Nocturne (17 page)

James was already skeptical of my feelings for Savannah, and I didn’t need to add to that. Especially if we were all going to be in the same room shortly.

James nodded and spoke to me as if I were simple. “She does, you know that, Gregory. Her parents owned the house while we were in the conservatory.”

“Yes, of course. Of course.” I knew that. I’d been to the house before, for goodness sake. What I’d meant was,
Savannah’s been right around the corner this whole time?

“Just try to be nice to Savannah, please, okay?” James set the knife down, giving me a pointed look.

“Why does everyone keep saying that?” Rolling my eyes, I took a knife from the butcher’s block and began dicing the red potatoes.

“Who keeps saying that?”

“You. Madeline said it a few weeks ago in her office. I’ve never been mean to the girl, James. She was a student. One who found my authority up for discussion.”

James laughed. “It wasn’t your authority she found debatable, Gregory. It was your opinions.”

“What’s the difference?” I scoffed. “Plus, how would you know what she thought?” James seemed to know more about Savannah than I’d given him credit.

“Madeline told me. She said Savannah seemed nervous about being here this summer with you, worried she’d pissed you off all semester.” He shrugged and took olive oil from a cabinet, handing it to me to drizzle over the potatoes.

“You spoke with Madeline about my interactions with Savannah?” My throat was stiff as I asked the question. As far as I knew, Madeline wasn’t aware of the brief affair rumors that had run through campus, as she was off campus for the entire semester.

“Relax, she doesn’t know about the rumors. At least, she’s never mentioned them to me. But, yes, Savannah’s come up. Madeline and I have been on a few dates, and we talk about work sometimes. Naturally, our most promising students enter the conversation and, Savannah is Madeline’s.”

Trying to regulate my sigh of relief I waved my hand. “Of course, of course. I didn’t realize you and Madeline …”

He smiled. “Well ... it’s very new.”

I nodded then said, my tone stiff, “And may I ask, why did you not mention dinner before now?”

James rested his hands on the counter and gave me a searching look. “Because it’s obvious you are hung up on the girl. I thought it best to not leave you stewing in your own juices, and since the school year is over, perhaps the two of you can be around each other now without acting like idiots.”

I squeezed my eyes shut for a second. “Your thought process is bizarre.”

He chuckled. “Maybe. But isn’t it true that if I’d warned you, you would have suddenly found something else to do this evening?”

I grunted. “Perhaps that would have been best.”

Savannah

As I followed Madeline up the steps of the house, I found myself wondering for the fiftieth time if I should have gone out somewhere else. The past few weeks had been wonderful. I’d attended Tanglewood as a student during my summers in high school, but I’d never guessed that it was just as much an education for the instructors as it is for the students. And one thing I’d learned in the last few weeks was that I was a good teacher.

It was gratifying that I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Increasingly, Madeline had left me to my own devices as she became more confident in my abilities.

All the same, I was still a bit of a loner. Not really an instructor, though technically I was on the faculty for the summer. I was separated by age and by the fact that the rest of the faculty were professional musicians, most of them with tenured positions at the Boston Symphony Orchestra. More than one of them had given me the cold shoulder because of my youth and status as a not yet graduated student at the conservatory. At the same time, I was four years older than most of the students.

Madeline had brought up dinner casually a couple of days before. “I’m going to be having dinner Friday night with James Mahone. You know him? He’s an oboe instructor at the conservatory.”

“He was on the panel for my audition,” I had replied. “He seems like a nice guy, I’ve seen him around school.”

So here we were. I was still a little lost in my thoughts as she knocked on the door, my eyes on the wooden porch, so when I looked up and saw Gregory Fitzgerald standing in the doorway, I sucked in a quick breath.

Gregory wore a tight black t-shirt and black pants. Typical. Slim, fit, with his muscular arms and shoulders, he was more than a little bit unnerving. He was obviously relaxed, padding around in his black socks with no shoes.
What is he doing here?
Stupid question, I guess. I knew James and Gregory were friends, or at least I’d seen them off campus drinking together. I’d managed to avoid Gregory so far this summer. Because really, what’s the point of spending time with someone you’re falling for, if they don’t return the feeling? And I’d finally admitted to myself, just a little, that I was falling for Gregory. It was more than a passing kiss in a rainstorm. It was that I wanted to kiss him again. In the rain, in the sun, anywhere I could.

