Page 41 of A Ghost of a Chance

Rafe grinned. “Try it out. I had it tuned. I hope you like it.”

“It’s the most magnificent gift anyone has ever given me. Words are beyond me.” Osanne sat at the instrument and ran her fingers over the keys. The tones rang out, rich and warm. “I wish I could say something grander than thank you—that seems inadequate.”

“Your expression is thanks enough. And hearing you make music.” He lifted his brows in invitation.

Osanne obliged him. After playing through the next few lines that came to her on her never-ending piece, she added the section that came to her almost the moment Rafe appeared that night. After committing it to memory, she played every song she could remember. She could have played all night. But she’d rather spend time with Rafe.

She turned to him, probably beaming like a giddy child. “Thank you, again. This is a wonderful gift.”

He shrugged. “I planted daffodils in the garden; I heard you like them. I suppose you’ll never see them, but I’ll think of you when they come up next spring—not that I need reminders.”

The man’s thoughtfulness seemed limitless.

She led him to an overstuffed sofa that he would find more comfortable than the bench. The flickering firelight played in the planes of his handsome face. “Tell me what you’ve been doing, besides renting a cottage in Madding Hallow and helping Jake find a purpose.”

“I’ve become friends with the Browns, so much so that Mr. Brown asked me to call him Peter. He has been taking me to visit the sick and recruited me, as well as Jake, to help some of the poor with basic repairs to their homes—rebuilding roofs and fences—that sort of thing.”

“Besides your quest, has that given you a purpose, as well?”

“It has. You know, I thought my travels and visits would help me feel more useful, but helping my neighbors and making friends has fulfilled me in ways that nothing else has.”

She smiled. “You do seem more at peace.”

“I think I might live here year-round. I like it here. And I’ll always be near when you come.”

She studied her hands. Was she being selfish to want him to be there? “Rafe, I cannot ask you to always be here for me. Once a year is hardly adequate for a relationship.”

“You aren’t asking me. I want to be here. Once a year with you has bought me more happiness than I thought I’d ever find.”

How she had longed to hear that from another person! But sooner or later, he might grow to regret it. He deserved a life with a living person.

“What about Miss Kitty Potter? I thought perhaps you and she...?”

He went still. Ah. She had hit upon something.

Slowly, he admitted, “It is getting easier to see her as her own person, and not merely as a painful reminder of Ben—or his annoying little sister.”

“Perhaps it is because you are healing, and not as tormented about her brother’s death.”

“Perhaps.” He paused, then stubbornly set his jaw. “I do not have a tendre for her, and I have taken pains to make her aware of that.”

She could not ignore her selfish relief that no one had possession of his heart. Still, she uttered words she knew she ought. “I suspect she hopes you’ll have a change of heart. You are likely the finest, most honorable gentleman of her acquaintance and she would be foolish to settle for anyone else.”

His slow smile took on a smugness she found adorable. “Why, thank you, Miss Osanne. I do believe that is the highest compliment I have ever heard. But you forgot my dashing good looks and charm.”

She laughed. “I have not forgotten either of them, I assure you.”

She played a few trilling chords on the keyboard but could not banish the memory of his hesitation regarding Kitty. Surely his defensive protestations hid a conflicted heart.

He cocked his head to one side. “How is it that you can move through solid objects, but yet press keys to play music?”

Frowning thoughtfully, she pressed and held down a key to let the note reverberate. Slowly, she passed her hand through the upper part of the piano, lid, music rest, and finally, Rafe’s shoulder.

“Why is there a difference?” she mused in bewilderment.

Concentrating on moving it, she reached and closed the lid to the keyboard. Then, using that same intention of shifting it, she picked up Rafe’s hand.

He gasped, then held his breath. She set his hand on his leg.