Free Jazz Baby by Tea Cooper Page A

words.’
    Lawrence shuffled along the piano stool and patted the vacant space next to him with his left hand while he continued the melody with his right. Dolly eased down next to him and peered at the sheet music propped against the piano. With a sigh of relief she read the words above the music. Thank heavens Father George had forced her to sing from music sheets in the choir.
    In a flurry of activity a group of men cleared the tables from the centre of the room and pushed the chairs back against the wall. Dolly launched into the next song and the dancing began.

Chapter 10
    Jack edged his way through the door. The centre of the room thrummed with the raucous excitement of the dancers. The loud vibrant notes of the piano music drifted up to the ceiling and swirled with the smoke and the hum of indulgence.
    Dolly’s voice swelled, rising above the clamour and filled him with awe. She sang as if she owned the world, her deep blue eyes sparkling and her body moving instinctively to the beat of the music. Gone was his little girl from Wollombi. The quality of her voice and her self-assurance flowed over the crowd and he stared in wonder, trying to come to terms with her transformation.
    The shoulder of her dark shimmering shift had slipped and he could see the pale half-moon of her breast rise and fall as she sang. A curl of dark hair clung to her cheek while her eyes followed the words on the sheet music. Occasionally she glanced up and threw a smile at the dancers or turned to the pianist with a quirk of her eyebrows as if seeking confirmation.
    â€˜She’s good, isn’t she?’ Shocked, he turned from his contemplation.
    Alice grinned at him. ‘You’ve been gawking at her with your mouth hanging open for the last ten minutes.’ Her thinly plucked eyebrows lifted and her eyes widened.
    Jack clamped his mouth closed and took the glass of champagne she held out to him.
    â€˜Mrs Mack can pick them every time.’
    â€˜Pick them? What do you mean, pick them ?’ Blood roared in his ears. A picture of Dolly upstairs in one of the bedrooms with the piano player, or worse, one of the inebriated idiots prancing on the dance floor with their red, bloated faces flashed before his eyes. He dropped his glass onto the table and pushed the chair aside.
    Alice’s cool hand came down on his wrist, pinning him. ‘Don’t spoil it for her. She’s loving every moment.’
    â€˜I’m not. And her brother wouldn’t be either if he could see her.’ Christ! If Ted could see her now he’d lose it, completely.
    â€˜Of course you are. She looks amazing. Who would have thought the little church mouse who turned up on the doorstep a few weeks ago would turn into a star attraction?’ Alice released her hold on his wrist and took a sip of her champagne.
    His hands gripped the velvet back of the armchair. All he wanted to do was go and pick up Dolly, throw her over his shoulder and take her away. Somewhere safe, like his apartment. Unfortunately that was out of the question because her bloody brother was there.
    â€˜Her hair looks terrific, doesn’t it?’
    Jack’s head shot up. She’d cut her hair. What in God’s name had possessed her to do that? Why hadn’t he noticed before? He ran his eyes down the line of her curves acknowledging exactly why he hadn’t. He’d been too busy looking at the rest of her. Too busy taking in the swell of her body under the soft, loose material of the frock, and those long shapely legs covered in sheer silk stockings which ran down to her high-heeled shoes tapping in time to the music. ‘Hmmph!’
    â€˜You sound like her father,’ Alice said, with a giggle. ‘You weren’t behaving like her father the other day out in the backyard. You fancy her.’
    â€˜I am simply concerned for her welfare. She’s an old family friend. I look upon her as my little sister.’
    â€˜I wouldn’t