“I for one am interested in finding out what it sounds like,” Micha said. “So I’m good with it.”
“Fine by me. If I hate it, I’ll tell you.” Dev chuckled.
“I’m sure you will.” She laughed.
Colin clapped his hands on Dev’s shoulders. “Yep, you’ve got my little brother all figured out. Honesty without a filter. Gets him in trouble all the time. You’d think he would learn, but no.”
Dev grinned. “The trouble is worth it.”
“I don’t think the others around you think that.” Colin shoved him toward the door.
They grabbed jackets, Colin picked up his other belongings, and they stepped through the doorway. The room felt oddly smaller without them. Or did Micha seem larger since she was alone with him? They’d only be alone for a short time, but she was acutely aware of him dropping into a chair next to her and his knee brushing hers.
She shifted away.
He raised an eyebrow at her but then went back to his phone without a word.
Good.She wasn’t in a mood to discuss why she didn’t want to have the feelings for him that she was experiencing. But she also couldn’t just sit there next to him. She got up, crossed to the fireplace, and grabbed the poker. She stirred the logs and added one.
“Our wood supply inside is getting low,” she said. “I should grab more from the porch.”
“I’ll do it.”
“I might be a self-professed girly girl,” she wiggled her fingernails, “but I can haul wood, you know?”
“It’s not that. I’m glad to let you do it, but I won’t let you go outside when a killer could be stalking you.”
“Oh, right. That.” Feeling deflated, she returned to the table. “I’m just a bit jumpy. It’ll be good to get my bassoon.”
He leaned back. “How did you come to play such an unusual instrument?”
“It’s a long story,” she said.
“We have time.” He watched her.
“Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you about how long it is.” She grinned. “So I lived in a pretty decent foster home in fifth grade. That’s when they started kids on instruments in that school district. Of course, I had no money to buy or even rent one, but I really wanted to play. So the band director said I could choose from one of the school-owned instruments. I chose a saxophone because I liked how it looked.”
Fond memories of having something that she didn’t have to share with anyone and learning to play it came rushing back, and she couldn’t help but smile. “The sounds I produced were so bad my foster parents made me stay after school to practice in the band room.”
“Not cool,” he said. “But despite that you kept after it.”
“I did. Every day.” She smiled. “Learning that skill was the one thing I had for myself. Something that when I mastered it no one could take away or steal. Then one day, the band director asked if I would like to learn to play the bassoon. He said it wasn’t easy to do, but with my dedication, I could excel at the bassoon and be in a small group, not be like one in a thousand saxophones.”
“So you did,” he said. “How long did you continue to play?”
“All through high school. Took some time off while I was trying to find myself, but then I saved up money to buy a secondhand one, and now I play in a community band.” She smiled. “We have an amazing director. Linda Becker. She was my middle school band director and was the best teacher I ever had. She’s retired now and gives a lot of time to the community band and keeps all of us performing at the top of our game. In fact, she was the one who helped me find a bassoon at a reasonable price so I could keep playing.”
He smiled at her. “I’m looking forward to a concert tonight.”
“I’m not too embarrassed to admit I’m good. I have tons of medals from high school to confirm it. I could’ve been a music major if I could’ve gotten a scholarship, but I got one to a solid nursing school instead.”
His phone chimed.
“Layne’s sister?” Ava asked and couldn’t hold back her excitement.
“Yep.” He flicked his fingers down the screen. “Her name is Fran Nicks. Lives in Medford. She’s willing to meet anywhere as soon as today. She said just name the time and place, and she’d be there.”
“Medford would be closer.” Ava jumped up. “We could go right now.”
