AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Where did you get this money, Ma?” he had asked, completely shocked.
“I’ve been putting $20 a week away for you since I can remember.”
He did the math in his head and it didn’t match. “That still leaves like an extra $20 grand.”
“When your grandparents died, they left that money to me. And, now I’m leaving it to you. I never touched it, no matter how tempting, because I knew that it would help you one day.”
Damn, he missed his Mom. Instead of using that money to pay bills and work two less jobs, she had saved it for him. And, he had used it to develop some stellar equipment for deep sea salvaging that was in high demand to people and companies who wouldn’t find that kind of specialized tech anywhere else.
“So, when did you get Fisher?” Hollis asked and swiveled to face him.
“A few years ago. I was walking through the marina and saw him digging through some trash. Poor guy was skin and bones.” He shrugged. “I took him back to my boat, fed him some chicken and we’ve been best friends ever since.”
Something in Hollis shifted. She loved that he rescued the scruffy-looking dog and they made a good match. The shepherd mix reminded her of Dylan in a lot of ways-- both loners, charming and a little rough around the edges. “That was nice of you,” she said.
“And, he loves the water. When I dive, he likes to jump in with me.”
“Really?”
Dylan nodded. “I call him Fish a lot for short. It really fits him.”
They both laughed. Hollis studied his profile and it hit her how much she enjoyed getting to know him. He constantly surprised her with his endless layers and interests. “How did you become such a big jazz fan?” Hollis asked.
Dylan looked back over and his mouth edged up. “Oh, man, jazz is like nothing else. What can I say? It’s purely American, born out of New Orleans. Jazz artists are icons and their contributions are pure musical nourishment.”
From the look on his face and the poetic way he spoke, it was clear how much Dylan loved it. His passionate reaction surprised Hollis a little. But, she liked it. She always assumed he cared about nothing as much as himself and she was glad to know she was wrong.
Dylan grabbed his phone and pulled a playlist up. He hit a button and a fun, quirky song began to play from the speakers around them. “This is Duke Ellington’s The Mooche,” he said. “It’s one of his signature pieces composed in 1928.”
“The Mooche?”
“Ellington said the song was about someone who constantly borrowed but never paid back. He was a composer and pianist. A damn genius. His orchestra played at the Cotton Club in Harlem from 1927 til 1931.”
His knowledge impressed her. “Do you play any instruments?” she asked.
He nodded. “Piano.”
“Really?”
“Why do you sound so surprised?” he asked, a bemused smile on his face.
Whydidshe sound so surprised? she wondered. Well, when she thought of Dylan Ford, she instantly thought of a charismatic pirate not a jazz pianist.
“You took lessons?”
He laughed. “Yeah. I didn’t just wake up one day and magically know how to play. Started when I was seven years old.”
“I just meant- wondered, I mean, if you were self-taught.”
“Unfortunately, I’m not that talented,” he said with a smirk.
Hollis crossed her arms and eyed him closely. “I want to hear you play.”
“Sure, lemme just roll my piano out right now.”
“Seriously. I don’t see a piano. Where do you play?”
“Wherever I can,” he said with a shrug. “I play with a small group and we do gigs at a lot of the jazz clubs in the area.”
