Lord, what am I supposed to do with my life if I can no longer perform? I thought that was the way I used your gift. But now... Now my fingers are silent, and I feel like I have no purpose. I want to serve you, Lord. But how?
Chapter 7
Noah's fingers flew across the keys as he finished the prelude, and the pastor walked to the pulpit.
Because of the position of the piano in the church, it was easy for Noah to look out over the congregation, which he mostly avoided doing. Years ago, they had set the piano in this position so that he could keep an eye on his siblings while he was playing. As his siblings got older, the position of the piano had stayed the same, although he didn't need it. They had all learned quickly that Noah would take care of things at home if they misbehaved in church. And then, thankfully, they had gotten to the point where they wanted to behave themselves in church because they were interested in what the pastor said and wanted to become closer to God and learn more about the Bible.
Thank you, Lord, that so far, all of my siblings are following you.
He was so grateful for that. He would've felt like he'd failed his parents if the devil had gotten a hold of any of them and they had walked after the flesh rather than the spirit.
Of course, their lives weren't perfect, but no one's was.
As the pastor greeted the congregants, Noah's eyes swept overthe congregation, and then, without really meaning to, they got caught on a woman in the back pew, sitting beside Vivian.
Grace Dempsey.
She was just as regal looking as he remembered.
He was a little embarrassed, because he knew how well she could play. He'd seen YouTube videos and videos of her on social media, and she was amazing. And there she was, sitting in the congregation, listening to his pitiful playing.
No, he knew he was an accomplished pianist, although he was better on the violin. He might not have made it to Juilliard, but he had spent a lot of time practicing. One of the benefits of owning a music shop. All of his siblings had learned to do their schoolwork while he played in the background.
Still, he was nothing compared to what Grace was, and he felt like he didn't belong on the bench as long as she was in the congregation.
He tore his eyes away in time to hear the pastor announce the first hymn, and thankfully, he had already turned to the correct page in the hymnal. All he had to do was set it in front of the music that he'd used as a prelude. Of course, he could play the hymn by heart, as he could almost every hymn in the hymn book. He'd played them enough times. Sung them even more, had all the verses memorized. In fact, sometimes he felt like the hymns in the book had more doctrine in them than many of the so-called religious books that were published nowadays.
Because he knew the music so well, he was able to look up and glance around the congregation, although he didn't make a habit of it. Still, he couldn't seem to keep his eyes off of Grace.
His fingers almost stumbled, and he only caught himself because of years of muscle memory, when he realized that Grace was crying.
At least it seemed like she was wiping tears from her eyes as they sang "What a Day That Will Be."
He did a run on the right hand, accompanying with chords onthe left as the congregation swelled in harmony, lifting glorious music to the rafters and beyond.
Music always made his heart feel big and his soul expand, and this was no different. But crying?
He supposed he could understand how hymns might be a little sad.
Unfortunately, as they sang two more hymns and finished the opening part of the service before the pastor began his message, he noticed that Grace cried through all of the music.
Was his playing that terrible?
It made him doubt himself a little, but he thought that it was more likely that whatever was going on in her life had affected her, and the hymns, which truly did have deep doctrine and truth, probably reached to her soul and pierced her heart.
He wanted to go back and comfort her, which was an odd feeling, and he attributed it to the empty nest syndrome, which had made him a little uneasy, feeling like he didn't quite have his equilibrium back. It was weird to be alone, and he certainly had comforted his siblings more than once. The girls especially. They seemed to get upset over everything, but he didn't recall any of them ever crying while singing hymns.
To his surprise, as the last verse of the last hymn before the sermon drew to a close, he noticed Grace standing and slipping out the back.
What happened? Was it truly that upsetting? Was there some kind of sin in her life that she felt guilty about?
If it had been his sister, he would have left the piano bench after the hymn and gone out to see what the problem was.
But Grace was still a stranger to him, even though he felt like he knew her after his Internet search, and there was something intriguing about her on top of that. But, she was still a stranger, and he tried to put her out of his mind as he sat and listened to the pastor deliver an excellent sermon.
Still, as he got back at the piano to play softly for the altar call, hecouldn't stop himself from glancing back to see if Grace had returned.
She had not.
