Chapter 3
Candy canes twinkled from every other light post, while twinkle lights outlined large candles on the others.
Grace's car slowly moved down Main Street in Mistletoe Meadows as she glanced at each shop, decked out for Christmas in a little over three weeks.
It seemed like glitter was in the air, or maybe those were snow flurries.
She thought Virginia was supposed to be warm, not cold enough for snow. Especially not at the beginning of December.
But apparently she was wrong, because that was definitely snow coming down.
In the center of the town, the town square had been decorated to the hilt, just like everything else. A Christmas tree, huge and loaded with lights and decorations, dominated the area, although there was garland on the gazebo and shiny tinsel hanging pretty much everywhere.
Honestly, it felt a little overwhelming, as Grace's hands tightened on the steering wheel. The town even had Christmas music piped onto the street, that she could hear faintly through her closed windows. The current song was a piano jazz version of "Jingle Bells."
Even the sound of a piano made Grace's chest tighten.
She shook her head and glanced down the street, seeing her Aunt Vivian's Victorian home situated on the corner as it always had been during her childhood visits. She had garland hanging on the railing and wreaths in every single window, green with red bows.
It looked like there was a gingerbread house sitting on a table in front of the big picture window.
Grace glanced again as she pulled into the parking place right in front of Aunt Vivian's house.
Aunt Vivian had a small garage where she parked her own car off the street. Visitors always parked right in front, unless she was having a crowd, and then they parked at the church, which was just a block away.
Grace smiled at the memories. Aunt Vivian's beautiful, old, elegant Victorian house, bursting at the seams with friends and family and laughter and fun.
Invariably, since her entire family was musical, they'd end up around the piano. In the early years, Grace's mom played, but then, once Grace turned about seven, she took over the keyboard, and how she loved accompanying her musical family. Especially at Christmas time.
Even those happy memories made her stomach tighten and her throat close.
You have to breathe. The doctor said that it was all in your head. That you had thought yourself into it, and you would be able to think yourself out.
The doctor had offered her pills, but they were the kind of pills that once she started taking them, she couldn't stop.
She had to wean herself off slowly, and she didn't want to be addicted to anything.
Plus, everything that she'd heard from people who had taken the pills said it took the edge off, but it didn't cure anything.
If she wanted to be cured, she had to do it herself. The problem was, she didn't know how.
So here she was, hiding out in the only place she knew. Aunt Vivian's Victorian house. She thought maybe the happy memories from her childhood would help with some of the issues, but she had forgotten that so many of those memories revolved around music.
As she got out of her car, she glanced across the street and up just a little bit.
Parker's Music Shop, the same as it always had been, sat right there.
It's where she had taken her first lessons and had fallen in love with the piano.
She was the only one in the family, other than her mom, who played the piano.
Everyone else played a stringed instrument.
Her cousins had a string quartet that traveled the countryside, playing mostly folk and bluegrass, but also chamber music.
They hired out for weddings and such. From what Grace understood, they made a pretty good living.
She was the only one who had gone solely professional, in New York City. She wasn't the only professional musician in her family, but, even if she were being modest, she was the best.
Or had been. Until whatever issue had gripped her mind had made her completely unable to perform.
She couldn't think about the entire month's worth of canceled concerts and accompanist positions. She'd even canceled her student lessons until after the holidays.
She'd hated to do that, but if she was going to leave the city, she hadn't had a choice.
She tightened her jaw, trying not to think about all the things that she'd left behind. The doctor had said that she needed to control her thoughts. She also needed to rest. They had suggested that maybe she had been working too hard, and she knew they were right. She had been working hard.
"Grace! I'm so happy to see you. I'm glad you made it safely."
Her Aunt Vivian stepped out on the porch, her arms spread wide as she hurried toward Grace.
She looked just as happy and cheerful as she always had, maybe a little older, more gray hair, more wrinkles, and perhaps a few more pounds around the waist and hips, but still her Aunt Vivian, still with a spring in her step, still with a love for her niece that made Grace think that this was exactly the right choice, even if some of the memories were going to be hard.