Page 66 of Shattered Chords

“I’m great.”

“How’s Ally?”

“She started her sophomore year today.”

“Soon you’ll be making a wedding dress for her, huh?” Mrs. Hamil laughed breathily and I shuddered at the idea. Ally was too young to even think about a wedding. I tried to purge the image of my daughter standing at the altar out of my mind. It didn’t feel like her.

“Have you seen what’s going on outside?” The woman’s features pinched as she motioned at the doors.

“No.” I shook my head and exchanged a stare with Renn.

“I hope you have a plastic bag or a tarp?” Mrs. Hamil said worriedly.

That prompted all three of us—Renn, Amun, and me—to rush into the parking lot and that was when I saw it. The massive black cloud rising into the sky from the north.

Smoke.

Fire season was here.

“He’s here,” Ally called from the living room, where she’d been torturing her outrageously expensive guitar for the past thirty minutes.

I was in the kitchen, preparing dinner and staring out the window from time to time. A part of me almost expected to see ash and smoke, but the fire that raged near Thousand Oaks a couple of days ago and gave us all a scare had been put out and we were back to normal. The small stretch of interstate near Santa Barbara was still closed, and it made traffic here, on the border of Ventura and Los Angeles Counties, worse, but people proved to be very creative when it came to getting to work on time. Particularly Amun. She took back roads now and arrived early. I liked that. I felt good about hiring her.

I heard the doorbell and Ally’s footfalls traveling through the house, then Dante’s voice that grew into deep laughter as they greeted each other and began their lesson.

I thought of going out to say hello, but instead, I opted to stay in the kitchen and cook because…somehow, I trusted him to be on his best behavior around my daughter.

And since I felt on edge with him sitting on the other side of the wall, sharing a room didn’t seem like a good idea right now. I was flushed and hot and awfully bothered and had no doubt the reason wasn’t the stifling heat or the oven.

It was Dante Martinez, the man who made millions of women around the world squeal with delight.

Was it because of the conversation we had on my terrace the last time he was here? Or was it possibly due to the fact that I secretly listened to his music when Ally wasn’t around?

Something had changed between us since that evening and I almost regretted that I’d let him stay for dinner. His honesty had morphed into a strange knowledge that was now buried deep inside me, a knowledge that he wasn’t what I thought he’d be.”

Only his path was.

Not him.

I paused chopping celery and set the knife near the cutting board. My hand felt both heavy and light at the realization, and I was afraid I’d slice my finger.

There was a knock on the door and it creaked open.

I spun and saw Dante’s face through the small crack. “Are you hiding from me?” He gave me a seductive smile and it occurred to me that their hour was up.

“I was just making dinner.” I motioned at the vegetables lying on the counter. “Baked salmon and kale salad.”

“That sounds delicious.” He pushed the door open all the way and stepped inside, then strode past the island and toward me. His eyes locked on mine, his olive skin gleaming in the evening light spilling into the kitchen through the windows. He didn’t possess classic male beauty, but the sharp, elegant lines of his face made him look fierce, dangerous, rebellious, and positively attractive all at once.

“Are you trying to invite yourself?” I lifted my chin, feeling defiant and ready for a challenge. Never mind the fact that I was wearing ugly old shorts and a T-shirt that was two sizes too big.

“No. I wouldn’t do that.” He shook his head once. “The decision is yours.”

In the living room, Ally was practicing the riff they were learning earlier and I wondered if she and Dante had some sort of a secret plan to get me to go out with him, because no matter how much of a fan she was, she never monopolized his time when he tried to talk to me.

“You and my daughter conspired behind my back, didn’t you?” I asked daringly.

“What makes you think that?” He feigned surprise. Oh, he was a great actor.

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