“It’s no more intimidating than if they had to audition to get into a college for the performing arts. And if they were taking private lessons at a music school, they would have to play for recitals.”
“Is that what you had to do?”
“Yes. The aunt who taught St. John piano also taught me. Our recitals were any time the family got together for a holiday or big event. One Sunday, my aunt put on a musical program at our house, and I was on program to play several hymns. The devil must have gotten into me when I rocked out Little Richard’s ‘Long Tall Sally,’ and Jerry Lee Lewis’s ‘Great Balls of Fire.’ It was so quiet in the place you could hear a rat piss on cotton. I took a bow, threw kisses to the ladies, and then walked out.”
Tonya laughed so hard her sides hurt. “How old were you?”
“Thirteen. My aunt said I must have gone temporarily insane and lost my mind, while my parents said if I was on something, that would explain what I did, but if I wasn’t, then they were going to help me find it.”
“What did they do?”
“I was grounded for the entire summer. When other kids were playing ball or going swimming, I had to get up early and work in the restaurant with Pop.”
“I bet thatlearnedyou,” Tonya joked.
“It did. And the days when the restaurant was closed, I wasn’t allowed to leave my room except to eat.”
“How did you pass the time?”
“I read every book in my mother’s bookcase. She didn’t like going to the movies, so she’d read books that were turned into films. Her favorite was Ian Fleming’s James Bond. Even now she devours anything written by James Patterson, Nicholas Sparks, and Dan Brown. I noticed you have a lot of books and magazines when I slept over your place.”
“I read while listening to music.” She sat on a stool and watched Gage almost simultaneously drain a pot of boiled potatoes and plunge them into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. He repeated the motion with a saucepan of green beans, followed by rinsing two hard-boiled eggs under cold water.
“I can drop you off in the morning and pick you up in the afternoon, so you don’t have to move your car.”
“I have to use my car,” Tonya insisted, “because I leave earlier than you do.” She’d followed Gage back to his house and parked her SUV alongside his in an indoor lot that offered discount prices for those living in the Lower French Quarter.
“What time do you have to get up in the morning?”
“Five fifteen.”
He gave her a questioning look. “Why so early?”
“I have to get ready to be at the restaurant by six.”
“You go in at six every day?” She nodded. “Did Eustace tell you to come in at that time?”
“No. I have to be there early on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday when he’s at the gym, so coming in the same time on Tuesday and Thursday doesn’t present a problem for me.”
Reaching into the back pocket of his jeans, Gage removed his cell phone and entered his passcode. “Well, it’s a problem for me, because you’re putting in too many hours.”
Tonya bristled at his tone. How many hours she worked was not his concern or his business. “Don’t interfere,” she warned.
“What’s up, bro?” He’d ignored her; she heard Eustace’s voice through the speaker.
“Do you need Tonya to come in early on Tuesdays and Thursdays?”
“No. Why are you asking?”
“She’s staying with me until the gates at DuPont House are working again. Hannah doesn’t want her to stay there with the property unprotected. I’m asking about those days because I can drop her off and pick her up. That is if you don’t mind her coming in at seven-thirty rather than six.”
“That’s not a problem, Gage. I keep telling Tonya that she’s doing too much but she, like every other woman I deal with, ignores the hell out of me.”
“I can hear you,” Tonya shouted.
“Damn, bro. Why didn’t you tell me you had me on speaker?”
Gage winked at Tonya. “Because we’re very candid with each other, I didn’t want her to think I was snitching on her.”
