"The part that I was writing the night I met you turned into the courtship part... It all came together once I saw you."
"I don't think I've ever been anyone's inspiration before," she said. Then she paused and took a breath. "You need to play this.This is what we need to play for the music festival. It has to be this."
He didn't seem upset by her insistence. Instead he searched her eyes, as though trying to read anything else other than what her words were saying.
"For you. We'll play it for you."
"For us," she gently corrected him. Somehow, her hand reached out and touched his cheek.
"I told you before I wanted to kiss you again. You probably ought to say something if that isn't what you want."
She just smiled and pulled him closer, closing her eyes. Of course she wanted to kiss him. How could she tell him that she'd wanted to since the first moment they'd met?
Kissing Noah was just as sweet and perfect as she thought it would be, and made even better by the music they had just played together. And the promise of more to come.
Somehow, his arm wrapped around her, and she slipped her hands around his neck, and they kissed for a really long time.
As she pulled away, she realized he was still holding his violin.
"I'm sorry. I suppose I should've allowed you to put that down."
"Maybe I'll do that now," he said, sounding a little breathless. He had his bow in the same hand, and he expertly set the violin gently on the piano and the bow beside it. "That's better. I wanted to have both hands on you."
They smiled at each other, although in the back of her head, Grace was asking how this was going to work. Was she going to stay here in Mistletoe Meadows? Was he going to chase his dreams in the big city? How were they going to do this together?
But she didn't need to worry about that. Maybe he wasn't thinking about anything along those lines, although relationships weren't really something that she did to be casual and uncommitted.
Still, maybe she could just enjoy the moment and not have to have the rest of her life planned out. Although, it was only fair for Noah to know that she didn't typically go around kissing peoplewithout thinking that there was some kind of commitment between them.
He had lowered his head, and she had eagerly joined in a second kiss, but as he pulled away, she looked down and gathered her wits about her.
"That was really nice," she said, and then opened her eyes and looked at him. "I don't want to push for anything, not really, but... I don't typically kiss people without thinking that there's a strong commitment there."
"Yeah. I was looking at you at the table today and wondering if we might have a family of our own sometime, the kids running around, laughter, fun, and music. Lots of music together."
Yeah. That was the kind of commitment she was looking for. And she didn't need any more than that. Not right now.
Chapter 26
Noah wrote another three notes on the score, tilted his head, changed his mind, erased one of the notes, and replaced it with an E flat. Yeah. That was perfect.
He felt like he was glowing. Kissing Grace had been an experience he didn't even have words for. It left his heart happy and his soul soaring.
He hadn't wanted to part from her, but when she had gently suggested that if they were going to do this music together for the festival, he'd better get it finished, he'd walked her home, given her a sweet kiss before he left, and then walked back home alone.
Maybe he wouldn't be alone much longer.
The thought made him smile again, and a bit of a melody popped into his head.
He jotted those notes down and continued to write.
He didn't know how long it was. He had gotten lost in the music and time didn't have meaning for him when he got into the zone like that, but his phone rang, shocking him out of wherever he was and making him grin again. Maybe Grace wanted to talk to him. Maybe she missed him already.
His smile did not dim when he saw that it was not Grace, but Emma, one of his siblings.
"Hey there," he said as he swiped his phone on.
"Goodness. You sound happy."
