Symphony in Blue

by M. J. Duncan

  “No.” Dana shook her head. “No. It’s just…” She blew out a soft breath and shrugged. “It doesn’t matter.”

  Gwen wanted to press, to ask if she was sure, but there was something in Dana’s eyes that begged her to let it just drop. Before she could make a decision either way, however, a deep voice boomed Dana’s name from the direction of the hallway, causing them both to jump and take a step away from each other.

  “Hey, Bill.” Dana ran a hand through her hair and turned toward the door.

  Gwen followed her lead, turning to look at the man who had provided such a timely interruption, her eyes landing on a towering six-and-a-half foot tall man with deeply bronzed skin who wore a cardinal red USC Swim shirt, light gray cargo shorts, and flip flops. He looked to be in his mid-fifties, his warm brown eyes a perfect match to his hair, and he had a thin strip of black cloth running across his throat that Gwen would bet held a pair of sunglasses against his back. His smile was wide and genuine, welcoming in that way that made it impossible to not smile back, and Gwen found her lips curving in response.

  “Gwen, this is Bill Kremer, our program head,” Dana said, waving a hand between Gwen and her boss.

  Bill’s smile grew even wider, making Gwen wonder just what, exactly, Dana had told him about her. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Gwen.” He arched a fatherly brow at Dana. “You guys going to lunch?”

  Dana nodded. “Yeah. I’ll still be able to cover the weights session this afternoon, though.”

  “Or you could take the afternoon off,” Bill replied with a laugh. He looked at Gwen and added in a conspiratorial mock-whisper, “She works too much. It wouldn’t kill her to take an afternoon off.”

  Gwen chuckled. “I’m sure it wouldn’t. But I’ve got a class to teach here at three, so…”

  “You teach? Here?”

  “Mmm.” Gwen nodded. “In the music department.”

  It was telling that Bill didn’t ask what instrument she played and instead replied with a warm, “Well, from what I’ve heard, they’re quite lucky to have you.” He rubbed a hand over his stomach and turned back to Dana. “Well, then, I won’t keep you any longer. We can talk at practice this afternoon.”

  “Did you need me for anything important?”

  Bill shook his head. “Nah. I was just going to see if there was anything else you needed Jenny and I to bring to the barbecue this weekend.”

  “I’ll figure something out and let you know.” Dana chuckled at the way he snapped off a playful salute, and shook her head affectionately as he shoved his hands into his pockets as he sauntered down the hall. “So, yeah. That was my boss,” she said rolling her eyes. “He was also my coach when I swam here, once upon a time, which kind of explains his whole”—she circled a hand in the air—“fatherly reaction to meeting you.”

  “I think it’s cute,” Gwen admitted with a soft laugh.

  “You say that now,” Dana deadpanned with a wink. “But, yeah, he’s a really good guy. I’m lucky to get to work with him.” She tilted her head toward her door. “You ready to head out?”

  “Sure.”

  “Are you…” Dana’s voice trailed off as she pulled her door shut and used a key hanging from the lanyard around her neck to lock it. “I mean, it’s not anything fancy, but I’m having the staff over for a little barbecue Saturday afternoon and, I dunno, but if you’re not busy or anything, would you want to come over and hang out for a bit?”

  Gwen smiled at the adorableness of Dana’s rambling and nodded. “I would love to.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. Of course.” Gwen laughed. “Or were you hoping I’d say no?”

  “No. Not at all. I’d been debating asking you since last weekend, it’s just…” Her voice trailed off and she shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “Yeah,” Gwen breathed. She huffed a breath and bumped Dana’s arm with her shoulder as they started back toward the stairs. “I’m actually looking forward to seeing your place,” she confided with a grin. “We’ve always hang out at my house so far.”

  “Oh, well, it’s not much,” Dana admitted with a wry grin. “Just a two-bedroom townhouse in Marina del Rey. It overlooks a canal and it’s like a block and a half from the boardwalk, so the location is much better than the square footage, but it’s more than big enough for just me.”

  “I’m sure it’s amazing.”

