Page 85 of Liar Byrd
She nods, and I get the sense that she’s getting ready to leave.
I say, “I should be teaching you how to read music, but…”
Her eyes flick to me. “But?”
I hold her gaze. “I would make you think before you play. It would feel like I’m caging you.”
All her tension from before returns twofold. “Why would you say that?”
I start to understand a little more why she wanders the house so much, and why being still is something she avoids.
Someone caged her. Maybe physically. Now she’s free, keeping still is a reminder of being caged.
“The way you play makes me feel more than I have felt in the last five years.”
She licks her dry lips, and it requires brute force to keep my eyes on her, hers, and not on the pretty rosebud mouth I want to taste.
“You live in a mansion. You could go anywhere, do anything at all, if you wanted.”
“Not exactly,” I start to say when a knock sounds at the door and Nance appears, frowning. “What is it, Nance?”
Nance looks confused. “Well, that’s the thing that doesn’t make sense. A man seems to think his wife is living in this house.”
Chapter 28
Byrdie
My hands shake as I push myself to my feet, Nance’s announcement akin to someone hurling a bucket of ice-cold water in my face.
Wife.
Jeremiah found me.
He’s here, and he’s here forme.
I clear my throat.
Nance and Nash turn to me.
I try to stay calm, even though my heart is pounding, even as cold sweat drips down my neck, and I can't think clearly. “I, uh, need to use the bathroom.”
Nash’s gaze bores into my back as I walk toward Nance.
She examines me with a furrowed brow. “Are you okay, Jessica? Can I?—”
“It’s okay, Nance,” Nash cuts in. “Let her go.”
As I walk out of the music room, Nance is asking Nash, “Should I send him away?”
“No,” Nash responds. “I’ll go find out what this is about.”
I’m barely breathing as my feet hit the entryway.
The stairs come into view. Someone calls my name. Vonn, I think. I ignore him.
My fingers grip the balustrade, and I bolt up the stairs, ignoring the twinge in my left ankle. I don’t have time to go slowly.
Slap, slap, slap.
