Page 61 of Love Takes Home

I raise my brow. He knows how I feel about Keith.

“Just ask him. If she’s on to us, maybe he’s been removed from the equation long enough she won’t suspect him.”

I text Ranger about his plans and finish packing my stuff.

“What’s the rush?” Nate asks as we leave the room.

“I got a girl to go see.” I grin at him.

“Go get ’em, Tiger,” he laughs.

I flip him off and head to the exit, waving at the receptionist, Delia, on my way out. Time to finally go see my girl.

Chapter 20

Ginny

Open house always feelslike it lasts forever. No dinner, thirteen hour day, cranky kids, parents, and teachers. It’s just a ball of fun to have to stay ‘on’ that long. I just want to curl up on a couch with my bra off, damnit. At least the snide comments have slowed down. Most of them, anyway.

The honest truth is, I’m just cranky. Joker’s been out of town for work all weekend and I miss him. Does that make me pathetic? I should have gone to see my friends, but I stayed in. I wore my softest, oldest sweats, had my coffee, and read for two days. If there’s anyone who could understand that, it’s Trish. She gives me a pass every couple of months to binge read. It’s good for the soul, you know?

I still haven’t heard from Joker today, and it’s putting me in a bad mood. I’m trying not to let it show, but Linda pointed out my resting bitch face was on point tonight when she dropped off asnack. I blamed it on being tired, but I think even she knows it’s more than that.

“Ms. Mills,” Aubrey, one of my cello students, comes into the room. “Mom and Dad are over in Ms. K’s room. Can I practice until they make their way down here?”

“Sure. What are we working on this week?”

I love Aubrey. She’s got some real talent, and I love playing with her. She reminds me a little of me when I was her age, and she asks me to tell her stories of when I toured with the orchestra.

“Will you play the Vivaldi with me?” she asks hopefully.

“Is it ‘The Double Concerto for Two Cellos’?” I smile.

It’s a challenging piece, one that I love.

“That’s the one.”

“Are you sure? You don’t want to do the Brahams you’ve been working on?”

“I want to hear you play, too.” She’s shy when she says this, and while I usually accompany them on the piano, I have that warm feeling when they ask me to play my first love with them.

There are three Morano cellos that I purchased out of my own pocket that stay in the room at all times for the students to play, but I know Aubrey’s parents recently purchased an Eastman for her. I personally own five, all different brands and types, but I keep my own Eastman cello in the classroom for my own use.

We set up and after tuning our strings, I count us off and close my eyes to feel the music. I don’t want to show up Aubrey, and she is quite a good musician on her own, but as I get lost in the music, I also get lost in myself. I feel whole when I’m playing, like the rest of the world and the problems in it are gone. It’s just the music, the feel of the instrument between my legs, and me.

When we’re finished, all the tension in my body is gone. I open my eyes and find Aubrey staring at me, a look of awe on her face. Her parents are in the doorway, her mom with tears in her eyes.

“I got lost again, didn’t I?” I ask, embarrassed.

“I remember my mom telling me about you.” Aubrey’s mom smiles. “She said there was a girl from our town that could render anyone speechless with her music. She used to go watch you play when you would perform around here, but I didn’t understand what she was talking about until just now. Ms. Mills, that was absolutely beautiful. Thank you.”

My heart wants to explode out of my chest, and I try to hold back my own tears. I push my hair that has fallen out of its bun off my face and smile at her. “Thank you for saying that. I don’t get to play as much as I used to anymore. And Aubrey here,” I smile at the girl, “just reminded me exactly how much I love it.”

“Can we play it again?” Aubrey asks. “Or something else? I’ll play anything you want.”

“Sweetie,” her dad says, “I know you’d stay here playing all night if you could, but I bet Ms. Mills wants to get out of here. It’s probably been a long day for her.”

I grin at him. “You know, I’m not supposed to have favorite parents, but you’re on the list. And Aubrey, anytime you want to play, you know where to find me.”

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