Page 21 of The Payback Plan
Clearly unimpressed by the pep talk, Flower slumped, settling into the bottom of the wheel, his arms and legs akimbo, dangling from either side. Paige had the feeling that her expensive hamster exercise machine was about to become Flower’s favourite new couch.
‘Okay…’ Oliver sighed. ‘You win. It’s getting dark now but tomorrow is a new day. Rest up.’
He fist-bumped the cage and Paige laughed. Then she castigated herself for laughing and feeling all warm and fuzzy. But seriously, how could this man who was being so cute with ahamsterso carelessly and callouslyjilt hisbrideon their wedding day?
Not that it was her job to psychoanalyse him – just explode a few karmic bombs in his life. But still… how?
‘Is there a violin in that case or is that where you keep a stash of crumbs for general strewing?’
Paige fought the laughter pressing against her vocal cords. It was going to be hard to be the angel of karma if she kept laughing at his wry sense of humour. She glanced at the instrument. ‘Violin. I saw it in the window of an antique shop in town and thought why not?’
‘So…’ He frowned. ‘You play?’
‘No,’ she lied. Well, maybe 75 per cent lied. She wouldn’t be strangled-cat bad but it would take her a while to get the instrument to truly sing.
‘Oh. Did you get it for someone else?’
‘No. Figured I’d learn how to play it while I was here.’
He opened his mouth to say something then shut it again, clearly bamboozled by the statement. ‘Have you played any instrument?’
‘I guess. If the triangle counts?’
‘Um, no.’ He cleared his throat. ‘I don’t think it does.’
‘Yeah, I didn’t think so.’ Although it was worth saying for the way he hid his alarm so admirably behind a stiff British veneer.
‘So, you’re just… going to learn the violin? Just like that? Can you read music?’
‘Nope.’ Now, that was a 100 per cent lie. She wondered if, when a person got to a certain accumulative total, it sent you to hell. Directly to hell. ‘Do you?’
He shook his head. ‘I was more into drama class than band stuff.’
‘It’s fine,’ she assured as she reached for the case and flipped it open. ‘I’m sure there’ll be something online. YouTube. Or whatever is the Duolingo for instruments.’
She plucked one of the strings with her fingers and gave an internal wince. It needed tuningbadly. Which was perfect in every way. Grabbing the bow, she glanced at Oliver. ‘How hard can it be? I’ve seen five-year-olds playing them on TikTok.’
‘Mmm,’ he said, his brow furrowing as she positioned the violin and raised the bow.
The thing about mastering an instrument was that you also knew how to play it badly. The poor condition and lack of tuning helped but Paige knew exactly where and how to strike the strings to make a truly awful noise. And she did it straight away. It was the worst combination of nails down a chalk board and yes… strangled cat.
The hamster wheel shook as Flower started in alarm. Oliver winced in the same way her father used to, drawing in a breath and blinking rapidly like he’d not only heard something awful but smelled it too. ‘Oh. My.’
She smiled at his understated, heavily curated remark. She’d always admired people who could engage their filters before they spoke. That wasn’t something her family were known for. Hell, her brother would have just blurted,Fuck’s sake Paige, what did we ever do to you?And, to be fair, the nerve endings in her ear were still untying themselves from the spasm that note had caused.
‘Needs some work,’ she admitted.
He was looking at her like she’d just uttered the biggest understatement ever uttered in the history of understatements. ‘Practice makes perfect,’ he agreed with a fixed smile.
‘Right?’ Paige lifted the bow again and struck an equally inhuman chord.
Oliver held up his hand hastily. ‘I think I’ll… leave you to it.’
Pressing her lips together as if in thought, Paige nodded. ‘Good idea. No one likes looking like a fool in front of other people.’
Like, say, beingjiltedon your wedding day…
But he clearly wasn’t picking up what Paige was putting down. He just looked relieved to be getting out of there. He turned to leave then hesitated, looking back over his shoulder at the cage. ‘Umm… I might take Pavarotti with me.’
