Free When Next We Love by Heather Graham Page B

clear and sweet. She played straight, locked in a little world of her own, and when she finished, the only audible sound was the call of the wind that raged outside the house around them.
    It was Roger who spoke first. “Damn, Leigh! That’s not just good, it’s brilliant!”
    “Bloody brilliant,” Derek echoed quietly, and Leigh chanced a glance at him. His eyes had lost their golden glint and were dark with sincerity.
    She shrugged, unable to cope with the unusual compliments. “It’s all yours,” she said. “Use it as you like.”
    “Tell me,” Roger said, moving from the door where he had been standing when John and Derek had followed her into the room after her explosive departure. “Why didn’t you ever sing with us before?”
    Leigh laughed, honestly surprised by the question. “Because Richard always said I sounded like a dying frog!”
    The three men in the room exchanged a glance that Leigh could not interpret. Derek cleared his throat and bent his lengthy frame to join her on the bench. “Let’s try it again, shall we? I think I’ve got the chords.”
    Leigh was sure that he did. Derek could hear the opening bars of a piece and pick it up from that. “John,” he continued, assuming consent by all, “my guitar is behind the desk.”
    They played the music again and Leigh was amazed at how good it all sounded, the two of them at the piano, John on the guitar, Roger tapping out the beat on his knees. Derek’s voice, blending with hers, added the final touches. When they finished this time, she sat quietly staring at her hands, tense with an excitement she was afraid to feel.
    “As soon as the weather clears,” Derek said, “we’ll fly down to Key West and pick up the original music. Then we’ll get Shane and Bobby and start work in earnest.”
    Leigh swallowed and lowered her eyes. He was too close to be nice to her! She could feel his breath as he spoke, smell his warm masculinity and the light aftershave he was wearing.
    She moved from the bench. “I’m thrilled that you all like it,” she said. “And you’re welcome to it. But no one needs to fly to Key West I’ll mail it as soon as I get back.”
    “What do you mean, you’ll mail it?” Roger demanded jovially. “You’re in this too, my girl. We wouldn’t do it without you!”
    “Roger!” Leigh exclaimed. “That’s sweet of you. But you don’t need me. I can’t play anything half as well as any of you do and Derek could write books on what I don’t know about music—”
    “You’ll be singing with me,” Derek interrupted.
    Leigh gasped with amazement as she stared at him, stunned. He had to be joking! As long as she lived, she would never forget the things that Richard had said about her voice, never accept that they were anything but true.
    “Come on, Derek!” she retorted. “Enough is enough.”
    “What did you do before you met Richard?” he demanded suddenly.
    She stared at him with exasperation. “You know what I did! A group of us used to play and sing calypso music for tourists—”
    “Exactly.”
    “I don’t understand what you’re getting at.”
    “Did anyone tell you you sounded like a frog then?”
    “Don’t you get it?” John Haley moaned. “You were Richard’s wife. He loved you; he didn’t want you becoming involved with the band. He probably wanted to keep his private life private.”
    Had that been it? Leigh wondered. Had Richard’s blustering, scornful criticism been part of a deep-seated insecurity? But why? She had never given him cause to doubt her. When she had filed for divorce, he had known exactly what her reasons were.
    She looked to Derek and found him studying her inscrutably. He rose when he caught her return glance, stretched, and yawned as if he didn’t want her to know what he was thinking. “Anyone for a game of pool? It must be getting close to lunch-time. Let’s go play a grand championship and then hit Emma up for some sandwiches.”
    John and Roger likewise