But I couldn’t. He didn’t want that.

I swallowed. Why did he have to be here? Why didn’t Madeline warn me? Ugh, she wouldn’t know to warn me, I guess, given she knew nothing of the rumors from the past semester. That was long gone, and we were both adults. She certainly didn’t know about the kiss.

I actually wanted to run. My throat was dry, my hands trembling, as Gregory gave a tight half smile and said, “Madeline ... S-Miss Marshall ... please come in.”

He stepped back away from the door, and I followed Madeline in. My muscles were tight as I walked past him, and I had no idea where to set my eyes. As he reached to close the door behind me, he brushed against my shoulder. I jerked back a little bit. His touch lit me up more than I was comfortable with, given the setting. I forced my eyes anywhere but on him because I needed to cool the heat circling around my neck.

“It’s very good to see you again,” he said in a low rumble.

My breath caught a little, and I whispered, “You too, Mr. Fitzgerald.”

Madeline gave Gregory an annoyed smile. “I don’t think the two of you need to stand on ceremony any more. After all, she’s on the faculty this summer.”

Gregory’s eyes flashed at Madeline, then back to me. He nodded, and spoke in a low, tense voice, as his eyes locked on mine. Their bright crystal reflection made my heart race. “Of course. Savannah.”

Pulling my shoulders back slightly to fake some confidence, I nodded. “Gregory. Nice to see you.” Smiling because I’d made his eyes widen a little at my response, I shuffled by him and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

James met us in the living room. “Thank you both for coming.” He gave Madeline a quick hug and a peck on the cheek, and echoed the greeting with me. I liked James a lot, and I was interested to find out more about how he and Madeline maintained their friendship with Gregory for so long without doing him any physical harm.

“Thank you for having us over. You have a lovely home. I brought this to have with dinner.” I held out my hand, giving him the bottle of Cabernet Franc I brought.

James eyed the label. “Impressive. A vintage? From Villa Vignamaggio?” He looked at me, surprised.

I nodded, my cheeks heating slightly. “It’s the best. Most of their vineyard produces Chianti, but, some of their land is reserved for this Cabernet Franc, and it’s incredible.” James held the bottle out to Gregory, who took it and studied it with the same reverence I’d seen him use while looking over sheet music. “Their vineyard is stunning in the summer,” I added with a smile.

“You’ve been?” Gregory met my eyes, and I saw a flicker of life pass through his eyes. It was the same look I’d caught on his face when Nathan spun me around on the dance floor of that salsa club in Boston. Passion, maybe? Internally I caught myself about to roll my eyes, wondering if he was a wine snob, too. I decided, however, to play nice.

“Yes,” I nodded, “my mom … I spent a lot of summers in Europe before entering the Institute.” I shrugged and held out my hand. “Shall I open it?” Wrapping my hand around the neck of the bottle, my pinky grazed his thumb, making me pull my hand away quickly.

“I’ll do it.” Gregory turned on his heels and paced into the kitchen, where I heard the familiar
pop
of the cork a few seconds later.

“Please, come sit. I’ll help Gregory with the wine, and I’ll bring out the food.” James gestured to the large black lacquered dining table.

“This is a great place,” I whispered to Madeline as she sat next to me.

“It’s been in James’s family for years. We all used to come here on break when we were in the conservatory together.” She smiled and looked around, undoubtedly scanning memories from years spent inside these walls. Her smile brightened, eyes creasing at the corners, as James walked into the room and handed her a wine glass.

He set mine in front of me, but his eyes lingered for a second on Madeline. There was certainly something lovely passing between the two of them, but given my recent independent study on the origin of rumors, I decided to refrain from speculation. Luckily, Gregory appeared with our dinner.

“Before we start,” James began our meal by raising his glass in the air, “I’d like to toast to good friends. Old and new, and time spent doing what we love. Music. Savannah,” James looked at me, and Gregory followed, “I’ve heard nothing but excellent things about your work here so far this summer. I can’t say that I’m surprised, given how talented you are. But, it takes a special kind of musician to both play and instruct with equal passion, as you’ve managed to do.”

