Nocturne(41)

“Thank you for having us over. You have a lovely home. I brought this to have with dinner.” I held out my hand, giving him the bottle of Cabernet Franc I brought.

James eyed the label. “Impressive. A vintage? From Villa Vignamaggio?” He looked at me, surprised.

I nodded, my cheeks heating slightly. “It’s the best. Most of their vineyard produces Chianti, but, some of their land is reserved for this Cabernet Franc, and it’s incredible.” James held the bottle out to Gregory, who took it and studied it with the same reverence I’d seen him use while looking over sheet music. “Their vineyard is stunning in the summer,” I added with a smile.

“You’ve been?” Gregory met my eyes, and I saw a flicker of life pass through his eyes. It was the same look I’d caught on his face when Nathan spun me around on the dance floor of that salsa club in Boston. Passion, maybe? Internally I caught myself about to roll my eyes, wondering if he was a wine snob, too. I decided, however, to play nice.

“Yes,” I nodded, “my mom … I spent a lot of summers in Europe before entering the Institute.” I shrugged and held out my hand. “Shall I open it?” Wrapping my hand around the neck of the bottle, my pinky grazed his thumb, making me pull my hand away quickly.

“I’ll do it.” Gregory turned on his heels and paced into the kitchen, where I heard the familiar pop of the cork a few seconds later.

“Please, come sit. I’ll help Gregory with the wine, and I’ll bring out the food.” James gestured to the large black lacquered dining table.

“This is a great place,” I whispered to Madeline as she sat next to me.

“It’s been in James’s family for years. We all used to come here on break when we were in the conservatory together.” She smiled and looked around, undoubtedly scanning memories from years spent inside these walls. Her smile brightened, eyes creasing at the corners, as James walked into the room and handed her a wine glass.

He set mine in front of me, but his eyes lingered for a second on Madeline. There was certainly something lovely passing between the two of them, but given my recent independent study on the origin of rumors, I decided to refrain from speculation. Luckily, Gregory appeared with our dinner.

“Before we start,” James began our meal by raising his glass in the air, “I’d like to toast to good friends. Old and new, and time spent doing what we love. Music. Savannah,” James looked at me, and Gregory followed, “I’ve heard nothing but excellent things about your work here so far this summer. I can’t say that I’m surprised, given how talented you are. But, it takes a special kind of musician to both play and instruct with equal passion, as you’ve managed to do.”

I started to blush. Not because of what James was saying, but because Gregory was nodding along with him.

He thinks I’m talented? He thinks I’m talented.

That thought spread a smile wide across my face, but it also made me berate myself a little. What did I care that a reclusive misanthrope musical prodigy thought I was talented. What’s wrong with me?

“Thank you, James. Really, it’s been a great privilege to work with everyone the last few weeks. I’m looking forward to the orchestra work this week.” I took a large sip of my wine, anxious to turn the conversation away from me. “So, how long have you three known each other?”

“Day one of classes at the conservatory.” Madeline shrugged and lifted her glass to her lips. “Our professor for that class was a bit of an ass—”

“Yes, and James chose to lock horns with him as much as possible,” Gregory interjected, shaking his head. His tone was about as playful as I’d ever heard.

“I guess I can appreciate that.” The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them, and I silently cursed the glass of wine that sat nearly empty beside my plate. Quickly, I took a bite of asparagus.

James let out a full-throated laugh, and Madeline followed. My cheeks burned as I chewed, and I reached for my glass, swallowing the last bit of wine.

“Oh,” my breath caught in my throat as I saw Gregory watching me carefully with an unreadable expression on his face, “I didn’t mean you were an ass … I mean … me challenging …”

Mortified, I bit my lip and looked down.

This made Madeline and James laugh even harder. And, right then, I wanted to fall through the floor.

“It’s quite all right Miss Marsh—Savannah.” Gregory seemed to silence his own verbal stumble with a sip of his wine.

“Okay, you two.” Madeline set her glass down and volleyed her gaze between Gregory and me. “Spring semester is over, and I think it’s time both of you get over that foolish little rumor.”

Well. That did it. Gregory choked a bit on his wine, and I turned to Madeline, my eyes widening as my face got even hotter.

“Madeline,” I whispered. “You know about that?”

“Everyone knows, dear. It happens all the time, every semester. Different professor, different student, same story. Luckily this particular rumor was especially laughable and died down quickly.”

Especially laughable? What exactly does that mean? I was a little irritated by that, and by the fact that I was irritated. Did she think I wasn’t good enough for him? Seriously? I rubbed my eyes, ignoring my eye makeup and set my forehead in my hands for a second. When I pulled my head up, I was thankful to find Gregory’s skin nearing a nice shade of crimson.