  “Nah, amazing is Regan’s place.” She glanced pulled her phone from her pocket as she pushed the door open and rolled her eyes as she glanced at the screen. “Speak of the devil.”

  “Do I want to know?”

  “Probably not what she said verbatim, no,” Dana replied with a small grin as she pulled her sunglasses into place. “But the gist of it was that she wanted me to see if you and Luke and Jay wanted to come to a party she’s throwing at her place next weekend.” Her phone buzzed again, and she shook her head as she read the message and relayed, “Never mind, she’s going to text Luke herself because he’s apparently a better best friend than I am.”

  “Yeah, Luke confessed to me earlier that they’re cheating on us with each other,” Gwen shared with a laugh as they started down the stairs to deck.

  “Pretty much,” Dana agreed, shaking her head in amusement. “Anyway, not to monopolize your weekends or anything, but she’ll kick my ass if I don’t actually ask you if you’d like to go with me to this thing. So…would you? Like to go with me?”

  “I’d love to,” Gwen accepted without hesitation, her stomach fluttering at the way Dana’s expression gentled ever so slightly at her words. “Do I need to dress up for it?”

  “For Regan’s?” Dana shrugged. “Yeah, but just a little. It’s a dressy-casual type of thing.”

  “And for the thing at your house this weekend?”

  Dana smiled and shook her head. “We’re swim coaches—putting on shoes is pretty much as fancy as we get unless someone’s making us do something more.”

  “Good to know,” Gwen laughed.

  Dana glanced in the team lounge as they strolled past it, the room now completely empty, and nodded. “Good, they went for food.” She arched an expectant brow at Gwen and asked, “So, does anything in particular sound good to you for lunch?”

  “Not really. Whatever you’d like is fine with me.”

  “So helpful,” Dana groaned. She pursed her lips thoughtfully. “What time’s your class, again?”

  “Three. What time do you need to be in the weight room?”

  “One.” Dana glanced at her watch and nodded. “So we’ve got a little more than an hour. You okay with staying by campus? I know a good little Thai place just off campus here that we could walk to, or we could hit up Lemonade if salads and stuff sounds better.”

  “I’m good with either. We can go to the Thai place, maybe avoid any students we might know.”

  Dana grinned. “Good point. Okay then”—she pushed the gate at the main entrance to the pool open and waved Gwen through—“Thai it is.” She tilted her head to the left. “It’s maybe three blocks that way, near the new residence halls they’re building.”

  Gwen shoved her hands into the back pockets of her shorts and nodded. “Lead the way, Ryan. I’ll follow you.”

  “That’ll get ya in trouble,” Dana quipped.

  Gwen shrugged and smiled up at Dana. “I dunno. I think you’re worth the risk.”

  Dana bit her lip to try to contain her own smile and failed miserably at it, which only made them both chuckle. “Come on, Harrison,” Dana said, looping an arm over Gwen’s shoulders and steering her toward the crosswalk. “I’m hungry.”

  “When aren’t you?”

  Dana huffed a laugh and nodded “Good point.” She gave Gwen’s shoulders a light squeeze as they waited for the signal to change. “I’m glad you came out today.”

  Gwen sighed and just barely resisted the urge to lean her head on Dana’s shoulder as she agreed softly, “Me too.”

  THIRTY

  Gwen bit her lip as she glanced
at her GPS, trying to figure out just where she was in relation to Dana’s house as she drove at a crawl down Pacific Avenue. According to the little moving icon on her GPS she was practically on top of Dana’s townhouse, and she eyed the line of cars at the curb on her right carefully, hoping she would be able to find a spot close to Dana’s. Even though she was purposefully trying to avoid looking at the clock on her dash that told her she was over half an hour late thanks to a three-car fender-bender she’d happened upon not long after she had gotten on the freeway, the little glowing numbers still managed to catch her attention as she looked for a place to park, sending an unpleasant spike of anxiety through her.

  She really hated being late.

  “You have reached your destination,” the GPS chirped, and Gwen nodded to herself as she spotted a building with the address Dana had given her. There was enough of an elevation change on the facade of the building to make each of the units in the building distinct, and the narrow strip of landscaping in the courtyard between the low wall and the building itself was an eye-catching mix of greenery and colored leaves on a trio of plum trees.

