Harmony's Embrace by Amber Daulton

Author:Amber Daulton [Daulton, Amber]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: sexy; second chances; starting over; highschool sweethearts; infertilty; winter; Christmas; Vermont; jazz; single dad; divorced hero; widowed heroine
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Published: 2020-10-20T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

“Most of the keys are melted to the body.” Harmony wiped grimy soot from the upper joint of a clarinet. The fire had charred the accompanying wooden reed. “The guys at the repair shop are gonna have a field day refurbishing and cleaning all these instruments.”

“Some of them are probably beyond repair.” Ruby Haynes Emerson cocked her hip against the foldout table and stored a paper-wrapped flute in a small cardboard box. “The water and ice have done equal if not more damage than the fire and smoke did.”

Harmony wrapped the joint in sturdy brown paper and placed it in a box alongside the other pieces of the instrument. “When will the delivery truck arrive?”

“Around four.” The tall, willowy woman tightened her brown ponytail. Fine lines branched from her blue eyes. “Mom scheduled an overnight rush, so the boxes should arrive in Montpelier tomorrow morning.”

Ruby had bought several cardboard boxes and sheets of paper from the packaging store. In order to protect the instruments from further damage, they were storing them in their original case or wrapping them in paper, and then packing them in individual boxes.

After the fire investigator ruled arson, Chief Brunner released the property as a crime scene. Sheriff Burke had sent bulletins to every police district in the state, as well as in neighboring New Hampshire and New York, but Delwin Abbott had disappeared.

Figures. Harmony twisted her back and moaned.

Birley, Dylan, and their brother-in-law, Brad, had dumped the charred furniture at the county waste site that weekend. Scorched music books, posters, cleaning materials, and holiday décor had gone too. Freddie, Erica, and Ruby had washed the dark stains from the hall walls while Harmony and Brenda scrubbed the smoke-laden furniture in the lobby.

How deep did Delwin’s vengeance run? Would he go beyond burning the school? Were Birley and his family safe?

Harmony gritted her teeth. After she taped the box, she scribbled the word clarinet on the top. The fumes from the smelly black marker stung her nose. “Let’s look at the silver lining. The damage could’ve been much worse had you kept your rental inventory in here.”

“True. We always keep at least fifteen brass and woodwinds on display, one instrument of each variety we teach. The rest are in storage.” Ruby swiped her arm toward the boxes piled in the corner. A sheet lay on the floor across the room, shielding the to-be-packed instruments from the roughened boards. “Getting these instruments and attachments fixed is going to cost a pretty penny. The insurance company better not throw a fit.”

Harmony rubbed her pimply arms. Heat blew from the vents, but a cold draft wafted around the cardboard that Birley had duct-taped over the smashed windowpanes. The stench of damp, blackened wood hung in the air. Wasn’t the dehumidifier working? The bulky appliance buzzed louder as though to prove itself, and she huffed.

“You okay?” The other woman labeled the box and stacked it with the others.

“My nose is a little clogged.” She sneezed into a tissue and tossed the wadded ball into a large trash bag.

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