LITMIR.BIZ

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Jamie said, moving beside Trent to refill her coffee cup.

      Suppressing a wince, Annie wished she hadn’t mentioned her degree to Trevor. She hadn’t meant to—it had just sort of slipped out when they’d been making conversation as she’d cleaned his offices last week. While chatting about his children, Trevor had told her of Sam’s desire to learn to play piano and their futile search for a teacher. The next thing she’d known, Annie had divulged her degree and had mentioned that she’d taught piano while she attended college. She hadn’t added that she’d started teaching because she enjoyed working with children in music, not because she’d needed the money.

      She had learned today that she could take just as much joy in teaching even though she was being paid for it.

      “You have a master’s degree in music?” Trent sounded a little skeptical.

      She nodded, bracing herself for the question that was sure to follow.

      He reacted exactly as she had predicted. “Then how come you’re cleaning houses instead of doing something with your education?”

      “Trent!” Though notably plainspoken herself, even Jamie seemed to think her brother-in-law had crossed the line with that blunt question.

      Tact was not a word Annie had come to associate with Trent, which probably explained why she wasn’t particularly offended. “A music degree isn’t the most practical background for earning a living, but there always seems to be a demand for housekeeping services. I don’t mind cleaning, and it’s a job that lets me feel useful and still independent, so it seemed a logical way to support myself when I moved into the house my great-uncle left me. I like teaching piano, so I’m considering taking on more students, but I’ll keep my cleaning business going for now.”

      “What made you decide to settle in Honoria, Annie?” Jamie seemed as curious as Trent, if considerably more subtle. “Was your great-uncle your only family?”

      Since Annie didn’t want to talk about her estrangement from her parents, she chose to ignore the second question. “Actually, I needed to make a change in my life and the house my great-uncle left me appeared to be a good place to make a fresh start. When I came to look at it, I was taken with what a pretty and peaceful place Honoria seemed to be—exactly what I needed at the time. Everyone has been very kind to me here, and I’m building up a large clientele for my business, so I’ve decided to stay for a while.”

      Jamie smiled. “I know what it’s like to start over. I did that when I left New York to come back here to teach. Of course, I had no idea quite how drastically my life would change. I came back single, with very little family, and now I have a husband, two children, nieces, nephews and assorted other in-laws,” she added, patting Trent’s cheek with a bold familiarity that Annie suspected only Jamie could carry off.

      Trent merely gave his sister-in-law a look and set his now-empty cup in the sink. “Thanks for the coffee, Jamie. Tell Sam I’d like him to play for me next time I come by. Annie, I’ll see you in the morning.”

      He glanced at her as he spoke, and their gazes locked for a moment. Annie felt her toes curl inside her sneakers—as they had a tendency to do every time Trent McBride looked at her this way.

      “Trevor should be home soon, Trent,” Jamie said quickly. “Why don’t you stay for dinner?”

      Breaking the visual contact with Annie, he shook his head. “Thanks, but I have other plans. See you later.”

      He left then without looking back.

      “But…” Jamie sighed as the door closed behind him. She turned back to Annie, her expression rueful. “I guess he was ready to leave.”

      Dragging her gaze away from that closed door, Annie nodded, drawing her first full breath since her gaze had been captured by Trent’s. “Apparently he was.”

      “He didn’t like us talking about making a new start with our lives, I suppose. That subject’s still too raw for Trent. I…um…assume you’ve heard that his air force career ended with a plane crash a little more than a year and a half ago.”

      “Yes.”

      “Of course you have. You’ve probably figured out by now that Honoria has the most efficient rumor mill in the world.”

      “Well, yes, I…”

      “Trent’s having trouble adjusting to the forced changes in his life. All he ever wanted to do was fly, and now that’s been taken from him. I didn’t know him very well before the crash—Trevor and I had only been dating a short while when it happened, and I hadn’t seen Trent since high school—but I understand he was very different before. Trevor said Trent’s always been moody, but before the crash he was more extroverted and jovial. He was cocky and self-confident and wisecracking, the life-of-the-party type. I guess that’s hard for you to believe.”

      Annie thought of the emotional pain she’d sensed in Trent the first time she’d met him. She had no problem believing that his accident had changed him. She’d been changed by recent events herself. There’d been a time when she’d been blindly naive, dependent and pathetically eager to please. While she hoped she had avoided the bitterness Trent’s accident had left behind, she could identify well enough with his anger and regret. An airplane crash had altered Trent’s life; Preston Dixon, with his lies and empty promises, had changed hers.

      Because she still didn’t feel comfortable talking about Trent behind his back, she changed the subject by glancing at her watch and rising to her feet. “I’d better go,” she said. “I have offices to clean.”

      Jamie stood to escort her out. “I’ll see you next week for Sam’s lesson, if not before. Do you mind if I give your number to a couple of other parents who are looking for a piano teacher?”

      “Not at all. I’ll find a way to work their students into my schedule if they’re interested.” Annie was actually pleased by the prospect of finally putting her education to use, something her father and her former fiancé had mockingly predicted she would never be able to do.

      AS SOON AS Trent opened his door for her the following Friday morning, Annie could tell he was in a bad mood. His jaw was hard, his mouth set in a grim line. Though his head was lowered so she couldn’t meet his eyes, she thought she saw shadows of pain through the lenses of his glasses. “Are you all right?” she asked impulsively.

      His chin lifted. “I’m fine. There are a couple loads of dirty laundry in the hamper. I could use some clean jeans if you have time to wash.”

      “I’ll make time.” She watched as he moved toward the door. He was definitely walking stiffly, and she sensed that he was hurting. She also knew he was likely to bite her head off if she expressed concern or in any other way acknowledged that she had noticed his discomfort. Still, she felt the need to try. “You know there’s really not much more to do at my house, so if you’d like to take the day off…”

      He looked at her then, his expression openly disbelieving. “Not much more to do? Have you actually looked at your house lately?”

      She knew there was still plenty of work to be done, but she was trying to give him an excuse to rest a day. She should have known his stiff-necked pride would get in the way. “You’ve done so much for me already,” she offered weakly. “I feel as though I’m falling behind in repaying you.”

      His eyebrows drew even more tightly together, and she almost sighed. She had handled this badly, letting her concern for him show through her usually carefully maintained professional distance. She knew he was oversensitive about his disabilities, whatever they were; she should have known he would not concede any sort of weakness in front of her. To the contrary, he was likely to try to do twice as much as usual just to prove he could.

      And what was really bothering her was this feeling that she was beginning to know him so well, despite the very limited nature of the time they had spent together so far.

      “We have an arrangement,” he said shortly. “You’ve

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