  “Here we go,” Gwen murmured as she spotted a space at the curb more than large enough for her SUV near the far end of Dana’s building. She was in the middle of backing into the space when her phone rang through the car’s speakers, and she let it go for a couple rings longer as she finished parallel parking. Once she was at the curb, she left the car running as she thumbed the call button on the steering wheel. “Hello?”

  “Gwen.”

  Despite the fact that she knew she wasn’t doing anything wrong, a stab of guilt flashed through her stomach at the sound of Mallory’s voice. “Hey, Mal. What’s up? Is everything okay?”

  “Hmm? Oh, yes, of course, darling. I’m just driving to my therapy appointment and thought I’d call since I haven’t really spoken to you all week. I got the scherzo from Schumman’s second nailed down this morning, so that’s one less thing to worry about. The Debussy is still not perfect, but it feels better, like I’m close.”

  “Well, that’s good,” Gwen murmured, her eyes flicking to the rearview mirror and finding the cranberry red door of Dana’s townhouse.

  “It is. I leave for London in twelve days, and in that time I should be able to have every piece down perfectly,” she said, her tone unusually smug, even for her. “Those poor souls vying for my spot won’t know what hit them.”

  “I’m glad your preparation’s going well,” Gwen replied evenly..

  “It is.”

  The sound of a horn honking blared through the speakers, and Gwen arched a brow at the low curse Mallory muttered in response. “Everything okay?”

  “Hmm? Yes. It was just an idiot who forgot to check his blind spot before changing lanes. Anyway, I just pulled up to the physical therapy place, so I should probably get going. Don’t want to make Laurie wait on me, you know.”

  “Yeah. Totally. I’ll talk to you later?”

  “I’ll be back to practicing this afternoon, but I’ll try and remember to call tomorrow sometime.”

  “Sure,” Gwen said, knowing that she wouldn’t hear from Mallory until they saw each other at rehearsal Monday morning. Of course, that assumption was based on the idea that Mallory would even acknowledge her then. If her recent behavior continued to hold, odds were good that they wouldn’t really touch base again for at least another week. And, if she were being honest, a rather large part of her didn’t even care. But the little part of her that did feel bad that she hadn’t made any more of an effort to make time for Mallory than the violinist had done for her, had her asking as the sound of Mallory’s car door slamming echoed through the speakers, “Hey, would you want to go to dinner or something the night before you leave for London? We can do something quick if you feel you still need to prepare, but I was just thinking…”

  Mallory hummed thoughtfully and Gwen was half-convinced she would refuse before she said, “That’d be nice. Is it okay if we figure out the details when it gets closer?”

  “Sure. That sounds good. Have a good day.”

  “You too, darling,” Mallory replied distractedly before disconnecting the call.

  Gwen shook her head and pulled her keys from the ignition, not really surprised that Mallory’s call had been focused entirely on the violinist’s life, but she had to admit that, for Mal, the fact that she even thought to call was something. Gwen took a deep breath as she picked up the bowl of fruit salad she had made earlier that morning that was sitting on the passenger’s seat, and let it go slowly as she checked her side mirror for oncoming cars before she pushed the car door open. “Just let it go,” she told herself.

  It was a beautiful Southern California day with clear blue skies and radiant sunshine, and the temperature at the beach was a blissful twenty degrees cooler than it had been at her house in Hollywood. The distinctive kee of seagulls billowed from the canal across the street as she made her way along the sidewalk to Dana’s address, and by the time she pushed the gate to Dana’s shared courtyard open, she had almost completely forgotten about the mild frustration her conversation with Mallory had wrought. She adjusted the strap of her purse on her shoulder as she climbed the half-dozen stairs to Dana’s front door, and wet her lips as she balanced the bowl of fruit in her right hand so she could press the doorbell with her left.

  Not five seconds later the door was thrown open, and Dana greeted her with a wide, happy smile and a cheerful, “Hey! You made it!”

