Then why don't you ask her?
He supposed he could have a discussion like that with her. Andhe'd have to. Because otherwise, she might not understand when he told her that he couldn't be kissing her anymore. Not if he wanted to have any peace and quiet in the evenings in order to finish his composition and not be harassed by his siblings.
Yeah. He and Grace were definitely going to need to have a talk.
Chapter 27
"I'm heading out to practice," Grace called to Aunt Vivian, who was still in the kitchen, as she put her coat on and wrapped her scarf around her neck.
"All right. Mrs. Tucker is bringing supper, so don't worry about it. And, if you'd like, go ahead and invite Noah and see if he wants to come too."
"I'll do that. I'm pretty sure he'll say yes. When he's been teaching all afternoon, he usually doesn't have time to make supper."
Grace smiled to herself. Whether he had supper prepared for himself or not, if she asked him, she was pretty sure he would say yes. Both of them jumped at any excuse to be able to see the other.
She was still smiling as she walked to the door and picked the mail up from where it had dropped in the slot. It was just one letter, and she was getting ready to set it on the small desk where her aunt kept the mail, when she saw that it was addressed to her.
She turned it over and looked at it a little closer and saw that it was from a prestigious music academy in the city. One sherecognized. And one that she had tried to get a teaching position at, but had never been called back.
Maybe this was their formal rejection letter, and she felt like she was in the frame of mind where she could handle it. She wasn't sure what she was going to do after Christmas, but she did have confidence that God had been guiding her steps all along.
Where she and Noah fit into all of that, she wasn't sure.
Expecting a rejection, it took a little while—she was halfway through the letter before she realized that they were offering her a position. It was a faculty position, full benefits, prestigious students... Everything she'd wanted before the incident.
The deadline to accept was December 23rd, the same day as the concert in Mistletoe Meadows.
She looked again at the salary. Wow.
That was more than she'd ever hoped to make, and plenty to live on.
But she thought again of Aunt Vivian, and how she had said that she had made good money, had a great career, but wished she would've made different choices.
But that was Aunt Vivian. That wasn't her.
But... Would Noah be happy moving to the city?
She pursed her lips, stuffed the letter back in the envelope, and set it on the desk right side up so that Aunt Vivian would clearly see her name on the outside.
She would answer it later. Although, she wasn't sure what she was going to say.
Practice went well. The kids were enthusiastic, and even the high school kids seemed like they really enjoyed what they were doing. She supposed in order for them to come and put the time in, they had to really want to. Or else their parents were making them.
Regardless, she didn't care. She was just happy that she and Noah worked so well together, one picking up where the other left off, and both of them seeming to have different strengths and covering each other's weaknesses.
She loved working with him and enjoyed the happy smiles of the children.
The music wasn't bad either, and she was impressed at how the kids had been practicing and how good everything sounded.
"I'm exhausted, but wow, what great practices," she said as the last student left for the evening.
"Same. My goodness, that's a lot of work, but I'm still looking forward to this concert. I've seen the marketing committee's work, and they have drawn up some really great flyers and have some wonderful ads on social media. We just might end up with a big crowd after all."
"Oh I hope so. Thirty years is a big deal, and you should definitely be celebrating that."
"I agree. The town deserves it."
"And you're the perfect person to head it up. You definitely take your responsibilities seriously."
