The phone sounded.
“Who would that be?” she asked, putting down the violin and heading toward the kitchen. Kirk moved out of her way, then followed.
“Mother!”
Angelica was startled to hear her mother on the other end of the line. She’d hoped to have more time before having to talk to her.
“What in the world are you doing in the backwoods of Appalachia, Angelica?” her mother demanded. “I can’t believe you took off and never said a word. What were you thinking?”
“I’m taking a vacation,” she said.
Guilt infiltrated. She tried to rationalize she had the right, but old habits were hard to break.
Kirk stepped closer and watched her. He couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation, but she knew he could hear her.
“And you just take off without a word to your father and me? I can’t believe you left so abruptly and didn’t contact us.”
She was staring at Kirk’s bare chest, bronzed by the sun, defined by muscles from his work. None of the men she knew looked so good.
“Angelica!”
“What do you want me to say? I wanted to take a vacation, so I did. I’m entitled.”
She turned halfway away from Kirk to better focus on her mother’s tirade.
“Well, of course you can take a vacation. You should have told us, we would have rented a cottage at the Cape.”
“I didn’t want to go to Cape Cod this year. I wanted a total break and a chance to explore different music. I decided to come here.”
“Now is the time to be scheduling future concerts, renewing your contract with the philharmonic, not hiding away in the woods. Good grief, what were you thinking? You have to keep constantly in the public’s eye to build a following. Which is the reason I’m calling. Your agent has a marvelous opportunity for you in Europe. For two months, you’d tour some of the capitals, Paris, Rome, Madrid, Berlin. It’s a fantastic chance to build recognition abroad as well as enhance your CV here in the states.”
“As a soloist?” Angelica asked, feeling things closing in on her.
She didn’t want to have to do a tour in Europe. She wanted to stay right here. The thought startled her and she looked at Kirk. He was watching her with the intensity she’d grown used to.
“Yes. Call him today. He’s been calling us for days, frantic to get in touch with you.”
“I’ll call later.”
“Now, Angelica.”
Angelica gripped the phone. She’d left New York to escape the pressure of her life. Her mother was jumping in with both feet and she resented it.
This was her life, not her mother’s.
“You’re needed back in New York.”
“I’ll call later,” she said, infusing her voice with determination.
This was her first vacation ever. She discounted family outings to the Cape. She was not going to cut it short.
“I can’t believe I’m hearing this. You have had the best musical education money can buy. And you choose to go to somebackwoods area in Kentucky for your vacation? And now you’re delaying calling your agent. What has come over you?”
“This is what I want for this summer,” she tried to explain.
Already she was feeling the pressure to conform to their plan for her future. They couldn’t understand her desire to break away and learn more than just the classics and modern music. She wanted—
“There was a great program at the Cape this summer. You should have gone there. At least you’d have been closer to home,” her mother said. “And more available when your agent called. I can’t believe you aren’t jumping at the chance for this tour. It’s amazing, and to be offered to one so young is simply miraculous. You need to grasp the chance, these don’t come along all the time.”
