."