Page 13 of Strike a Chord
He shrugged.“Not at all.Both my music studio and art studio are above the barn.I soundproofed it so I didn’t torture the animals.I have a few unfinished pieces up there right now.”He caught Jennifer watching him out of the corner of his eye and he flashed her a smile.“But you’re not keeping me from anything.I paint when I feel like it.I make my own schedule.So go about your business as per usual.Do what you like.”
“We’re retired,” Phil said.“And we have friends that we get together with.We walk, we go to the seniors’ center, but with this weather we prefer to stay home.”
“I’m knitting a blanket for my friend’s new great grandbaby,” Gloria said, reaching down beside her and bringing up a whicker basket with knitting needles sticking out of it.
“And I like to whittle spoons,” Phil added.
“Very cool,” Dax said.
“I’ll make you a spoon.”Phil stood up.“I’ll go get my wood and whittle.”
“Oh you don’t have—”
“There’s no stopping him now,” Gloria said, getting out her yarn.“It’ll be nice to have someone else be the recipient of a spoon for once.Our house is full of them.”
Dax approached Jennifer with the coffee pot.“More coffee?”
“Please,” she said, her voice soft.
“I hate that my Nintendo Switch wasn’t plugged in to charge,” Levi said.“Not that it would have helped since the power was off when we got home.”He pouted.“I’m bored.”
“Go read a book,” Jennifer said, shaking her head.
Levi lobbed a sigh.“Yeah, I guess.”He stood up from the table and trudged off to the guest room he was sharing with his mother.
Gloria stood up from the table, too.“I’m going to grab my slippers from my suitcase.”Then she toddled off in the same direction as Levi and Phil.
That left Dax and Jennifer.
She really was a very beautiful woman.
He probably put her around thirty-six, but she definitely wasn’t a day over forty.She’d seen some shit, though.There was a lot of trauma behind those pretty eyes.A lot of sadness.A lot of fear.A lot of deep-seated exhaustion.
“Why don’t you go lay down on my bed,” he offered.“It’s the quietest room in the house.”
She shook her head.“I couldn’t.”
“Why?What else is there to do?”
“Well, I—”
Resting a hand on her shoulder, he felt her tense beneath his touch for just a moment, then truly relax.Her gaze dropped to her lap and her chin dropped to her chest.She shuddered a little like she had last night.This was a woman who had been keeping it together for way too long without any source of an outlet or reprieve.
“Go and have a nap, Jennifer.I mean it.I have a free-standing tub in my bathroom and some pretty amazing body wash that makes great bubbles.Use it.”
When she didn’t respond or move, he pulled her chair out and helped her to her feet.Then he escorted her down the hall and up the stairs to his bedroom and into his ensuite.He made her sit on his bed while he ran her a bath, filling the bathroom with the scent of his hemp and jojoba bodywash.
He dimmed the lights, set out some towels and faced her.“Nobody will disturb you.I promise.”
Her bottom lip and chin trembled and her throat moved on a hard swallow.“I—”
“Need this.After your bath, have a nap.I’ll change the sheets right now.”
“Why are you being so kind?”
“Do I need a reason?”
“Most people do.”
