“I suppose. Let her in.”
Penn smirked. “It’s why I’m here.”
“Smartass.”
He waggled his brows. “Oh, yes, we already determined that, remember?”
The bell rang. “Get the door.” I laughed.
A minute later Penn returned, Jennifer behind him. She dressed like she had money to burn, which I wouldn’t expect from a piano teacher, but everyone had vices and maybe fashion was hers.
“Good afternoon, Ms. Everton.”
“Mr. Hendrix.” She searched the room. “Is Olivia here?”
“No, she’ll be home in a few minutes. You’re early.”
She looked down at her phone. “Oh, so I am.”
“Want a drink?” Penn offered.
“Water is fine. Thank you.”
I motioned to the couch. “Please, have a seat.”
“Thank you.” I observed her as she sat daintily, placing her Louis Vuitton bag beside her. It was a twenty-one-hundred-dollar purse. I knew because I’d purchased the same one for Rita for her birthday a few months ago.
I scanned her legs to her shoes. I wasn’t an expert but I did some import and export of luxury items, and those were Louboutin.
“Tell me, Ms. Everton, what do you do when you’re not teaching piano to exuberant children?”
Penn handed her the water and sat beside me.
“Thank you. Please, you can call me Jennifer. I was a schoolteacher for about ten years, music of course. It was a lot. Many kids took music because they had to, so there was no passion there.”
“I could see how that could be soul sucking.” Penn nodded.
“It was. So I decided to simply work with children who truly wanted to learn.”
The math wasn’t mathing, that was for sure. “It must have been nice to be able to make that choice in this economy.”
Her smile was tight-lipped. “Unfortunately, my grandfather passed away and left me a substantial inheritance. It was the main reason I was able to change my career.”
I supposed that was very possible. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you.”
Our conversation was cut off by the sound of the door opening and Owen sauntering in while Olivia airplaned in. A harried-looking Danny was behind them carrying both of their bags. Livy jumped onto Penn’s lap while Owen gently climbed onto mine.
“Hi, Jennifer!” Olivia beamed and waved at her from her perch.
“Hello, Olivia.”
“I been practicing!”
“I’ve been.” I corrected her.
“Right. That.” Livy chuckled, and Jennifer’s expression was far more genuine than the one she gave me.
