Chapter 5
"Would you mind picking up my prescription while you're out?" Aunt Vivian shouldered her purse and looked at Grace.
Grace suspected that Aunt Vivian was trying to get her to get out and meet some of the townspeople, but that was just pure speculation, since Aunt Vivian hadn't said anything of the kind.
"Sure," Grace said, not mentioning that she had had no intention of going out although it was a beautiful day and a walk would do her good. She knew it; she just didn't feel like doing it.
"Thank you. Dr. Hannah said that the sample for the new medication that I was thinking about starting was there, and I could pick it up anytime.
I'll give her a ring and let her know that you'll be doing it for me.
" Aunt Vivian moved closer and gave Grace a hug, which Grace returned.
"I'll be back by suppertime. Don't worry about doing anything.
I'll stop at that really delicious sandwich shop on the outside of town and bring some subs back with me. "
"Are you sure?" Grace said. "I can cook something."
"You're still settling in. You just take it easy and enjoy the beautiful weather. Pretty soon we won't have any nice days like this for a long time." Aunt Vivian waved her fingers and then disappeared out the front door.
Grace watched her leave and then glanced out the window.
Aunt Vivian was correct, it was gorgeous out, and warm too.
Unseasonably so for December. But that didn't make Grace have any more desire to take a walk.
Although, if she took a walk, she could get herself further away from the piano in the parlor.
She had shut the door to the parlor no less than four times this morning already, and somehow, Aunt Vivian always found an excuse to open it back up.
For some reason, just looking at the piano made her feel like she was going to have a panic attack.
Which, of course, brought back all of the feelings from the night that she actually had had a panic attack, thought she was dying, and.
.. She didn't want to think about it. But there was no way she could even go in and sit down at the instrument, let alone think that she was going to play in front of any kind of crowd.
The idea made her feel like she was going to throw up.
It also made her heart feel like it was going to beat out of her chest, and her throat close and tighten.
She deliberately took a deep breath, closing her eyes and thinking about the beautiful, sunny December day.
Yes, a walk would be a great idea.
Grabbing her purse and a light jacket, she slipped out the front door and stepped off the beautiful Victorian front porch.
She loved Aunt Vivian's house, and other than the piano in the parlor, it was relaxing and brought back happy memories of her childhood.
Coming to Mistletoe Meadows was a great idea.
As she walked down Main Street, she was a little overwhelmed by the friendly greetings. She had forgotten just how friendly and happy the small town was.
After she had told at least ten strangers good morning and had a short conversation with three of them, she made it to the medical clinic.
It smelled like a typical doctor's office—antiseptic mixed with the smell of bandages and cleaner.
The waiting room had a nicely decorated tree in the corner, and garland hung in loops the entire way around the room.
The windows also had cute little Christmas decorations in each one of them.
They looked homemade. Possibly made by patients, although Grace could not be entirely sure.
She walked up to the window and inquired about her aunt's medication.
She fully suspected that she would not be able to pick it up herself, or would have to jump through a hundred hoops, but the receptionist smiled and said, "Dr. Hannah told me that you would be coming in.
Apparently Vivian called. Such a sweet lady. She's your aunt?"
"She is," Grace said, looking at the name tag the woman wore. "Cassie."
"It's so nice that you're visiting her. Are you from around here?" Cassie's brows wrinkled. "I have to admit I haven't lived here that long. Just a couple of years, although I feel like I know everyone."
"This is probably a good place to work if you're thinking you're going to meet everyone in town."
"Exactly. Everyone stops by at some point."
Grace considered leaving the conversation at that, but she answered Cassie's question. "No. I visited here a good bit when I was younger, but I live up north."
"You're just visiting?" Cassie asked, not like she was interrogating her, but like it was a friendly question, and she was just making conversation.
"Yes. Just visiting. I'm not sure how long.
I just needed a little break, and this is such a fun town.
So many Christmas activities going on." She added that last bit to try to take Cassie's attention away from herself.
It was refreshing for her to be able to walk around and have no one recognize her.
Oddly, even though New York was a much bigger town, she was recognized almost everywhere she went and was used to people coming up to her and asking for lessons or pointers on their playing.
She'd even had people ask her for references or to listen to them play so that she could recommend them to her agent.
She really wouldn't mind avoiding that kind of notoriety here.
Cassie chatted a bit, and then a young teen appeared at the back door to the little office area.
"Oh," Cassie said. "Mason will be bringing your medicine out, and he'll give you a little rundown on what your aunt can expect when she takes it." The boy disappeared from the back, and then just a few seconds later, he came out a door just to Grace's right.
"Hey there. I'm Mason," he said in greeting. He seemed very comfortable with talking to people, like it was something he did a lot. He also seemed very serious and into his job, more so than Grace would have guessed for a kid his age.
He went over the medicine very carefully, instructed her to tell her aunt to call if she had any questions, and then pointed to the number that was circled on the tag that had been stapled to the bag.
