When the Music Ends (The Winter Rose Chronicles) (5 page)

BOOK: When the Music Ends (The Winter Rose Chronicles)
10.33Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

            "You’re
right, and that’s fine. I wasn’t planning to broadcast it anyway,
especially not under these circumstances."

            They
were at the house by that time, and went back inside. Erin’s mouth tasted
terrible, so she went into the hallway bathroom to brush her teeth in the
scalloped, cream-colored pedestal sink. Sean followed and she found him a
toothbrush still in the package in the cabinet. While he brushed, she washed
the last of the makeup off her lips and eyes before leading Sean back into the
bedroom and pulling him to her again. They kissed endlessly, deeply, their
burgeoning passion for each other exacerbated by their terrible grief.

            Sean
was a little concerned about making love to Erin again so soon after her first
time. He knew she was sore, but really, it didn’t matter, not when she
was undressing him, running her hands over his body. She wanted and needed to
be as close to him as possible, and he needed her just as badly. And when the
moment came, he pressed inside her so gently, so slowly, that she only felt the
slightest twinge. The second time was just as sweet as the first, especially as
Erin now knew that Sean intended to be with her. Falling asleep in his arms
was one of the sweetest things she had ever experienced. If only it
didn’t have to be coupled with such tragedy.

******

            In
the morning, Erin called the Murphy house. Sean was still sleeping in her bed,
but of course no one knew that. Roger picked up.

            "Hello
Mr. Murphy. This is Erin. I’m just calling to see if you guys are home. I’m
not going to ask if you’re okay. Do you think it would be all right if I
came over later?"

            "Yes,
Erin, please come over," Roger said. His voice sounded very strained.
"Sheridan is sleeping now, but I think maybe this afternoon, it would be
good for her to have you here."

            "I’ll
be there after lunch. Hang in there, Mr. Murphy."

            The
voice on the phone sounded weary, but appreciative. "You too.
Goodbye."

            Warm
arms wrapped around Erin from behind and she snuggled against Sean. He leaned
down and kissed her cheek.

            "What’s
the word?"

            "They’re
home. I’m going over there this afternoon. I think it would be good for
us to drive separately. No one would take kindly to finding out we spent the
night together."

            "Right.
I’m glad though. It would have been terrible to be alone." He
hugged her a little tighter.

            "I
know. I feel a little guilty about doing something so wonderful when poor Danny
is…" She sniffled.

            "I
know, but really, it’s understandable. When you’re hurting, you
want to cling to people who care about you. Danny needed Mom and Dad. We were
lucky to have each other so we didn’t burden them with our pain in
addition to what they’re already dealing with."

            "Is
she going to be okay?"

            "I
hope so. She’s strong, but no one should have to live through that."

            "It’s
so unfair. She always tries to do the right thing. Sheridan is the kind of girl
who should have been a virgin on her wedding night."

            "Yeah."
Sean couldn’t think of anything to say, so he just remained silent.
Beckoning Erin, he went to the bathroom to shower, taking her with him into the
steaming water. Erin was a little startled by this, but it was very enjoyable,
and the heat helped relax her, especially inside where she was so sore. When
they were both clean and, naturally, quite aroused, Erin led her boyfriend back
to her room for one more taste of deep sweet loving. It was very late morning
by the time they were finished, so they just lay close, holding each other in
silence, until it was time to choke down a quick lunch. Neither was hungry, in
the aftermath of such trauma, but they ate anyway.

            Parting
caused a terrible pang, but it was necessary, and Sean kissed Erin long and
lingeringly before getting into his Mustang and driving away. It was a little
early to leave yet, so Erin put together her oboe and spent half an hour
practicing her music for the audition she would play for the recruiter from Texas. She had all the notes well in hand long since, of course, but was experimenting with
different stylistic elements, trying to find just the right emotion. Oboe
naturally lends itself to sounding melancholy, which suited her mood perfectly.
Today, the piece rolled off her fingers with a passionate and mournful keening,
her instrument weeping with her grief and sorrow and pain. Strange that she had
chosen a piece that so perfectly expressed her emotions. It had never sounded
better, but by the time she played the last cadence, she was crying so hard she
could barely see the music stand.

            She
managed to pull herself together long enough to clean her instrument and put it
away, and make the short drive to her friend’s house safely, but she
didn’t really stop crying altogether. It would be a long time before the
Murphy family and their friend really began to recover from the trauma.

***Chapter 4***

 

            Sheridan took a week off from school trying to come to grips with what had happened. Erin, however, was back on Monday. She had appointed herself to meet with her
friend’s teachers and collect her assignments so Sheridan wouldn’t
get too far behind. She spent as much time as possible at the Murphy house in
the evenings, going over algebra and English and chemistry work with her friend
sometimes, and other times just holding her while she cried. Jake had been
arrested on the same night as the assault, and the legal process was underway. Erin hoped Sheridan was strong enough to stand it.

            Erin’s mother came home late Monday evening, all smiles and happiness, blithely
unconcerned that she was tearing her family apart with this ill-advised love
affair. Erin’s dad had rented an apartment and she hadn’t seen him
since. Neither one seemed terribly interested in the rape, which made Erin angry. How she could be descended from two such selfish people, she couldn’t
imagine. Once again she chafed at being unable simply to walk away from both of
them and take care of herself. She had a job, playing in the symphony
orchestra, but it was a small and ill-funded group, and the pittance she
earned, while sufficient for her teenage needs of car insurance and spending
money, would not be anywhere near enough to live on.

            In
the late evening, most nights, Sean would call her. Listening to his deep
soothing voice helped her. He had been very serious about their relationship,
but it was difficult to spend any time together because she was so busy, and
because it was hard to find places to get together where they didn’t risk
running into someone they knew.

