Symphony in Blue

by M. J. Duncan

  “I mean, prosthetics have come a long way, but they’re still something that I attach to what remains of my real leg in some way or another. My every day legs are just a vacuum seal which aren’t exactly uncomfortable, but when it’s hot, the sleeve I have to wear with them can get pretty sweaty and gross.”

  Cream drapes framed the windows that were set halfway up the wall to allow for the fact that half the lower level of the townhouse was below ground, and a solid looking king-sized sleigh bed stained a rich mahogany anchored the far wall. The bedding was classic simplicity and elegance—the duvet and shams were a black and white chevron pattern and the trio of accent pillows were a bright, vibrant teal that reminded Gwen of the Caribbean Sea—and she swallowed thickly as an image of Dana lounging beneath those covers flittered unbidden across her mind.

  “My big-time sports activities legs—running, biking, what have you—are a shuttlelock system, which is basically a long metal pin attached to a padded sleeve that hold the prosthetic on more securely. Those can leave me sore after a while just because even with the padding there’s still a metal spike type thing pressing against my leg with each impact.”

  Gwen cleared her throat softly as she turned to look back at Dana. “That makes perfect sense.” She smiled. “Your room is very you. I like it.”

  “Do I want to know why you say that?” Dana asked, turning slightly and waving toward the other door on the level. “That’s the guest room.”

  Gwen smirked and arched a playful brow as she turned to glance at the guest room that was painted the same blue-gray as Dana’s master. “I dunno.” The room was markedly smaller than the master, but it was still more than large enough to comfortably hold the full-sized bed that Dana had decorated with a bright white bedding with red accents, as well as a small dresser and a matching pair of bedside tables that were all painted a rustic cream. “Very cute.”

  “I’m glad you like it,” Dana replied with a warm smile. “And, yeah. Hit me with it.” She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against her doorframe. “Why is my room so me?”

  “It’s calming. It’s elegant in its simplicity. There’s no pretentiousness, no obvious attempt to be more than it is, and yet what it is, is just”—Gwen licked her lips, her gaze dropping to the point where Dana’s clavicles met—“beautiful,” she confessed in a low whisper, her heart beating heavily in her throat. “It’s just so very, very beautiful.”

  Dana blew out a ragged breath, her chest shuddering with the long exhale, and Gwen closed her eyes as Dana’s smoke and honey voice breathed her name with so much emotion that it made her heart clench.

  “I’m sorry,” Gwen apologized. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

  Dana hummed softly and, for a handful of heartbeats Gwen was convinced that she was going to agree. But, instead, she eventually asked, “Was it a lie?”

  “No.” Gwen blinked her eyes open and shook her head as she looked at Dana. “Not at all.”

  “Thank you.”

  “For what?” Gwen choked out, her voice caught somewhere in-between a laugh and a sob. “Making everything weird?”

  “Maybe, yeah,” Dana admitted softly. She tilted her head to the side and lifted her shoulder in a small shrug, a sad smile tugging at her lips as she reached up to lightly ghost her fingers along the line of Gwen’s jaw. “But, for what it’s worth, I think you’re so very, very beautiful, too.” Her bright blue eyes darkened with desires that couldn’t possibly be voiced, desires Gwen was certain were undoubtedly swirling in her own eyes. When the silence between them became too thick and heavy with wants that they couldn’t share, Dana cleared her throat and looked at the stairs. “You ready to finish the nickel tour?”

  “Sure.” Gwen bit her lip and followed Dana up the stairs, around the turn on the main level, and then up again to the loft. A desk was pushed up against the wall beneath the window opposite the railing that overlooked the main level, and there was a couch on the wall that faced the stairs. A large blue exercise ball was tucked out of the way beside the couch, and there was a small stand with a handful of kettlebells on it right next to the head of the stairs. “This is your office?”

  “And makeshift gym for the days when I’m not on campus but still need to burn off some crazy,” Dana confirmed as she looked around the room.

  “It’s nice and bright.”

  “It is. I almost made this my bedroom instead of the one downstairs, but I didn’t like the idea of people trekking through my room to get to the deck upstairs.”

