Read When the Music Ends (The Winter Rose Chronicles) for Free Online

leaned
down and kissed her cheek.
                "What’s
the word?"
                "They’re
home. I’m going over there this afternoon. I think it would be good for
us to drive separately. No one would take kindly to finding out we spent the
night together."
                "Right.
I’m glad though. It would have been terrible to be alone." He
hugged her a little tighter.
                "I
know. I feel a little guilty about doing something so wonderful when poor Danny
is…" She sniffled.
                "I
know, but really, it’s understandable. When you’re hurting, you
want to cling to people who care about you. Danny needed Mom and Dad. We were
lucky to have each other so we didn’t burden them with our pain in
addition to what they’re already dealing with."
                "Is
she going to be okay?"
                "I
hope so. She’s strong, but no one should have to live through that."
                "It’s
so unfair. She always tries to do the right thing. Sheridan is the kind of girl
who should have been a virgin on her wedding night."
                "Yeah."
Sean couldn’t think of anything to say, so he just remained silent.
Beckoning Erin, he went to the bathroom to shower, taking her with him into the
steaming water. Erin was a little startled by this, but it was very enjoyable,
and the heat helped relax her, especially inside where she was so sore. When
they were both clean and, naturally, quite aroused, Erin led her boyfriend back
to her room for one more taste of deep sweet loving. It was very late morning
by the time they were finished, so they just lay close, holding each other in
silence, until it was time to choke down a quick lunch. Neither was hungry, in
the aftermath of such trauma, but they ate anyway.
                Parting
caused a terrible pang, but it was necessary, and Sean kissed Erin long and
lingeringly before getting into his Mustang and driving away. It was a little
early to leave yet, so Erin put together her oboe and spent half an hour
practicing her music for the audition she would play for the recruiter from Texas. She had all the notes well in hand long since, of course, but was experimenting with
different stylistic elements, trying to find just the right emotion. Oboe
naturally lends itself to sounding melancholy, which suited her mood perfectly.
Today, the piece rolled off her fingers with a passionate and mournful keening,
her instrument weeping with her grief and sorrow and pain. Strange that she had
chosen a piece that so perfectly expressed her emotions. It had never sounded
better, but by the time she played the last cadence, she was crying so hard she
could barely see the music stand.
                She
managed to pull herself together long enough to clean her instrument and put it
away, and make the short drive to her friend’s house safely, but she
didn’t really stop crying altogether. It would be a long time before the
Murphy family and their friend really began to recover from the trauma.

***Chapter 4***
     
                Sheridan took a week off from school trying to come to grips with what had happened. Erin, however, was back on Monday. She had appointed herself to meet with her
friend’s teachers and collect her assignments so Sheridan wouldn’t
get too far behind. She spent as much time as possible at the Murphy house in
the evenings, going over algebra and English and chemistry work with her friend
sometimes, and other times just holding her while she cried. Jake had been
arrested on the same night as the assault, and the legal process was underway. Erin hoped Sheridan was strong enough to stand it.
                Erin’s mother came home late Monday evening, all smiles and happiness, blithely
unconcerned that she was tearing her family apart with this ill-advised love
affair. Erin’s dad had rented an apartment and she hadn’t seen