I started to blush. Not because of what James was saying, but because Gregory was nodding along with him.

He thinks I’m talented? He thinks I’m talented.

That thought spread a smile wide across my face, but it also made me berate myself a little. What did I care that a reclusive misanthrope musical prodigy thought I was talented.
What’s wrong with me?

“Thank you, James. Really, it’s been a great privilege to work with everyone the last few weeks. I’m looking forward to the orchestra work this week.” I took a large sip of my wine, anxious to turn the conversation away from me. “So, how long have you three known each other?”

“Day one of classes at the conservatory.” Madeline shrugged and lifted her glass to her lips. “Our professor for that class was a bit of an ass—”

“Yes, and James chose to lock horns with him as much as possible,” Gregory interjected, shaking his head. His tone was about as playful as I’d ever heard.

“I guess I can appreciate that.” The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them, and I silently cursed the glass of wine that sat nearly empty beside my plate. Quickly, I took a bite of asparagus.

James let out a full-throated laugh, and Madeline followed. My cheeks burned as I chewed, and I reached for my glass, swallowing the last bit of wine.

“Oh,” my breath caught in my throat as I saw Gregory watching me carefully with an unreadable expression on his face, “I didn’t mean you were an ass … I mean … me challenging …”

Mortified, I bit my lip and looked down.

This made Madeline and James laugh even harder. And, right then, I wanted to fall through the floor.

“It’s quite all right Miss Marsh—Savannah.” Gregory seemed to silence his own verbal stumble with a sip of his wine.

“Okay, you two.” Madeline set her glass down and volleyed her gaze between Gregory and me. “Spring semester is over, and I think it’s time both of you get over that foolish little rumor.”

Well. That did it. Gregory choked a bit on his wine, and I turned to Madeline, my eyes widening as my face got even hotter.

“Madeline,” I whispered. “You know about that?”

“Everyone knows, dear. It happens all the time, every semester. Different professor, different student, same story. Luckily this particular rumor was especially laughable and died down quickly.”

Especially laughable?
What exactly does that mean?
I was a little irritated by that, and by the fact that I was irritated. Did she think I wasn’t good enough for him? Seriously? I rubbed my eyes, ignoring my eye makeup and set my forehead in my hands for a second. When I pulled my head up, I was thankful to find Gregory’s skin nearing a nice shade of crimson.

“Madeline,” James cut in dryly, “could we talk about something else? I think … I think Gregory’s head is about to explode.”

At once, Madeline and James burst into laughter again, and I couldn’t help myself. I folded my arms on the table, set my forehead on them, and began laughing along with them. What else was I supposed to do? It was all so ridiculous.

Ridiculous. 

After a minute or so of the most uncomfortable laughter I’ve ever engaged in, Gregory cleared his throat. “Yes, we’re lucky the rumor was so … ridiculous, or that could have caused a lot of problems for both Savannah and myself.”

It was like he plucked the word right from my brain. Ridiculous. I found myself thinking that it wasn’t
that
ridiculous of a rumor but stopped that train of thought. Quickly.

James slapped Gregory on the shoulder. “Lighten up, Greg. It’s just us. We’ll stop, though. Promise.”

James and Madeline tried to suppress their giggles. James got up and retrieved another bottle of wine from the kitchen.

Greg. Hmm, I didn’t like how that sounded, really. Gregory didn’t seem to, either. His mouth pressed into a tight line as James said it. I guessed this was something James, and probably Madeline, did to tick him off. I was a bit relieved to know that it wasn’t just me he seemed to be uptight around. He was this way with friends he’d known for over ten years. But, why?

Madeline placed her hand on my leg. “Sorry, Savannah, but you really need a thick skin for this business. Especially if you want to have a professional career.” She leaned back in her chair, swirling what was left of her Cab Franc around in her glass. “When you’re working incredibly long days with the same group of people you sometimes travel with … it becomes like a family. And, sometimes relationships develop,” she paused, still looking down, and a ghost of a grin crossed her lips, “but, more often than not, lots of whispers and rumors start. It’s just the nature of things. Add in a few hundred hormone-driven young adults and, bam, instant student-teacher rumors.”