Free Strangers in the Night by Inés Saint Page A

efforts, and ask about his agenda for education and crime.
    He caught sight of his mother and her best friend Regina White, the woman who was hosting the fundraising event. Both women came up to greet him with warm hugs and pride in their eyes. He chatted them up for a few minutes, and they introduced him to a few friends.
    Jake then joined a conversation about the local real estate market. A popular topic, a few more people soon joined in, expressing their concern over the effect morose mortgages had on the local economy. A stuck-up old-money local banker rocked back on his heels and puffed his chest out, as if he was about to say something that would change the world. Instead, he made everyone around him aware of his self-importance and ignorance. It was a typical fundraiser.
    And just as Jake was about to speak up again, someone in front of him shifted, giving him an unobstructed view of the string quartet, and surprise gripped him in a way he was unaccustomed to.
    Keila was there, and she looked more intriguing than ever because of the soft emotions playing out in her features. He must’ve stared at her a moment too long because Tyrone cleared his throat meaningfully. Jake turned back to the small crowd, said his bit on the real estate market, and slipped away.
    He joined his mother and some of her friends again, positioning himself near the string quartet, trying to single out the sounds coming from Keila’s violin. Different feelings seemed to pour out of her and he felt strangely protective of her.
    The second the melody ended, she turned toward Jake, her gaze pinning him, her eyes questioning. He turned away, the people and sounds in the room coming into sharp focus again.
    • • •
    Keila felt heat rise and fall in her chest. Jake Kelly had been staring at her, no doubt wondering if she was finding ways to turn up in his life. As soon as she’d been able to, she’d stared right back, to show she had nothing to hide, but the look on his face as he gazed back had been hard to read.
    She caught Michelle studying her and was about to share a smile with her new friend to show her all was well when someone tapped her shoulder.
    “Why, you’re that violinist. I hadn’t paid much attention to the news, though to be sure, you seem to have brains and that did catch my attention, but just barely, dear — you know how they tend to make things up. However, now that you’re here and I saw the way the two of you were looking at each other, dare I believe the reports are true?” The older woman squeezed Keila’s hand and recognition dawned as Keila took in the woman’s strange features.
    Her upper lip was a tad too full, her eyebrows too surprised, and her smile too stretched. The woman speaking to her was Jake Kelly’s mother. And she was under the wrong impression.
    “Um, yes, I’m the musician your son hired as an advisor, but the reports are untrue, Mrs. Kelly. Your son and I are not dating. He was just looking at me because he was probably surprised to see me here.” The string quartet’s first set was over and Keila’s friends were now waiting for her to join them for supper, so she signaled for them to go on without her.
    The older woman frowned. “So he wasn’t captivated by you just a moment before?”
    Keila shook her head no. Whatever he’d been, it had definitely not been captivated.
    “Bewitched, maybe?” Mrs. Kelly seemed hopeful.
    “Nooo.”
    “The evening paper stated one of their own reporters saw you two arguing passionately on Monday,” she pointed out, her eyes bright.
    “We were disagreeing passionately — about the scope of the music program.”
    “I’m really beginning to feel like I’ll never have any grandchildren.” Mrs. Kelly then frowned. “I simply adore music, and I had this sudden image of a musical grandchild,” she sighed resignedly before asking, “How do you feel about the Dixie Chicks?”
    The change in subject was so abrupt, Keila laughed. “Empowered women