  “I did,” Gwen murmured with a smile as her eyes swept over the green boardshorts that hung precariously low on Dana’s hips and the fitted black tank that hugged her sculpted torso. She cleared her throat softly and added, “Sorry I’m late. I hit some traffic on the way over.”

  “No biggie. Do you want me to take that?” she asked, motioning to the bowl in Gwen’s hands.

  “I can carry it,” Gwen said as she stepped inside. The tiled foyer was no more than a handful of feet deep, and Gwen looked around interestedly as she wandered far enough inside that Dana was able to close the door behind her. The main level of the house was spread before her, bright and sunny with its warm off-white walls and pale bamboo floors. The pale blond floors reflected the sunshine that poured through the tall sliding glass doors on the far side of the room that led to a narrow balcony that overlooked the canal, making the open space feel warm and welcoming. A staircase split the long rectangular room, separating the kitchen and dining room from the living room beyond, creating two distinct areas without boxing either in with walls.

  “You can just go ahead and put it in the fridge, then,” Dana said, motioning toward the kitchen.

  Gwen nodded as she followed Dana into an open galley-styled kitchen that had charcoal gray cabinets with stainless steel hardware, white marble countertops, and a striking blue glass subway tiled backsplash. “Your house is gorgeous.”

  “Thanks.” Dana ran a hand through her hair and smiled. “Everybody’s up on the roof—there’s a deck up there—would you like something to drink before we join them?”

  “What’s everyone drinking?” Gwen asked as she pulled the fridge door open.

  “Wine, beer, the usual.” Dana shrugged. “I don’t drink a lot so I don’t have a lot of hard alcohol, but I do have the stuff for margaritas if you’d rather have that.”

  “I don’t need anything that complicated.” Gwen set the bowl of fruit salad onto the top shelf and looked over her shoulder at Dana. “What are you drinking?”

  “An IPA that Bill brought. But if you don’t like IPAs, there’s a cooler full of the different stuff everybody brought up on the deck.”

  Gwen flicked the fridge door shut with her fingertips as she stood and turned toward Dana. “I’m good with a beer.” She looked at the room beyond Dana and smiled. “So, do I get the nickel tour before we go up?”

  “If you really want it, sure,” Dana agreed with a light laugh.

  “Of course I do. I wasn’t kidding the other day when I said I couldn�
�t wait to see your place. Goodness knows you’ve been in every room of my house by now.”

  “Ah, well, to make things even, then,” Dana drawled, her smile warm as she offered Gwen her arm. “If you’ll follow me…”

  Gwen grinned and slipped her hand in the crook of Dana’s arm. “Lead the way.”

  Dana bit her lip as she covered Gwen’s hand on her arm with her own. “Okay.” She cleared her throat softly and let her hand drop, though she did bend her arm just a little more to hold Gwen’s hand at her elbow. “Well, this is the main living area, which is, well, here. Powder room is back by the front door. There’s not really anything more to see on this level. The bedrooms are down and then there’s a loft above the kitchen that I’ve turned into an office. The stairs to the roof are off the loft, so if you wanna start downstairs, we can work our way up?”

  “Sure.” Gwen gave Dana's bicep a playful squeeze as she allowed her to lead the way toward the stairs. She released her hold when they neared the top step, and arched a brow in surprise when she noticed that there was a handrail on both sides of the stairwell. “Two handrails?”

  “Oh, yeah.” Dana nodded and started down the stairs. “Makes it easier to get up and down when I don’t have my leg on.” She glanced at Gwen over her shoulder. “The prosthetic is great for getting around, but there are days where I just don’t feel like dealing with it all.”

  “Does it hurt?” Gwen asked as she reached the small landing at the bottom of the stairs. The ceilings were high enough that the six-foot tall mirror hung on the wall facing the stairs had plenty of room above and below its thick black frame, and on either side of the landing was a door that opened onto a bedroom.

  “Sometimes,” Dana admitted with a small shrug as she motioned toward the doorway on the left. “This is my room.”

  Gwen leaned her head to the side to see better, as Dana continued answering her question. The square room was much larger than she had expected, its walls painted a light blue-gray that both contrasted and complimented the warm off-white of the rest of the house.