Page 85 of Symphony of Salvation

Sighing, I shook my head. “With words, Constance. I don’t know what you’re saying.”

Rolling her eyes, she used a finger to draw the letters of Niles’s name in the air.

“Oh. Maybe… Um, yes, I guess that’s the plan. I don’t know if he’ll be home or want to talk to me, but…”

She smiled and snagged her phone, fingers flying as she typed. I wanted to reprimand her indignance toward speaking, but exhaustion over the ongoing feud had worn me out. The sign language book Niles had gifted lived on my bedside table. Stubbornness kept the spine uncracked and the pages unblemished. Giving in meant giving up. All I wanted was for Constance to lead as normal a life as possible. Why couldn’t she see that? What was the point of this war? Why did she persistently refuse?

He’ll talk to you. I know he will. Don’t be stupid. Ask him on a date. Go see that movie again. Take him out for dinner.

“So you’re a matchmaker now,” I said after reading the message.

She made a shooing motion, sweeping me up and shoving me to the door. Her beaming smile was contagious, and when she handed me a coat and straightened my collar, I warned, “My absence is not a free ticket to get out of chores. You promised you’d do the dishes.”

She helped tie a winter scarf around my neck and positioned it just so, tucking the ends in my coat front and smoothing it down. “Good grief, girl. Since when do you care about me?”

I earned a teenage sneer, and she took out her phone.Bring wine. Say you’re sorry. Do better!

Realization dawned. It wasn’t me she cared about but Niles.

Feelings bruised, I forced a smile. “I’ll be home in a bit.”

Chapter twenty

August

Idrove to Peterborough, thoughts in a blender, no more settled on a decision or direction than I’d been Christmas morning. Life turned chaotic without music emanating from my soul, and Niles’s absence had left an uncomfortable quietude. In his presence, a symphony unlike any I’d heard before exploded within me, igniting synapses and captivating my attention. I’d done my best to write it down, listening as it evolved into something I’d never imagined. But for the past two days, I’d mourned its loss.

It was Niles who conjured the music. What it meant, I didn’t know. Was there a chance for us? Could I take this step? Between the Niles conundrum and my stance with Chloé, I wasn’t sure what was up and down or where life was headed. This road where I’d wound up had no signs and offered no directions. Part of me sought a cutoff so I could escape the uncertainty of the destination.

Continuous vacillating was bound to piss Niles off, but I hoped seeing him again would realign my brain and makesomethingclearer. I wanted answers. Enlightenment. A guidebook.

I didn’t stop for wine as Constance had suggested or venture to the grocery store, library, or other shops. I had no pressing need for anything in the city.

Determined to face Niles before I chickened out, I drove directly to his house, only to find the driveway empty and the windows dark.

“Damn.”

Knocking several times confirmed he wasn’t home.

Scanning the quiet street, unsure what to do next, I considered leaving. Defeat waited inside the cottage. Frustrating silence lingered by the piano. And the moody teenager residing down the hall wouldn’t provide the answers I sought.

Niles could be shopping. He could be driving down the street right now, returning home as I stood dumbfounded on the stoop. He could be at his ex’s, telling him about my insecurities and failures.

I found his number in my phone and hit Call.

“Well, well, Mr. Maestro. Two days. I’ll be honest. I expected the silence to last longer.” His voice, a plucked string, hummed pleasantly through the line, seeping under my skin.

There. There it was.

I closed my eyes, smiling for the first time in days. “You’re not home, Mr. Edwidge.”

“Nope. The four walls of the house were too much today, so I decided to take advantage of an empty school and organize the music room.”

“You’re at work?”

“Guilty.”

“I didn’t see your car in the lot when I left.”

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