  “I don’t think I’d like that either,” Gwen admitted as she followed Dana across the loft to a black spiral staircase tucked into the far corner. “Was this original to the house?”

  “Nope.” Dana chuckled and shook her head. “But adding this staircase and the deck on the roof was worth every headache the process caused,” she shared as she stepped onto a tiny landing at the top and pushed the glass door leading to the roof open.

  “I can see why,” Gwen mused softly as she stepped outside and saw the bright afternoon sun reflecting off the Pacific a few blocks away. “This view is incredible.”

  “It is,” Dana agreed, her appreciative tone carrying a hint of wistfulness that had Gwen looking over her shoulder at her. She shook her head at the question in Gwen’s eyes and instead waved a hand at the group assembled around the large oblong teak table near the built-in BBQ. A smattering of bowls and plates with chips, salsa, veggies, and dip were spread along the length of the table, and a couple of empty beer bottles were pushed up against the pole of the red and gold umbrella that fit through a cutout in the center of the table. “You met Bill the other day,” she said as she leaned past Gwen to pick up a nearly empty bottle of beer from the table and flicked the base of it toward her boss, “but this is the rest of our staff and their much better halves.”

  “Hey now!” A man with black hair and a wide smile protested good-naturedly, laughing loudly when the woman beside him smacked him soundly on the shoulder. “Never mind! You’re absolutely right!”

  “Of course she is,” the woman agreed playfully. She smiled at Gwen. “You must be Gwen. I’m Mia, and this is my husband Jake.”

  Gwen nodded and glanced at Dana, wondering just what she had told them all about her, as she waved. “Hello.”

  “Right,” Dana chuckled, moving on with the introductions. “Next to Mia is Bill’s wife Hannah”—a petite blonde in oversized designer sunglasses waved—“and then there’s Mike and Elaine Jenner, Jack Tan, Will Graham, and last but not least we have Michelle Konley and her fiancé Pete.”

  Gwen smiled and offered the group a small wave. “It’s nice to meet you all.”

  “Would you like something to drink?” Dana asked. “The cooler’s by the barbecue if you want to see what there is.”

  “Thanks.” Gwen nodded, grateful that Dana’s colleagues seemed to forget about her as they resumed whatever conversation her arrival had interrupted. They had seemed nice enough on first meeting, but a few of their smiles were a little too sly given the awkwardness her honesty had wrought downstairs. “Do you need anything?”

  Dana downed what was left of her drink and nodded. “I’ll dig through it and see what looks good.” Once they were out of earshot of the table, she asked, “You okay?”

  “Fine.” Gwen smiled and fished her sunglasses out of her purse. “Why?” she asked as she slipped the glasses on.

  “I dunno.” Dana shrugged and flipped the lid on the cooler open, wincing slightly at the loud screech of the plastic hinges. She rifled through the bottles poking through the ice and added, “I just really want to make sure you have fun today.”

  “Dana.” Gwen reached out and placed a light hand on Dana’s tanned forearm. “Trust me when I say that if I’m with you, I’m having fun.”

  “They can just be a lot, together,” Dana explained, her voice low so it didn’t carry to the table a few feet away. “We spend so much time together that we’re basically family, and they won’t he
sitate to say something to try and embarrass me that will most likely embarrass you, too.”

  “Can they really be worse than Regan?” Gwen challenged as she plucked a bottle of Stella Artois from the cooler.

  Dana laughed. “Okay, yeah, they’re probably not going to be even remotely as bad as her.”

  “Well, since I’m still spending as much time as I can with you even after hanging out with Regan a few times, I think it’s safe to say that we can survive whatever they throw at us.” Gwen picked up the bottle opener that was on the counter beside the grill and opened her beer. “So there’s no reason for you to worry,” she concluded as she handed Dana the bottle opener.

  “Okay.” Dana nodded as she opened her beer. She tossed the bottle opener back onto the counter and angled the neck of her beer toward Gwen. “Here’s to not worrying, then.”

  “Exactly.” Gwen smiled and tapped Dana’s bottle with her own.