"Thank you very much, Mason," Grace said, impressed despite herself. The kid had a natural way about him, but she was sure, even now that she had seen him close up, that he couldn't be a day over seventeen.
Maybe that's what kids were like in a small town.
She tucked that idea away. Having children was something she hadn't thought about much, since she had been so focused on her career.
But, she supposed she wouldn't want to have them by herself.
She would want her children to grow up in a stable, two-parent home.
She shook her head. When had she started thinking about children? And being in a stable, two-parent home?
Thanking Mason and smiling when he wished her a good day, she walked out, humming "Jingle Bells" under her breath.
It was almost impossible not to get into the Christmas spirit while walking through the town.
On an impulse, she crossed the street and ducked into Henderson's Candy Cane Shop that had been there forever as well.
It was so festive and Christmasy, and so unique.
She didn't recall seeing a single candy cane shop in the city, and she was curious since she couldn’t recall - was the shop really all candy canes?
The display in the window would seem to indicate that it was.
"Good afternoon," a cheerful woman said, looking up from arranging a display of raspberry-flavored candy canes. They were blue and pretty, and just one of the many candy cane displays in the store. It seemed like the store truly lived up to its name.
"Good morning. I had to come in and see a shop that was all about candy canes," she said.
"It's a little amazing, isn't it? Normally, my husband, Jack, is standing behind the counter making them.
He happens to be off picking up his daughter right now, but if you want to see them created from start to finish, come back this evening.
" The woman smiled, genuine and friendly.
"I'm Kate," she said, holding her hand out and tilting her head.
"I'm Grace. Vivian is my aunt. I'm here for a visit."
"I love Vivian. And her house is just amazing. That old Victorian, it's like eye candy. I look at it the way some people look at sunsets."
Grace laughed and felt a genuine bond with this woman, although they hadn't even been talking for five minutes.
"That's the way I feel. Living in it brings back all the great memories that I had growing up, and being inside of it is just as easy on the eyes as outside. Aunt Vivian has done an amazing job of decorating it."
"She usually has an open house during the Christmas parade, where people can stop in and grab some hot chocolate and look around. If I'm not mistaken, she spends several months making the gingerbread houses she has on display that night. I bet she's working on one right now."
"You would be correct. It's on the dining room table, and I have to say, it's coming together very nicely. She told me that I could try my hand at helping her, but I'm afraid of messing something up."
"I don't think that would bother Vivian.
Everything seems like it's perfect, but she's told me several times about flaws in her workmanship.
She just turns the flaws into beauty and makes it look like that's what she meant to do all along.
I thought it was really clever," Kate said, laughing again with that infectious, cheerful, contagious laugh that made Grace smile.
"You are absolutely right. She taught that in life too.
I remember her saying that when I was taking piano lessons from her years ago.
If you make a mistake, just keep going. If you're practicing, you need to go back and correct it, but if you're performing, you just keep going and pretend like you meant to do it all along. "
"It takes good acting I would imagine," Kate said, "although I don't play, so I wouldn't know."
"It's never too late to take lessons," Grace said automatically. She believed that. At any age, someone could learn to do something different. One didn't have to just assume that they'd missed out in their school years and could never break new ground and learn something new.
"You're right. Maybe I'll talk to your aunt about giving me lessons. Thanks for the nudge," Kate said.
They chatted a bit more, while Grace bought one of the raspberry candy canes, and then also a peppermint one, because she knew her aunt loved them. She figured it could be dessert after their meal of subs that evening.
With a promise that she would be back, she waved and left to the bell ringing over her head.
She almost missed the sign on the window down at the bottom, where it didn't interfere with the display.
She stopped, the smile on her face slowly fading as she read, "Thirty-year tradition—Annual Mistletoe Meadows Christmas Concert. Now accepting musicians. Practice every Monday and Thursday evening. Occasional practice on Saturday afternoons. See Noah Parker."
Noah's phone number was on there too, and for some inexplicable reason, Grace almost got her phone out and started to type it in. She stopped with a small gasp when she realized what she was doing.
No. No. She was not going to get involved in this small town's Christmas concert. What was she thinking?
Except... If she was playing along with a bunch of other musicians, maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all. Maybe she would be able to do that.
No. She came here to rest and recover. Not to bite off more than she could chew. Or to give herself another panic attack.
But she held her phone loosely in her hand, contemplating.
Maybe it wouldn't hurt to take a picture of the flyer and think about it a little bit more.
For some reason, she didn't get the panicked feeling in her stomach and throat the way she did when she looked at the piano in her aunt's house. Maybe she could do this. Except... Maybe they didn’t even need a pianist. Maybe it was just stringed instruments.
.. She glanced at the flyer again as she centered her phone.
No. It didn't have any specific instruments on it.
Maybe it just assumed that the people around town knew which instruments would be in the concert.
Snapping the picture before she could talk herself out of it, she tucked her phone in her pocket and hurried away, determined that she wasn't going to do anything to jeopardize her recovery, including playing in an annual Christmas concert, no matter how badly she was tempted.