Chapter 28: The Right Notes

Reesa had always loved watching Hazel and Gabriel sit together when there were no demands on their time. They had a way of burrowing into each other’s sides like they’d found the safest place on earth. Wrapped in a blanket beside Myko, Reesa was equal parts scared and thrilled to acknowledge the same feeling.

There was a calm in the living room that existed alongside the rain, the scratching of her drawing pencils, and the taps of Myko’s fingers on his laptop keyboard.

“Do you want music?” he asked after a few hours went by. “I hear it sometimes when I’m going past your room.”

“You notice everything these days,” she said. “Yes, I’d like music. Here and there, it feels right to have jazz in the background while I work.”

“Does it inspire you?”

“Yes. Some of my best pieces have come to me that way.”

“Well, my Zia Carmen left quite the record collection on the shelves beneath those stairs. Jazz is her favorite genre after opera. How about I dust off the turntable?”