Page 16 of Never Too Late
‘I hear that you play piano, Steph. Are you good?’ Having finished his burger, Denver was picking at the last few fries on his plate.
‘I’m not in your brother’s league, but I get by.’
‘My brother…’ Denver snorted and drank deeply from his bottle of beer. ‘That bloody violin was all he ever wanted to do as a kid. He never wanted to play any games, not with me, not even with his sister. Do you know something? Rob sometimes plays his violin for four or five hours every day. That’s crazy! Call that a life…?’
‘At the top level you really need to be single-minded and dedicated. But if that’s what he enjoys, why not? As long as his girlfriends don’t mind.’ She tried telling herself that she wasn’t really fishing for information, but her subconscious treated that thought with the disdain it deserved.
‘His girlfriends?’ Denver shook his head. ‘They’re not around for long enough.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ Although she already knew the answer.
‘He doesn’t hang on to them for long enough. Use and discard is his motto. Besides, all he’s really interested in is his damn violin. Inevitably the women in his life take second place.’ He gave a dismissive wave of the hand and stood up. ‘I need another beer. Either of you want anything?’ Seeing them both shake their heads he headed for the bar.
This, of course, left Steph all alone with Willow.
The ensuing silence was deafening. Although Steph’s pretence that she and Ethan were engaged had appeared to defuse at least some of Willow’s animosity, the expression on the heavily made-up face opposite her had rarely progressed beyond suspicious or worse all evening. Finally, it was Willow who broke the silence.
‘Den and I are going to get engaged.’ It wasn’t so much an announcement as a challenge, but Steph had absolutely no interest in taking it up. Denver meant nothing to her.
‘I’m very happy for you.’ Keen to avoid another uncomfortable silence, she continued. ‘Have you been together long?’
‘Two months, just over.’
Wow, Steph thought to herself, nobody could accuse Willow of being slow off the mark. Two months from nought to engagement was fast going by any standard and Steph felt what was almost a pang of pity for this almost certainly delusional woman. As she had told herself on the beach just an hour or two ago, strange things could happen but, feeling that by now she had a pretty good handle on the object of Willow’s affections, Steph seriously doubted whether he was on the same wavelength. Still, what they did with their lives was nothing to do with her, so she did her best to sound supportive.
‘Good for you. I wish you well.’
She was almost relieved to see Denver reappear with three bottles of beer in his hands.
‘Here, I brought reinforcements. Help yourselves.’
Steph thanked him but stuck with her half-empty bottle for now. To get away from the subject of his relationship with Willow – or with her for that matter – Steph brought the subject back to music, this time Denver’s variety.
‘What about you, Denver? Where are you playing next? Have you got any albums coming out?’ What little she knew about his music had been summed up disparagingly by Ethan as ‘elevator music’ and she had to confess she had never knowingly heard anything by him.
‘I’m starting a season at Caesar’s Palace next month. As for albums, I’ve got a few songs I’d like to record, but I haven’t got around to it yet.’ A thought must have occurred to him. ‘Come to think of it, why don’t I have a go at recording something while I’m here? My stuff’s mostly acoustic so no need for a full backing orchestra. That way I’ll have some demo stuff to give out if I meet any interesting people over there.’
By now, Steph was seriously regretting getting him onto this topic, but it was too late. The studio belonged to his father so, as long as Keith had no objections, she couldn’t really say no. Although she knew she would insist on Ethan being there as well.
‘That sounds interesting. Why not have a word with your dad?’ No sooner had she made the suggestion than she found herself wondering whether the two of them were speaking again after Denver’s flare-up at lunchtime but, from the expression on his face, that didn’t look as if it was going to be a problem. Presumably they had buried the hatchet.
‘Good idea.’ With that, he jumped to his feet and headed off to the table where his parents were sitting.
Acutely aware that she and Willow were alone once again, Steph hurried to make conversation rather than endure another tedious silence.
‘What about you, Willow? Are you musical?’
‘I don’t play an instrument if that’s what you mean, but I sing. I met Den when we were both on the same bill in Chicago this June.’
‘What sort of stuff do you sing?’
‘I’m in a girl band. We don’t have any records out yet, but our manager’s pushing for a recording deal.’ For the first time a hint of a smile appeared on the girl’s face.
‘Terrific. What’s the name of the band? I’ll look out for you.’
‘We’re called RBB – that’s short for The Redhead, The Brunette and The Blonde. You can probably work out for yourself which one I am.’
If she were feeling catty, Steph might have suggested The Brunette in view of Willow’s dark roots but, instead, she just smiled. As for RBB, Steph had never heard of them, but she was saved from having to confess this by the reappearance of Denver looking happy. ‘I’ve spoken to Dad. He’s tied up tomorrow morning, so he says the studio’s all mine. What time suits you, Steph?’