            On
Friday, Valerie James told her daughter that she was going out for the weekend
again. It was a huge relief and Erin had never been so happy to see her
mother’s silver convertible disappear down the road.

            Sean
had just gotten home from work when he received the call that Erin’s
mother was gone again. Erin offered to make him some dinner at her place. He
told her he would be there as soon as he finished showering and changed
clothes. He also packed a little bag, knowing both of them would be eager to
spend the night together, if not the whole weekend.

            Erin was in the kitchen when he arrived, toasting ham and cheese sandwiches under the
broiler, while a pot of soup bubbled on the stove. Sean kissed her cheek and
she turned, sliding her arms around his neck for a tight hug. He could see she
had been crying again. Her eyes were red and puffy, and a faint trace of
mascara ran down her face.

            "What’s
wrong, baby?"

            She
sniffled. "Danny’s going back to school on Monday. I wish she
didn’t have to. Everyone knows what happened. Jake’s stupid friends
blabbed. They’re making it sound like her fault. It’s horrible. I
don’t know how she’s going to handle it."

            Sean
shook his head, devastation crossing his handsome features. "It’s
so unfair. I would have thought, in a new millennium, that people would stop
blaming rape on the victims."

            "I
guess whoever’s less popular will take the blame. That’s how high
school works. I hate it!" Her voice was fierce but unsteady, and she
leaned her head against his shoulder. "I hate it so much."

            His
arms tightened around her. "I know. Just try to stick it out and finish
as best you can. Don’t let this destroy your dreams. You have to finish
well, Erin."

            "I
know that. It just really sucks."

            "It
does." He squeezed her comfortingly and then noticed a tell-tale aroma. Grabbing
a red and gold oven mitt decorated with a rooster from its hook above the stove,
he rescued the sandwiches from under the broiler, moments before they could
blacken.

            "Sorry,"
Erin said, scrubbing at her eyes.

            "Hey,
they’re fine. No worries." He set the hot baking sheet on a trivet
on the black Corian countertop next to the stove. Opening the gleaming mahogany
cabinets he searched until he found a little cutting board in the shape of a
pig. He pulled a knife from the block and sliced pickles and tomatoes for the
sandwiches while Erin finished stirring the soup and poured it into mugs.

            He
watched her while she worked. Sean was pleasantly surprised at how well this
relationship was working out. Erin took their love affair seriously without the
cloying clinginess younger girls sometimes foisted on their boyfriends. For his
part, he was hoping as time passed to find a balance between sex and
conversation so that she would know she was desired both for her beauty and her
soul. That was the truth. The more time he spent with Erin, the more drawn he
was to her. He couldn’t imagine ever wanting it to end. He hoped they
could find a way to maintain their relationship while she pursued her dreams,
after graduation.

For now, however,
they would simply enjoy each moment together, starting with this simple meal.

***Chapter 5***

 

            On
Monday, Sheridan returned to school. This was going to be hard. Erin was terribly concerned about her friend, because gossip of the ugliest kind was
swirling around her situation. To help her friend, she had rearranged her
schedule, dropping advanced placement chemistry in favor of regular so that she
and Sheridan could have the same lunch period. It wasn’t a big deal. She
hated chemistry anyway, and had plenty of A.P. credits. Now the girls had several
classes together, which Erin hoped would help.

Erin
was glad to have spent a lovely weekend with
her boyfriend, as that helped balance what was sure to be a terrible week. Sean
had been so wonderful, and she was no longer sore, so their lovemaking had been
even better. Oh, but they didn’t just spend the whole time in bed. He had
talked to her and really listened. She had poured out her worries about the
future: her auditions and college choices, and what she wanted to do with the
future. It was the first time that she had felt comfortable to talk about this
with anyone other than her best friend.

 For his part, Sean was learning to run a construction business
and told her about the problems he was having. She was glad to listen, even
though she had very little advice to give. Being in love felt absolutely
amazing, although the word had not been mentioned between them, yet. She
wasn’t quite sure when her crush had ripened into something so
meaningful, but it had, and very quickly too. Not to mention that Sean was her
anchor, and with him to steady her life, both her studies and her practice had
been more productive than ever before.

            Now
it was time for English class. Erin firmly put thoughts of Sean out of her mind
until later and concentrated on taking notes over
Macbeth
. Since it was
an A.P. class, the teacher didn’t care where they sat, so she and
Sheridan had chosen seats next to each other at the beginning of the year and
never moved. She glanced at her friend. Sheridan looked pale and strained, but
was trying hard to pay attention. The horrible bruise on her face was fading to
a sickening yellow, although the cut was still livid. Sheridan had told her,
finally, that Jake had punched her, and the cut was from his class ring. It was
horrendous.

            The
bell rang, and the girls headed down the hall to government. This was one of Erin’s least favorite classes. The teacher was deeply boring, and so was the content,
at least to a young musician. She knew it would be futile to attempt the exam
in this subject.

            "Bitch,"
a feminine voice hissed at them.

Erin
turned and glared at Lindsey Jones. "Shut
up."

            Sheridan looked from Erin to Lindsey, puzzled.

            "What?"

            "It’s
nothing, Danny. Ignore her."

            Sheridan addressed Lindsey directly. "What did I do?"

            "You
put Jake in jail. Now there’s no way our football team can make the
playoffs. He’s going to miss his senior year because of you."

BOOK: When the Music Ends (The Winter Rose Chronicles)
10.33Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

Marked by Garrett Leigh
Kill Process by William Hertling
Vicki & Lara by Raven ShadowHawk
The Witches of Cambridge by Menna Van Praag
Three Princes by Ramona Wheeler
Calder by Allyson James
The Reverse of the Medal by Patrick O'Brian
Flame of Sevenwaters by Juliet Marillier
Bright Arrows by Grace Livingston Hill