Her words rattled in my brain as my fingers moved faster on the keys.
Then I felt his hand on my shoulder—and I froze. The words out of his mouth were cold and filled with disappointment.
“That freaking song is so sad. Play something not so damn sad, Emma.”
“I feel sad,” I whispered so softly he wouldn’t hear as I played “Für Elise” by Beethoven.
Grabbing my hair, he pulled my head back and looked at me with an evil smile. “That’s better. At least you’re good for something. Piano and sex. Get undressed. I’m taking you on this bench.”
* * *
My eyes flew open as I pushed the memory away. Drawing in a deep breath, I placed my fingers on the keys and closed my eyes again.
I wasn’t sure how long I played before I felt the air in the room shift. I quickly pulled my fingers away and started to stand when his voice stopped me.
“Don’t stop, Emma. That was amazing. What are you playing?”
Glancing over my shoulder at Aiden, I replied, “Mozart’s ‘Rondo Alla Turca’.”
“Please keep playing.”
I did as he asked. The music was fast and playful. It had always been one of my favorites. My mother hated it, and so I’d made it my mission to master this piece first. The way my fingers moved over the keys from muscle memory made my heart fill with joy. I closed my eyes again and got lost in the music until I played the last notes with a smile on my face.
When my eyes finally opened, I looked up to see Aiden standing to the side of the piano, staring at me, his eyes wide and his mouth gaping open.
“My gosh, where in the world did you learn to play like that?”
I could feel my cheeks heat. “Lessons, starting at the age of six until I was eighteen.”
“Will you play something else?”
With a chuckle, I asked, “Like what?”
“What do you know?”
“Well, I’m classically trained, so I really know all the classical music best. Chopin, Beethoven, Mozart.”
“Pick one.”
Grinning, I tilted my head and regarded him. “I wouldn’t have taken you for a classical music fan, Aiden.”
It was his turn to shrug. “There’s a reason I have a piano in my home, Emma.”
I straightened. “Do you play? Alice said the piano had only ever been used by Lisa.”
He shook his head. “No, I don’t play, but I love the sound of a piano, especially at Christmastime. My mother knows a few Christmas songs and always plays them on Christmas Eve. Hadley shares my love for music and likes to mess around on the piano when my mother’s here. I was going to sign her up for lessons, but maybe you could teach her.”
The urge to bounce up and down with excitement over him wanting me to teach Hadley caused me to sit on my own hands. “I would love to teach her!”
One of the first things I grew excited about when I’d learned I was carrying a child was the idea of teaching them how to play the piano?—
My mood plummeted at the thought of her. Or him. I’d never know the gender of the baby I’d carried. Ben had taken that away from me.
“How about Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’?” I asked belatedly, noting Aiden was watching me closely.
He nodded.
The music filled the room as I played. The song was brooding and slow, a sense of sadness mingled in with the notes. Aiden stood there, his eyes moving from the piano keys to my face, then back to the keys. Our eyes locked at one point, and it felt as if we were the only two people in the world. I had the feeling he could see into my soul as easily as I could peer into his. Where I had emptiness, he had sadness. Fear. And something else I couldn’t read.
