Page 79 of Liar Byrd
“Ah, this is where you’ve been hiding,” Makhi announces. He grins at me as he adds, “Play me something.”
My face freezes.
Memories and fear and anger lance into me, jagged, hot, and sharp.
It’s my thing. The piano. It was always that way until Jeremiah took it from me and made it about him. He turned it into something I had to do to please him and everyone else.
“Jessica?”
I take far too long to remember that it’s my name, and to realize that Vonn has also entered the room. Telling Vonn my real name has caused my brain a world of confusion I neither need nor want.
I get to my feet and limp toward the garden door. I’m reaching for the handle when the most beautiful melody tickles my senses and freezes me to the spot.
Clair de Lune.
I turn.
Vonn looks surprised. Makhi has a deep purple bruise spreading along the side of his jaw as he stares at Nash. Both seem caught off guard by Nash playing the piano. Only Nash is looking at me.
His smile is sad. “Same time tomorrow if you want to learn more.”
And I walk outside, chased away by the scars Jeremiah left in my soul, pulling the door closed behind me. Their voices bleed through the thin panes of glass, so loud I can’t help but hear them.
“You don’t play anymore,” Makhi says.
“But she does,” Nash says, his voice soft as I linger before stepping deeper into the garden. I’m barefoot. Wandering a garden barefoot with a barely healed sprained ankle isn’t wise.
“So, you’re playing again?” Vonn asks Nash.
“I don’t know,” Nash’s voice is quieter. “But I think I want to again.”
I continue into the garden, and I keep going until I’m away from the three men who are creeping deeper into my heart. Only then do I sink into a crouch, wrap my arms around my knees, and press my face against them, letting the tears spill from my eyes.
I cry for the person I was before Jeremiah, wishing I could be her again, but knowing that girl is lost forever.
Chapter 26
Byrdie
I’ve moved back into my old room on the first floor, carrying all the sweats Makhi let me keep in a bag Nance gave me. The thousand dollars is still in an envelope at the bottom of my bag.
I have my meals in the kitchen with Nance and Lydia, who is more distracted than ever while planning her wedding. No one mentions Kit, so I don’t either, wanting to avoid getting Vonn in trouble by saying something I shouldn’t.
And I am being eaten alive by my eagerness to learnThe Girl with the Flaxen Hairby Debussy, but I’m afraid this craving will turn into a full-blown addiction that keeps me from ever leaving this house.
It’s a damp, gray evening after I’ve finished the pasta and meat sauce Nance made for dinner. I told Nance I’m ready to start cleaning again, and she said that I should talk to Nash first, so I might not get another chance to do this. My curiosity about the roof has been ignored long enough. It’s time to see what’s up there.
A floorboard creaks under my foot, and I wince, holding my breath as I freeze on the staircase, waiting to see if anyone will come and investigate the sound.
Silence.
It’s just me.
I continue upward.
At the top of the stairs, I push open a wooden door to reveal a dark gray sky and the ominous rumble of thunder in the distance.
I frown as I step out onto the exposed roof. There’s nothing up here. At least, nothing interesting.