  “So what’s Miss Storm up to today?” Dana asked as they began making their way back to the table. She pulled a chair out for Gwen and took the empty one beside it, angling her body so she was facing Gwen.

  “Hopefully nothing too mischievous.” Gwen took a sip of her beer and shrugged. “She was so whiny and needy when I finally got home from teaching Wednesday night that I didn’t have the heart to lock her in the laundry room again, so I just closed all the doors to the bedrooms and left her the rest of the house. She usually sleeps most of the day anyway, so here’s to hoping she curls up in the bed on the top level of her condo that she likes to lay in because it’s in the sun most of the day and doesn’t cause too much trouble.”

  “I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Dana murmured reassuringly. “I’ll come to your place next time so she doesn’t have to be left.”

  “She’d like that,” Gwen shared with smile. “You’re her favorite visitor, by far. It’s driving Luke nuts.”

  Dana bit her lip and worried it between her teeth for a moment before she let it slip free so she could ask softly, “Just hers?”

  “No, not just hers.” Gwen shook her head. “You’re my favorite visitor, too.”

  Dana’s answering smile was so warm and gentle that it stole the breath from Gwen’s lungs. “I’m glad.”

  “So, Gwen,” a voice interrupted them.

  Gwen cleared her throat softly as she turned to see who had called her name. “Hmm?”

  “Dana said you play for the LA Philharmonic?” Mia asked.

  “Oh, yes.” Gwen nodded and, a little self-consciously, turned from Dana to face the rest of the group. “I play the cello,” she elaborated with a polite smile.

  “So what are you doing hanging out with this one?” Bill teased.

  Gwen chuckled and looked over at Dana, who was glowering petulantly at her boss. “I guess I just got lucky.” Dana blushed and the table erupted into laughter, and Gwen reached out to give Dana’s knee a gentle squeeze. “Sorry,” she mouthed.

  “Ignore them,” Hannah Kremer told Gwen and Dana with a kind smile. “They’re just being assholes.”

  “Hey!” the coaching staff protested while their partners all nodded knowingly, the looks on their faces saying that this was something they too had to endure at some point.

  “Hush, all of you,” Hannah warned, wagging a finger at the group. “We are done embarrassing them for the time being.”

  “And when will ‘the time being’ be over?” Michelle Konley asked with a mischievous grin.

  “Tomorrow.” Hannah smirked victoriously as the group that had been visibly spoiling for a fight deflated in an instant. Clearly, while Bill was the head of the program, Hannah was the ultimate boss of the group.

  “Thank you,” Dana told Hanna gratefully.

  “Of course. You’re my favorite.” Hannah winked at Dana as Bill laughed and muttered something about having known that under his breath. She shook her head and slapped lightly at his leg as she asked Gwen, “So how long have you been with LA Phil?”

  Gwen toyed with her beer bottle as she leaned back in her chair. “I joined in 2011.”

  “So we’ve probably heard you play then,” Hannah said with a warm smile. “We go to at least one Bowl performance every summer. You guys are always amazing to listen to.”

  Gwen smiled and tipped her head in a small bow. “Thank you.”

  “Bill, have you decided where we’re going for the training trip this winter?” Michelle piped up.

  Bill shrugged and leaned forward to scoop an impossible amount of salsa onto a chip. “Probably Hawaii again. The kids always like that trip and it’s honestly easier than going to Florida or out of the country somewhere.”

  The rest of the coaching staff began offering suggestions, and Gwen blew out a soft sigh of relief as she lifted her beer to her lips, glad that the first round of teasing had passed so quickly and easily. She couldn’t help but smile as she glanced over at Dana, who was animatedly discussing her ideas about different team bonding activities they could do, and her smile widened when Dana looked her way and stumbled over her words for a beat when she realized she was being watched.

  “What?” Dana asked.

  Gwen shook her head and took a long pull of her beer. They had shared too many truths that were better left unsaid already, so instead of saying what she was really thinking—You’re adorable—she replied, “Nothing.”

  Though, judging by the way the left corner of Dana’s lips was quirked in a shy smile, Gwen wasn’t entirely sure that Dana hadn’t heard her thoughts anyway.

