AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Carter
My first, My only.
I remember the first time I sat down in front of the piano for the first time. I was eight and my parents were trying to find find something to channel all of the nervous energy I carried as a kid.
Making those cool ivory keys do what I commanded was the first time in my life that I’d ever felt in control of anything. It centered me. I practiced relentlessly. Everyone thought it was the perfectionist in me. But really, it was just the only time my mind was still.
“What was the first song you ever played?”
She snaps her head back suddenly and levels me with her eyes. My chest tightens with the restraint it takes not to reach across the table, cup her by the back of the neck and finally kiss her again.
I clear my throat. “Funny you ask, I was just thinking about my first piano lesson.”
Her lips part slightly and then widen into a smile. “That’s amazing. We do that all the time, don’t we?”
I nod.
We do. In the last couple of weeks, our relationship has proven to have a life of its own and we are often on the very same wavelength. And I’ve written some incredible songs. But there’s no mu
sic more resonant than the poetry she inspires. I find it in the rhythm of her breathing, in the way the air around us moves with us, and I’m constantly inspired.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
I’m not sure how to answer that. I came here for peace and instead have found havoc and disruption. But I don’t feel like it’s a bad thing. And today, I got news that changes everything.
“I got my DNA back. I’m not anything but European.”
“Really? I thought your dad’s mother was Caribbean or something.”
“He certainly looked it, but who knows? I thought a lot of things about my dad that aren’t true. He had a sister, apparently. She worked for your family back in the day.”
She leans away, surprised. “What was her name?”
“Sasha.”
“Hmmm,” she frowns and squints like she’s trying to concentrate.”It might have been before I was born. I can ask Jude, but she didn’t really spend da lot of time at the house.”
I sigh. I want to ask her favor, but I need to tell her why first.
“Beth, I got a match. From the sample.” I blurt out what I haven’t been able to tell anyone else. I’ve been reeling since I got the email.
“You did? Who is it?”
“Someone whose DNA is close enough to either be a sibling or a parent.”
Her eyes bug out of her head they way mine had when I read it. “Holy shit.”
“I know. But they’re not open to contact so it’s a dead end. .Is there like, a personnel office at Wolfe where I could ask about her?”
She shifts in her seat and scrunches her nose. “Yeah, but I wouldn’t trust any of them to not tell my father you’re digging around.”
Before I can ask why it matters if her father knows, she claps her hands together.
“I got it. Dina can help. She’s a private investigator and she did some of her master’s work here, so she has contacts. You want me to call her for you?”
This is the first real break I’ve had and I’m so grateful I could fucking cry. “Yes, please. Thank you. That would be great,”
She smiles and reaches for her phone. “If anyone can find her, it’s Dina. She’s really good at her job.”
