Page 5 of A First Sight
“This weather is just awful.”
I looked up to see Chelsey Tyler, the first chair cellist, scowling as she stamped her boots on the rug. Not a single light brown hair was out of place, and I wondered how well my hair had held up out there.
“Oh, hi, Maggie.” Chelsey smiled, but it had all the warmth of the weather outside. “Did you have to walk?”
“Just a bit.” I finally got the umbrella closed and tapped it on the rug to get the last of the water off. “You?”
“I usually take the subway, but I splurged for a cab today,” she said. Her gaze ran over me. “Glad I did.”
“Thanks,” I muttered as I shrugged out of my coat while Chelsey walked away. I was glad she didn’t wait for me. I could only handle so much of her.
As the assistant concertmaster and second-chair violin, I got along with almost everyone in the orchestra, but I couldn’t say I was close to any of them.
Except for Dale, of course. He was my boyfriend, so I was close to him.
I flexed my fingers as I walked into the rehearsal space, curling and uncurling them while I looked for the dark curls of Irene Sheppard—the concertmaster and first chair violinist.
She was standing next to our principal conductor, Nehemiah Plight, so I walked over to them.
Irene turned to me. “We need these changes made to the sheet music and copies distributed,” she said. “Would you?”
“Of course.” As I took the papers, I looked over the music first. If anyone asked questions when they received the pages, I needed to explain the changes.
As I started toward the exit, I caught sight of Dale out of the corner of my eye. I smiled and waved, but he seemed engrossed in a conversation with Chelsey. The way she leaned into him made my smile falter, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t let personal annoyances interfere with my job.
Still, I kept seeing it in my mind’s eye, the way her blue eyes were wide and focused on him. I heard that she and her husband separated last year. I wasn’t sure if they officially divorced yet. Either way, she knew Dale and I were more than dating. We lived together. She was treading the line of what was appropriate.
When I finished with the copies, I headed back into the room and began distributing papers.
“What’s this?” Dale asked as I reached him.
“Changes to the score from Irene,” I said.
“She’s really putting you to work,” Dale said. “Handing out papers. Are you getting her coffee next?”
Some of the other string players overheard and exchanged uncomfortable looks, but Chelsey smirked. A flare of anger burned for a moment before disappearing. Nothing good would come out of responding. I knew why Dale said it. He wasn’t happy when I became assistant concertmaster over him.
“If you’ll excuse me.” I gave everyone a polite smile, but didn’t look at Dale’s face.
As I moved away, he said something too quiet for me to hear, but the laughter that followed was plenty loud. Heat flooded my face, and I walked faster. I didn’t know if they were talking about me, but it was likely. And I doubted he said anything nice.
When I finished handing out the new sheet music, I glanced over at Dale brushing hair from Chelsey’s face. I wasn’t jealous when he flirted with other women, so he shouldn’t be jealous of me for getting something I had worked hard for.
I pushed my thoughts aside and picked up my bow and rosin. Rehearsal wasn’t the time or place for introspection. As I played a few notes, I realized no matter what happened in my future, I always had my biological mother’s Stradivarius. I never knew her, but it was the one thing I had that connected us from the beyond.
FIVE
DRAKE
A knockon the office door made me look up from my computer screen. Uncle Ben stood in the doorway, and I waved him in. He had stayed home sick the last two days and still didn’t look entirely up to par, but it didn’t surprise me he was back. While he was planning to retire later this year, he would continue to be involved as much as possible until the end.
“I hear everything went smoothly while I was out,” he said as he took the seat across from me.
“I doubt you’d be leaving me your company if I wasn’t capable of handling things without you,” I said with a hint of a smile.
“That’s exactly what Stellan reminded me of when I wanted to call and check in.” Uncle Ben chuckled. “You’re both right. It’s just not in the Mac Gilleain family’s nature to ‘take it easy.’”
“What can I say? I’m a work-hound.” I glanced at the time. “You’re here early. I thought we were meeting for lunch to discuss questions about the Gold call.”
