"I'm fine. I just needed a little air. I don't really have anything to do with the festival anyway. I was just there because my Aunt Vivian invited me and said that was where we were going to get fed. I felt a little out of place."
"I think if you give Mistletoe Meadows a chance, you'll find we’re a very welcoming town. You don't have to live here for thirty years before you're allowed to contribute to whatever we're doing, whether it's a festival, or a church service, or anything." He paused for a moment. "If you'd like to play the piano while you're here, you're certainly welcome to."
"No."
He closed his mouth. Surprised at her quick and sharp retort.
She seemed to soften a bit, and her head tilted. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap. But, you did a beautiful job this morning. The music... I haven't heard hymns played with such passion and feeling in a long time. It was beautiful. No one else could possibly do it as well as you can."
"I wasn't really thinking about you doing it better. I just know that you can. And the offer is open."
"I won't be taking you up on it, but thank you."
"No pressure. But my door's open if you change your mind."
His siblings had always made fun of him for carrying around business cards. He had tried to tell them that one never knew when the opportunity would come to give someone information, and what might come of that simple gesture. He'd tried to teach them to always be prepared. As a business owner who struggled year after year, trying to raise five children on what amounted to a little bit of nothing, he certainly had taken his own advice.
At this point, he thought maybe it had paid off finally, since he was able to reach into his shirt pocket and pull out a business card. He almost laughed at himself. This wasn't really what he wanted with Grace, but he couldn't quite put his finger on exactly what it was. There was something about her that had intrigued him from the first time he'd seen her in person. Of course, he knew of her and had heard recordings of her playing. But, this was different. This was personal.
But he couldn't let it be that way. He held out his card. "Feel free to call me anytime."
She looked at the card, and then at him, and then back at the card.
White fingers, slender and cool, with short nails that would not interfere with her piano playing at all, reached up and took hold of the card. There seemed to be a pause, although it could've been his imagination, before she took it and said softly, "Thanks."
"I need to get back."
He didn't want to leave.
"I know. You were leading the meeting. You probably shouldn't have left." She paused for a moment, and then she said, "The soup was really good."
His eyes shot to hers in surprise. She had been listening. He grinned a little, and she returned his smile with a ghost of her own.
"Yeah. Come back and get some more."
There seemed to be something shimmering in the air between them. Something sweet and precious, but he didn't have time to search it out. He had to get back.
"Maybe," she said.
She gave no other promises and looked away from him, back across at the ducks that frolicked in the small pond.
He couldn't think of anything else to say and felt a little foolish as he turned around and walked away.
Chapter 9
Grace stared at the book. She had been trying to read for the last fifteen minutes but she hadn't turned a single page and could not tell what the book was about.
She snapped it shut, heaving a sigh of frustration as she put it on the coffee table.
Feeling restless, she pushed out of the chair and wandered around the room. It seemed so empty and cold when she was here by herself. Aunt Vivian had an appointment and had politely declined Grace's offer to go with her.
Grace hadn't wanted to insist, and she definitely didn't want to admit that she didn't want to be at the house by herself.
There were too many things to think about, and she didn't want to think about any of them. She wanted to be distracted by something.
Her eyes lifted, and she looked across the street to the music shop. No. She didn't want to be distracted by just anything. Noah was not a good distraction.
But she couldn't help but remember the kindness in his eyes as he'd spoken with her the previous day. She had seen him coming,and for some odd reason, her heart had given a couple of extra beats in her chest. He wouldn't have been considered handsome by any of her friends in the city, but he looked rugged and capable. Like someone she could depend on. Someone who would take care of her. Someone who would protect her and consider it his duty to be the head of the home.
