Pathway to Tomorrow by Sheila Claydon Read Free Book Online

tell her a singing career is a really bad idea.”
    Instead of answering he scribbled something on a scrap of paper.  “Here’s my cell number. Tell her to call me.  After I’ve listened to her I’ll talk to you before I make any promises. That’s if she’s good enough of course.”
    “Oh she’ll be good enough. She was right about that if nothing else.” She twisted her plait up onto the top of her head and jammed her riding hat back on as she stood up.
    He followed her to the door, grabbing an apple from a bowl of fruit on the way out.  “I’ll open the gate for you.”
    Buckmaster whickered as she walked up to him. She rubbed his nose.  Then she reached into his saddlebag, pulled out the sweater, and handed it to Marcus.
    He took it from her and then offered Buckmaster the apple.  The chestnut gelding’s response was so delicate that if he hadn’t been watching he wouldn’t have felt him take it from his outstretched palm.
    “Hey, a new friend Bucky!”  She put her foot into the stirrup and swung herself onto the horse’s back.
    Marcus smiled up at her as he opened the gate.  “ That makes two.”
    He watched her go and tried not to imagine what she might look like with her hair loose around her face.  Then he clicked the gate shut and walked back to the trailer with his nose buried in the jumper.
     
     

 
    Chapter Nine
     
    For the next two weeks Izzie was like a tightly drawn bow.  She had contacted Marcus the moment Jodie gave her his cell number and then been devastated when he told her he was going to be away for ten days and she should phone him when he returned.
    “I don’t know how I’m going to wait,” she wailed.
    “You’ll manage.  You’ve enough homework to keep you busy. Marcus Lewis or no Marcus Lewis, you know I expect you to do well in your exams.”
    “Okay! Okay! You know I always work hard.”
    “Yes, I do.”  Jodie ruffled her hair. “I’m proud of you. Just don’t get your hopes up too much about the music because Marcus Lewis is a busy man.”
    Izzie nodded.  If that was what it was going to take to keep Jodie happy then she would nod until her head fell off.  She would do anything for her except give up her plans because she knew that once he heard her sing she would be one step nearer to her dream.
     
    * * *
     
    Marcus knew it too.  He knew it within the first few notes although he still put her through her paces. He made her sing a lot of different songs.  He introduced jazz and soul. He played slow melodies. He played ragtime.  It didn’t matter.  She was pitch perfect in all of them. And more confident than she had any right to be. The quality of her voice was mesmerizing too. Unexpectedly deep, it had a husky catch to it that was going to send a million teenagers crazy.  She was raw and untrained of course, but that was almost incidental. Highly strung or not, he knew she had what it took to get right to the top.
    When they had finished he left her to clear up the sheets of music scattered around his keyboard and walked over to the window. Outside he could see the shell of his music studio. Surrounded by scaffolding it was growing fast.  He had made it his priority. That, and the ground floor suite he was having built for Luke.  Everything else could wait. He was prepared to camp out in the trailer for as long as it took.
    “I’m going to be away for a while,” he told her, knowing she was waiting for him to say something. “I’ll talk to Jodie when I get back.”
    When she didn’t speak he turned around to look at her. Her face was pale and her fists were tightly clenched. Remembering what Jodie had said, he softened his tone. 
    “You don’t need me to tell you you’re good Izzie.  But you do need Jodie on side, and you also need to wait until my studio is finished.  We can’t achieve much inside this trailer with an electric keyboard.  It’s fine for composition but it doesn’t do a lot for performance.”
    “But you are