Page 18 of Resisting the Fall

When had she gotten so good? I mean, she was always in her room practicing when I’d go to Carson’s, but she usually came out within minutes of me arriving. And I had conveniently missed her last few concerts.

Katie gave a small exhale at my side. I looked over to find her hand pressed against her chest and a slight smile on her lips. When she noticed me looking at her, she leaned in close. “That’s Carson’s sister, right?”

“Yeah,” I whispered, trying to reconcile the mischievous girl I knew with the one up on stage, captivating an audience of rowdy high schoolers into submission.

“She’s amazing.”

Suddenly, the song seemed to change. The speed increased and the notes grew lively. Her fingers were now flying about as her bow slid back and forth in quick bursts of motion.

Several cheers broke out as she continued, and Carson’s distinct whistle sounded again. But Maven didn’t seem to notice. Her eyes were closed, like she was lost in the music. When the last few notes of her song echoed, then stopped, her eyes fluttered open, and she looked around as if surprised to find she wasn’t alone.

The whole auditorium erupted in cheers, and I found myself clapping as loud as anyone.

“That’s it.” Levi’s teasing voice from behind caught my attention. “I think I’m in love.”

Several of the guys laughed.

“I might go for her myself,” Keith said. “She’s way too hot for you.”

Hot? Maven?

Ha!

I mean, I guess she looked good in her short black dress with her light blond hair curled like it was. And I’d noticed recently that she’d finally grown into those massive teeth of hers. But hot? Her music had clearly put them in some kind of trance.

Maven gestured to the pianist, who gave a nod of acknowledgment with her head, before taking a bow when the applause continued. When she lifted again, she smiled and waved, her big eyes sparkling in the spotlight.

My mouth fell open.

What the crap?! Maven was hot!

“Besides,” Keith said. “It’d be fun to discover if she’s as much of an angel as she appears to be.”

“Just because your girlfriend doesn’t go to our school doesn’t mean she wouldn’t hear about your conquest,” Levi said to Keith, making several of the guys laugh again. “But I’ll gladly keep you posted on the whole angel thing.”

My hands clenched into fists, and my jaw tightened. An irrational anger surged through me. Or maybe it was entirely rational. That was Carson’s little sister they were talking about! It didn’t matter if she was suddenly hot; she was still way too young and innocent to be made a conquest by guys like Keith and Levi. There was no way I was letting either of them anywhere near Maven.

Maven

30 Days Later

I closed my eyes, setting my bow to the strings of my violin and allowing the music to take me far away from my current reality. When I played, there were no missed opportunities. No passport applications that had been suspended requiring further review. No apartments that had been sublet, forcing me to overstay my welcome at Cassandra’s. No massive holes in my work schedule because Jean-Paul hadn’t returned my calls or emails since I’d bailed on him. And there were certainly no unresolved marriages.

The notes vibrated through me until the last one lingered in the silence.

Slowly, regretfully, I lowered my violin.

“That was beautiful.” Cassandra watched from the open doorway, the wrinkles in her lovely face deepening with her smile and her short white hair perfectly styled. She wore black loose-fitting trousers with a tan blazer over a champagne blouse. Pearls peeked out from the loosely tied scarf around her neck, and her boots were to die for. She was forty years my senior, but I wished I could be half as stylish as she was. A perk that came with old money, I guessed. “Who’s the composer?”

“Maurice Ravel.” I set my violin inside the case, which was laid open on the bed. “The piece is called Tzigane.”

“It was truly… moving.”

Besides my mom, Cassandra was my biggest cheerleader. I could play the theme song for The Office and she’d tell me how masterfully I’d performed it. “Thank you.”

She glanced at her watch. “I’m headed out for a couple of hours. I know you have your hearing soon, so I was going to say, if you want to use my office for the video call, you’re welcome to.”

“I should be fine in here.” I’d already set up my laptop at the desk, and the enormous windows would be a great light source. “But thank you. Again. For everything.”