Rock Wedding (Rock Kiss #4) - Nalini Singh Page 0,15

does.”

Beside her, Abe closed his eyes, took several deep breaths, and seemed to consciously force himself to unclench his hands.

Sarah felt her eyes widen.

He’d never focused on control that way when they’d been together; he’d worn his fury at the world on his skin. She’d been able to feel it shoving to escape at every moment, had worried constantly what would trigger it. It had never been directed at her, not until that last night, so she hadn’t worried for herself but for him, what it was doing to him.

This man… he released another breath before opening his eyes. And when he turned to her, despite the grief and anger that still lived in him, he was the Abe she’d seen only rarely during their marriage: the gifted musician who felt deeply but who was at peace with himself.

“I’ll drive you home.”

She started a little at the deep sound of his voice; she’d become so lost in trying to come to grips with the change in him. “My car’s still at the arboretum.”

“I’ll have a driver pick it up,” Abe said as they walked back to his SUV, “drive it back for you.” He helped her into the vehicle.

Sarah went to argue, realized she really shouldn’t be driving. She was too exhausted from the emotional storm that had just passed. “All right. Thank you.”

Not saying anything in return, Abe drove them to her house in a silence that slowly became filled with a thousand whispers of memory. Sarah had always loved being in the passenger seat of Abe’s car, had been so proud to be his wife, to have the right to sit beside him.

Not because he was a rock star. Because he was Abe, talented and incredible.

He still drove as easily and as confidently as he’d always done, as if LA traffic wasn’t a serious nightmare—and he got her home in far better time than she would’ve made herself.

“I should’ve stopped, picked up takeout,” he said as she pushed the button on her key-fob remote to open the gate, then the garage. “You must be starving.”

Sarah shook her head. “I’m fine.”

“Sarah.” Parking in the empty garage, Abe turned to her, tipped up her chin. “I know what grief can do to a person, and you’ve clearly already lost weight. You gotta eat, sweetheart. Come on, I’ll make you my famous omelet.”

She laughed, and it was a startling thing to have her lips curve up instead of down, to feel the knot in her chest begin to loosen. “You make terrible omelets.” The last time he’d made her one during a silly, fun weekend when he’d stayed home the entire time, it was only half-cooked and she’d had to pick out pieces of shell.

It was one of her happiest memories of their marriage—seeing Abe grin as he banged pots and pans and declared himself her personal chef for the weekend.

“It’s the thought that counts.” His grin hit her hard as they got out of the SUV, reality colliding with memory.

She lowered the garage door, and then for the first time since she’d run out of the music room on the anniversary of Tessie’s death, she invited Abe into her home.

CHAPTER 6

TENSION SIMMERED IN THE AIR BETWEEN THEM, but it wasn’t like it had been at the music festival. Then it had felt as if she stood precariously balanced on a razor-thin tightrope, her heart braced for further hurt from this man who’d always meant too much to her. But Abe hadn’t hurt her. He’d apologized… and the look in his eyes, it had shaken her.

You’re still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.

Today… today he was her Abe. The big-hearted man who’d envelop her in his arms and make her feel tiny and petite and protected. All things she’d never been. That Abe had drowned himself in drugs and alcohol and rage until she’d thought him forever lost. But here he was in her kitchen, making her a terrible omelet while she let Flossie in and gave her a treat to chew on. Afterward, she put on some toast, then dug out a package of ham Molly had bought for her.

The fiancée of Schoolboy Choir’s lead singer had insisted on restocking Sarah’s pantry before allowing her to move back home, Sarah having stayed with Fox and Molly until her bruise faded and the locks were changed at her place so Jeremy couldn’t corner her after she returned.

All of Abe’s bandmates, as well as the women who loved them, had done