No Good Deed by Ali Franklin

Author:Ali Franklin [Franklin, Ali]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romance suspense, Series, college
Publisher: BL Kamm
Published: 2017-08-10T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

Ryan spent the rest of the afternoon working in her yard. She laid the brick she’d bought, cleaned up all of her flower beds, and checked all the planks on her back fence to make sure they were secure. She had to fortify the planks every month or so in response to the travel patterns of the neighborhood raccoons and possums.

When the back yard was settled to her liking, she went inside to take a shower. She watched as layer after layer of dirt washed down the shower drain, feeling lighter by the minute. By the time she got out of the shower, Chase was out of her mind and she was ready to see her friends. She dressed in cotton shorts and a Boston (the band, not the city) t-shirt and jumped in the car.

She arrived at Teddy and Summer’s house at six o’clock, store-bought apple cobbler in hand. Summer greeted her at the door.

“Thanks for bringing this. Teddy’s attempt at baking failed this afternoon, but don’t let on that I told you.”

Ryan entered the house to the sound of Teddy playing the piano and singing both sides of a duet from the show. She smiled and went into the living room. Teddy jerked her head for her friend to take over at the keyboard. Ryan sat on the bench and scooted Teddy out of the way without losing a beat.

They played and sang for a few minutes, just enjoying the music. Then Teddy flashed a wicked smile and upped the drama. As each verse continued, her gestures became more broad, her voice louder. She ratcheted up the emotion until she sounded like a woman about to burst.

Ryan, always one to rise to a challenge, went the other direction. Her voice got softer and softer, and her vibrato became nonexistent as she faded into the blandest rendition of the song she could accomplish. Just when it seemed there was no way to save the duet, Ryan changed the lyrics of her line.

Teddy raised an eyebrow but didn’t falter. She changed her words as well, finishing Ryan’s musical phrase. They continued to make up lyrics through the end of the last verse. Ryan ended with a long instrumental flourish.

A slow clap emanated from the kitchen, building into half-hearted (or was that sarcastic?) applause from the audience of two. Summer and Nicki came out of the kitchen.

“Nicki, when did you get here?” asked Teddy.

“Right around when Ryan started singing about…Battlestar Galactica?” she looked at Teddy, her brow furrowed. “Did you really write a song about a sci-fi show?”

“Haven’t you ever heard of a space opera?” asked Teddy.

Ryan laughed. “We’re just playing with the lyrics because we’ve been in rehearsals for weeks and we’re trying to keep it fresh.”

Nicki still looked confused. She wasn’t a musician. She was more of an I-can’t-explain-it-but-I-know-what-I-like kind of listener. She deferred to her friends on everything musical.

“Don’t worry,” said Teddy. “When you come to the show, the lyrics will match the story.”

“And there are no spaceships,” added Ryan.

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