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He sers as he walked over to it He lifted the lid and pressed the slightly yellowedthe worst

It rang out clear and in tune, echoing around the books and paintings

He sat and closed his eyes for a second, reers across the keys, Rach back to him like a storm

Theand he lost all sense of time until the door creaked open and Savannah stood there, staring at hihost

“Oh—” he said and stopped, theto a halt “I’m so sorry I—”

“Keep playing,” she whispered She stepped into the rooht he saw tears in her eyes “Please”

Surprised, he nodded and finished thehard not to stare at her as she stood there crying

THE NOTES LINGERED, trailing across her skin like gossamer spiderwebs, and it was as if she’d been dipped backward in ti filled her throat and she wasin front of Matt

She stepped into the shadows and wiped her eyes, somehow full and drained at the same time

He’d made this happen Matt had called her from sleep and filled her with this sudden loneliness, this bittersweet pain, and she’d walked down here to feel more of it

The long years she’d spent alone were suddenly too heavy to carry and she sank into a wingback chair across the room from the piano

“I’ moment of silence “But I’ve never made anyone cry before”

She laughed At him At herself

“It’s been a long tihed

“That’s a shame,” he said “It’s a beautiful instrument” He ran the backs of his hands across the keys, the sound aher, note by note “Do you play?”

She tilted her head back to smile at him “Not well”

“Katie?”