Chapter 178

The hair dryer was high-pitched wheeze rings in her ears as Danica brushed and brushed her hair beneath its heat. With each stroke her heartbeat settled to a more even pace. He had sounded so strict. But then she felt he didn’t mean to be. Lorenzo didn’t seem to be a bad man. Danica finished her hair and knew that the only way to restore her equilibrium and forget about her troubles for a while was to play the piano. Music was her escape. It had been her only escape. When she came back downstairs, Lorenzo had disappeared. She wondered where, but her fingers were itching to play. She sat down at the little white upright, lifted the lid, and with no preamble launched into her angry Bach Prelude in C Minor. The music blazed through the room in hues of brilliant orange and red, burning away any bad thoughts and setting her free. When she opened her eyes, Lorenzo was watching her. “That was incredible,” he whispered. “Thank you,” she said. He took a step closer and stroke her cheek with the