She laughs, and it dawns on me that she’s nearly as nervous about this as I am. “Oh, you know. Some people think I can be overbearing. And while I always do my best to make all the wives and girlfriends feel welcome, not everyone wants to be friends with the mom, even if she is the captain’s wife.” When I open my mouth, unsure how to respond, she smiles and waves it away. “Sorry. That sounds like some kind of pity party, and that’s not what I mean at all. Just, y’know, my priorities are different. And many people don’t have a problem with that, but some people do. Or our personalities just don’t gel. Isn’t that just part of being human?”
“For sure.”
“Are you ready to order? I think I know what I want.”
After we order our food, get our drinks, and sit back down, Tina lets out a sigh. “This is fun. I’m so glad you reached out. Nick tells me you’re a violinist?”
Swallowing, I nod. “Yes. I’ve been playing since I was a kid, and I finished my degree at Lawrence University a few years ago. Since then, I’ve been playing with a couple of regional symphonies, gigging, and teaching.”
Her eyes grow wide. “That’s so amazing. But it must’ve been a big deal to move all the way out here. Do you have contacts here that can help you get started doing those things in this area? Or are you starting from scratch?”
I grimace at how pointed that question is and shake my head. “No. No contacts here. It is a big change, but …” I shrug, leaving her to fill in the blanks however she likes. She doesn’t need to know that my move and marriage to Jason were both motivated by financial distress and his desire to be a white knight. Although … is that really his only motivation?
Based on how he approached the wedding, planning this reception, and … well, everything, part of me wonders if something shifted along the way for him. At first, he definitely was feeling like a white knight with feeding me and paying for a tow truck, but after that?
Somehow I’m not so sure.
“Hailey?”
Tina’s voice calls me back to the present, and I start. “What? Oh, I’m sorry. I got kinda lost in my thoughts there. I didn’t mean to be rude.”
A knowing smile curves her lips, and she rests her chin on her fist. “That’s okay. I remember what it’s like to be a newlywed. And you guys didn’t even get a proper honeymoon. It’s a travesty. You’ll have to make Jason take you somewhere spectacular in the summer.”
“Oh, well, I, uh?—”
She laughs at how flustered I am at that suggestion. “Don’t worry. I’m sure he’ll plan something fantastic by then. He’s a sweetheart. But why am I telling you? I’m sure you know that better than anyone.”
“Yeah,” I answer faintly. “I guess I would, wouldn’t I?”
Her smile goes a little funny at my response, her eyebrows pulling together, but I quickly recover and paste a wide smile on my own face. “He’s been really great about everything with helping me move. We really wanted a small wedding before the season started since it can get so crazy with all their travel.”
“Tell me about it,” Tina commiserates. “When the kids were babies, it was really hard. We’ve managed to get into a good routine now. And Noah, my youngest, is in preschool now. He’ll be in Kindergarten next year! I can’t even believe it. They grow up so fast. Oh, and that reminds me. I know you don’t need to work or anything, but I can imagine that you won’t just want to sit around on your own all the time. Plus, you have such awonderful talent, you’ll definitely want to put it to use. I’m sure you have some ideas already, in terms of finding a symphony to play with, but if you’re open to hosting some kids classes …”
My eyebrows go up at the idea. “Kids classes?”
Our names are called for our food, which gives me a second to think. I have a performance degree, not an education one. Of course, I took string pedagogy, but that’s more for private lessons, and my students so far have all been over the age of ten. What would I do for kids’ classes?
“We used to go to one when Shelby, my oldest, was a preschooler. But after Noah came along, we stopped going. It got to be too much.” She pokes out her lower lip. “But I feel like I’ve let him down. He loves singing at preschool and demands I sing him the songs. Which is extra fun when it’s a song I don’t know. Fortunately, his teachers are great and always tell me the titles if I can’t figure it out from what Noah remembers. Sometimes kids garble things so much they’re hard to decipher.”
I smile at her fond exasperation. “I bet.”
“Well, if you think you want to do something, we could do kind of a trial run? The one Shelby and I did was mostly songs and movements, you know, like ‘The Itsy Bitsy Spider’ and ‘Baby Shark.’” She does the hand motions for both then pulls the toothpick out of her sandwich—she got a turkey club and a bowl of minestrone soup. I went for the mac and cheese with bacon.
“Can I think about it?”
“Oh, of course!” she exclaims around the bite she just took of her sandwich, holding her hand in front of her face as she chews. “Of course, of course,” she continues after swallowing. “I wasn’t trying to corner you, or anything. It’s just—most of my mom-friends all have young kids.” Her brows pull together again. “You know, you could ask Maggie if she knows anyone looking for a violin teacher. Her son’s in middle school now. At the very least,she could get you in touch with the music teacher at his school. That could help, right?”
“Absolutely.” I’d reached out to the middle and high school teachers back home and managed to get a few students that way. “I’ve also been looking at studios that have openings for teachers. Or a space to rent, at least, to hang out my own shingle. I feel weird doing it at Jason’s condo, even though he said it wasn’t a big deal.”
She nods understandingly. “Oh, for sure. Most of the guys don’t really like having strangers in and out of their apartments. If you did have lessons there, you’d want to keep the fact that you’re married to Jason Chalmers quiet. People can get weird about that kind of thing.”
I hadn’t even thought about that. “Good point.” All the more reason to find somewhere else to teach. Jason might think he’s okay with it, but I can see things going weird without warning. I don’t want to risk that. “It’s all been kind of a whirlwind since I got here. I found a couple of places that are auditioning, so I’ve been working on that, plus I’m hoping to get on the sub lists for other orchestras that don’t have openings.”
“Oh, I didn’t even realize that was a thing.”
Nodding as I chew, I wait to talk until after I swallow. “Yeah. If someone’s sick or has to miss for whatever reason, orchestras like to have a list of qualified people to call in. It’s a good way to get a foot in the door, meet other musicians, things like that. I have my website updated, too, so I can start getting gigs locally, but again, it helps to know people. So my goal now is to start going to the different places I might like to play, see who else is playing there, and get to know people.”
Tina grins. “If you ever want someone to come along, let me know. If I have enough warning, I can arrange for the nanny to watch the kids.”
