"I work Thursday nights."
"Then mornings. Bring coffee for yourself. I have my own. Don't bring me a tragedy. I have a waiting room full of those, and most of them still haven't learned the invention."
Claire laughed, startled, and the laugh felt like a muscle she had not used correctly in years. She came on Thursday mornings. She practiced in the apartment with a timer and a plan instead of a mood. Mrs. Kim knocked once, early on, and Claire went downstairs with a bakery box and an explanation that was not a performance. Mrs. Kim, who had opinions about noise and also about young women who got thin around the eyes, accepted the box and the new hours: nothing before eight, nothing after eight-thirty, and on Sundays the invention was allowed until nine because Mrs. Kim would be at church. It was a treaty. Claire kept it. Treaties were a kind of rhythm.
Winter arrived. The Winslow put up a tasteful tree that Diane called a centerpiece so no one would say holiday and start a fight. Claire played two more Sundays as substitute when Patrick visited his sister. She served the others. Andre started telling people in the church that he knew someone, and Claire said, "Know me less enthusiastically," and then played his niece's baptism because Andre had asked without making it a favor that required a speech. The baby cried through the hymn. Claire counted it a success. Music that needed silence to justify itself was music she no longer trusted completely.
In January a letter came to the Winslow, which meant Evelyn Rowe had remembered the name of the restaurant more clearly than she had remembered any promise not to intrude. Martin handed it over with two fingers, as if it might drip.
"Fan mail," he said. "Or a lawsuit. Open it off my floor."
Claire opened it in the stairwell. The paper was thick. The handwriting was controlled and, in places, pressed too hard.
Ms. Brennan,
Willa told her teacher that a waitress played Brahms and Bach on a Saturday night. He suggested she had misunderstood. She did not enjoy being told she had misunderstood. Neither did I, for different reasons.