Chapter 47
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
Alexander
You’d think that my last performance as the guest conductor of the Philharmonic would be bittersweet.
It wasn’t.
I was thrilled to exit the stage and change into a pair of jeans and a black sweater. I was in a rush to head here, to the theatre I purchased where the next chapters of my life will take place.
“Are you ready?” I bend down to look Alvin in the eye.
“I’m scared,” he confesses. “What if I mess this up?”
“You wont,” I reassure him with a pat on his back. “You’ve practiced for hours. You know each note by heart. You’re going to own this, Alvin.”
He nods. “I believe you.”
“You need to remember who you are doing this for.” I gesture at the large black curtain that separates the stage from the audience. “You’re doing this for your mom.”
“Is Skylar here yet?”
I smile as I move toward the curtain. “I’ll check.”
I peek out at the growing crowd. Many members of the orchestra promised they’d show. Some of Alvin’s friends from school and their parents told me they’d be here for support.
I spot Phoebe front and center with Monte next to her.
His family is right behind them.
My eyes scan every row of seats looking for the familiar face of Skylar.
I see her. “She’s here, Alvin.”
Before I turn back, my eyes catch on another sight.
It can’t be. I open the curtain wider and step out. Applause greets me. I shake it off with a wave of my hand.
“Alex,” Phoebe calls to me as she darts to her feet. “Is it time?”
When I turn back to the beautiful woman in the red dress, she’s gone.
Did I imagine that?
Did I just imagine Olivia standing in my theater?
I step back behind the curtain to find Alvin pacing back and forth. “I can’t do it.”
I get down on one knee and call him over. He towers over me. “You can. You need to remember that you’re doing this for your mom, Alvin. This is her favorite song. It’s her birthday. This is a gift she’ll remember for the rest of her life.”
His hand lands on my shoulder. “Are you ever scared, Uncle?”
I nod.
I’m scared I’ll never see Olivia again. I’m scared that I’ve let my past steal my future.
“Do you promise it will be all right?” He scans my eyes for reassurance.
“I promise it will all be okay.”
He bites his bottom lip. “Thank you for helping me with this. I love you.”
Tears fall from my eyes as I pull him into me. “I love you too, Alvin. Go show them how it’s done.”
I’ve played “Imagine” thousands of times. I’ve listened to Alvin play it just as many, but I’ve never heard it the way I did tonight.
As my nephew took his time working through his mom’s favorite song, I kept my eyes on him.
He was calm and confident.
He nailed each note and when he took a bow, every person in the theatre cheered.
“I’ll be here for practice tomorrow, “ Alvin promises. “When are we going to cut the cake?”
I had a chocolate cake delivered this afternoon from Phoebe’s favorite bakery. “I’ll run and get it. It’s in my office.”
I exit the stage and march past a dozen or so people looking over the posted schedules for upcoming classes.
Spots are filling fast.
We have all the teachers we need on staff, instruments have been donated and the building next door is almost fully painted.
I should be thrilled by the progress, but it’s just another step toward a future without the woman I love.
“Alexander.”
That voice. It almost brings me to my knees. I can’t turn out of fear that I’m imagining it. It can’t be her. She’s in London.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about London.”
I’m facing her before those words have left her lips.
Jesus, she’s so fucking beautiful.
Red. It’s her color.
“Olivia.” I rush toward her. “I’m sorry.”
She’s in my arms, holding onto me, sobbing. “I went to Phoebe’s house earlier. She told me to come here tonight.”
We’re in a corridor. No one is around but I need privacy. I need to be alone with her.
I hold her against me as we make our way to my office. Once we’re inside I close the door. “You’re here in New York.”
“I’ve always been here.” She looks up at me. “I never went to London.”
“What?”
“I couldn’t.” She rubs at the streak of mascara under her eye. I push her hand away and slide my finger over it, brushing it away.
“Isla Foster told me Gabriel offered you the job.”
“He did.” She nods. “I turned him down.”
What the fuck?
“You didn’t go? You’ve been in New York all of this time?” I push back to look her over. “I felt you here. I swear to fuck I could feel you at times, but I told myself it was wishful thinking.”
“You broke up with me because of someone else.”
“No.” I grab her forearms. “There was never anyone else. I wouldn’t have fucked anyone else. I haven’t since. I won’t.”
Her head shakes. “I’m not talking about that. Phoebe told me. She said you loved someone who left you for a job. That’s why you ended things. You thought I was like her.”
I’m an idiot. I let some forgettable woman from my past come between my future wife and I.
“I was scared,” I admit. “I was so fucking scared that you’d move to London, meet someone else, and forget about me.”
“You’re too cocky to think that way.” She smiles. “Did you not realize that I was head over heels in love with you?”
“You are head over heels in love with me,” I make the subtle correction.
“I am.”
“I just launched this school and I’m putting together a junior symphony.” I slide my hands to hers. “I knew I couldn’t move to London with you right now so I saw it as the beginning of the end.”
“You didn’t have faith in my feelings for you.” Her lips dip into a frown.
“You didn’t tell me how you felt.”
She works on a swallow. “You didn’t tell me either.”
“I love you,” I say it clearly. “I love you more than I have ever loved anyone or anything in my life. I want you to marry me, grow old with me. I want it all.”
“I feel the same way.” Her lips brush mine. “But we have to be honest with each other to make this work.”
“Agreed.” I kiss her deeply.
“You should have told me about this place, Alexander.”
“You should have told me about London, Olivia.”
“No more secrets.” She leans into me. “I got a promotion here in New York.”
“I started a music school named after my mother.” I brush a strand of hair from her face.
“We’ll share everything.” She takes my face in her hands. “All the good moments and the bad ones. We’ll do it together.”
“Hand-in-hand.” I stare into her eyes. “Until death parts us.”