  THIRTY-ONE

  The last week had been so hectic with rehearsals and teaching and studio work for a video game score that Gwen hadn’t had time to worry about what she was going to wear to the dinner party at Regan’s, but now that the day of the party had arrived, she wished she had given it at least a little thought to make choosing an outfit at least a little easier. She blew out a rough breath and ran a hand through her hair as she stared at the row of dresses hanging in her closet, wishing that one of them had a neon sign above it that said “pick me” hovering above it to make the decision for her. At least, she thought wryly as she dragged a thumb over the hangers, separating the dresses enough for her to see each one, she had been able to dismiss the number of black formal dresses that she wore for work.

  That, at least, cut the number of potential picks down to a more manageable dozen or so.

  Knowing that she wasn’t going to be able to make a decision on her own, she padded back into her bedroom to where Storm was sleeping peacefully in the middle of the bed, and grabbed her phone from the nightstand where she had left it to charge while she got ready. She had no idea whether or not Luke would answer her call since he and Jay were at Jay’s niece’s birthday party in West Hills, but she hoped for the best as she pushed her thumb to his name in her contacts and lifted the phone to her ear.

  “What’s up, beautiful?” Luke answered on the third ring.

  Gwen sighed with relief and shook her head as she wandered back into her closet. “I need fashion advice.”

  Luke chuckled. “Of course you do. Call me back on FaceTime so I can see what we’re working with.”

  “You’re a saint.” Gwen hung up and immediately called him back on video. “Hey,” she greeted when his smiling face popped onto her screen. She could see Jay’s family celebrating little Vivienne’s third birthday behind him—judging by the delighted screams coming from the swaying Thomas the Train bouncy house, the inflatable jumper was a big hit—and while she felt guilty about interrupting his family time with her desperate plea for help, his kind smile assured her that he didn’t mind.

  “Hey.” Luke winked as the scenery behind him began to shift as he moved away from the party. “So, show me the options.”

  “This is it, really.” Gwen flipped to the rear camera and panned it over the dresses hanging in the back of her closet. “I mean, all of them would be fine, really, but I just…” Her voice trailed off into a soft sigh. “I want—”

  “To knock her
socks off,” Luke finished for her with a knowing little nod.

  “Yeah,” Gwen breathed. “I know I shouldn’t, but…”

  Luke’s cheeks puffed out as he blew out a long, silent breath. “Yeah. It’s not necessarily the smartest idea ever given your situation,” he allowed with a small smile, “but I get it. You two are just so…” He shook his head. “God, I wish I could just make things easier for you.”

  “Believe me when I say I wish that kind of magic actually existed,” Gwen whispered, glad that her camera was pointed on her clothes and not her face so he wasn’t able to see the pained expression on her face. “I just want to look good for her.”

  “I know you do, sweetie,” Luke murmured. He cleared his throat and rubbed a hand over his chin. “Okay, enough doom and gloom. Let’s talk dresses. What’s Dana wearing to this thing? Did she give you anything to work with?”

  “She’ll be wearing slacks and a shirt, I’m sure. Dresses aren’t really her thing,” Gwen shared with a small smile.

  “You know, that doesn’t really surprise me.” Luke chuckled. “All right, go through the dresses slowly, let me see what the options are.”

  Gwen nodded and started at the back of the rack, sliding the dresses apart so Luke could see each one. “I kinda thought maybe this one?” she said as she paused on a teal A-line with a scoop neck that she had gotten for Jay and Luke’s engagement party earlier that year.

  “It could work.” Luke nodded thoughtfully. “It’s cute, demure but still flattering, you looked great in it, but I mean, if you want to knock her socks off…”

  “What about this one?” Gwen moved on to the next dress in her rack. It had been an impulse buy that she had made when she had been shopping with her mother in New York the summer before. She had loved it when she had been standing in the dressing room, the black and cream patterned fabric made her pale skin glow instead of seeming washed out and the loose skirt was ridiculously easy to move in, but neither of those details were what made the dress stand out. No, the defining feature that made the dress something special was the plunging neckline that ended beneath her breasts, meaning that she would definitely be going braless if she wore it.