Chapter 9
Grace stared at the book. She had been trying to read for the last fifteen minutes but she hadn't turned a single page and could not tell what the book was about.
She snapped it shut, heaving a sigh of frustration as she put it on the coffee table.
Feeling restless, she pushed out of the chair and wandered around the room. It seemed so empty and cold when she was here by herself. Aunt Vivian had an appointment and had politely declined Grace's offer to go with her.
Grace hadn't wanted to insist, and she definitely didn't want to admit that she didn't want to be at the house by herself.
There were too many things to think about, and she didn't want to think about any of them. She wanted to be distracted by something.
Her eyes lifted, and she looked across the street to the music shop. No. She didn't want to be distracted by just anything. Noah was not a good distraction.
But she couldn't help but remember the kindness in his eyes as he'd spoken with her the previous day.
She had seen him coming, and for some odd reason, her heart had given a couple of extra beats in her chest. He wouldn't have been considered handsome by any of her friends in the city, but he looked rugged and capable.
Like someone she could depend on. Someone who would take care of her.
Someone who would protect her and consider it his duty to be the head of the home.
She didn't know how she could tell all of that by looking at him, but it was that feeling that she got, one of safety and security when he stood there in front of her. She didn't even know she wanted that, but she had been drawn to it immediately.
She fingered the card that she had stuck in her pocket.
She had put it on her nightstand the night before, and then on a whim that morning, she'd picked it up and stuck it back in her pocket.
She'd been touching it all day. It was almost as though touching the card brought back the memory of Noah more clearly and distinctly, and she could feel the warmth and security that she'd felt while he stood in front of her.
Another student carrying an instrument case, most likely a violin, walked into Noah's store, passing a student on their way out.
That was the third or fourth student she'd seen that day heading into Noah's store. There had been several over lunch as well. Like he taught an ensemble at that time.
He must give individual instruction. She thought he would be a great teacher. That he would push students, but not so hard that they got discouraged.
Suddenly, thinking that the kitchen had a window with a slightly different angle of the music store, Grace hurried from the living room and walked down the hall into the kitchen.
She didn't stop to question herself about why she was so interested in what Noah was doing, but instead, went to the window and angled herself over the counter so she could see the music store.
Sure enough, she could see the window of the back room, and the student setting their instrument case down and getting it out, and Noah saying something, causing the student to laugh.
He seemed like he was so good with them.
As she stood there, the lesson began, and the student did well at first, but then came to a passage they struggled with.
Noah seemed encouraging, considerate, even getting down on one knee at one point and pointing to the music, and then picking up his own violin and playing.
Then, in a gesture she easily understood, he encouraged the student to try again.
He was so good with kids. So kind.
She blew out a breath and pushed away from the counter, knowing that she would be embarrassed if her aunt walked in at that moment.
She would want to know exactly why Grace was stretched out over the counter, craning her neck around so she could see something.
Her aunt would think it would be something exceptionally interesting. Not a music teacher giving lessons.
Grace glanced at the clock. Another hour until her aunt got home and the book club met.
She remembered she was supposed to make brownies and hurried to get the ingredients out and throw them in the oven. She'd been so distracted by Noah that she'd totally forgotten.
She couldn't do that. Noah was just a man like any other, one of thousands she'd met over the years. She knew that a lot of times the best musicians made the worst teachers. But, Noah was obviously a good musician, and he played at least two instruments quite well.
She made a mental note to ask her Aunt Vivian about him if she could. Although, she didn't want to bring any attention to her interest in him, since she knew her interest was slightly more than normal.
Not in a bad way, not in a romantic way, just... an interested way.
She had no other words other than that.
At five o'clock on the dot, Nellie McBride and Kate Henderson were at the door. Aunt Vivian had gotten home thirty minutes prior and they were ready for their company and the book club discussion. Cassie, the medical clinic receptionist, came in slightly later.
The five of them settled down in the living room with a tray of brownies and several other finger foods the ladies had brought. Each of them held a copy of a book, Heartland Joy, by an author that Grace had never heard of.
She hadn't read the book, so she listened to the conversation as her aunt gently guided it.
"I thought the most powerful moment in the book was not the romance, but was when Shaun knelt by the coffee table and prayed with a child that wasn't even his." Aunt Vivian opened the conversation.
Nellie nodded. "That was powerful. Especially because I think as a parent, my first instinct is to defend my child and to attack anyone who attacks them.
I definitely don't automatically go to the biblical passage where we're supposed to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.
I might think of that for myself, but not for my children. "
"Exactly. But how are our children supposed to learn if we don't guide them in that direction? If we hold them to a different standard than what we hold ourselves?" Kate asked.
"Sometimes I think we hold our children to too high of a standard. But in this case, it's a biblical standard, and biblical standards are not too high." Cassie weighed in.
"It's funny how we want all the best for our children, and a lot of times we feel like that means veering away from the Bible and giving them material things." Aunt Vivian sounded wise.
"I agree with that, although that reminds me that the music teacher at the school quit just a week ago, and now there's no band concert, and I know children at the school are bitterly disappointed.
I mean, you practice all year, and you think you're going to enjoy getting to play for an audience, and then it doesn't happen. " Kate sounded dismayed.
Grace kept her mouth closed tightly. She had benefited immensely from playing in orchestra when she was younger.
Perhaps she would not have been a concert pianist if she had not had those opportunities.
They had given her a taste of something she loved and made her realize that it could be something that she could do with her life, although she knew that she would have a lot of work to put into it.
Perhaps she wouldn't have worked as hard if she hadn't known that. And then she wouldn't have made it.
Guilt stirred in her heart. Those kids needed someone, and she had the ability to step in. Maybe she couldn't be hired as their teacher, but she could at least volunteer to help them get music together for a concert.
She noticed her aunt giving her a look, and she noticed the look being shared among the other women.
They all knew who she was and what she did for a living. Perhaps that's why Kate had brought the information up.
But the women were kind and gracious and did not push.
"We probably should get back to the book.
We're not doing it justice. I was definitely convicted over the prayer, and I do believe that's probably the most powerful moment in the book, but the half haircut made me chuckle for a really long time.
" Grace was grateful to Aunt Vivian for changing the subject. She wasn’t ready to put herself out there again just yet.
The other ladies started to laugh. "I can imagine my husband walking out of the barbershop with half his hair chopped off. That was hilarious."
"The romance was really sweet too. It wasn't too much, but it was just enough to make your heart flutter a little."
The ladies kept talking, and Grace listened in. But, in the back of her head, she was still thinking. Could she? Could she get the kids together and attempt having a concert?
She'd never done anything like that. She'd participated in plenty of them, and she had taken classes on conducting.
She could probably get music. She had connections, and she also had her own abilities.
She could rewrite music to make it simpler if necessary.
Or transpose according to the instruments they had.
But she didn't say anything, and the book club broke up after two hours.
"If you don't mind, I'm gonna take a quick walk," Grace said to Aunt Vivian after they had cleared the living room and done the dishes.
"I don't mind at all. I was on my way to take a shower, but I'll be back down in the living room in a little while."
"I'll meet you there." They smiled at each other, and Grace again got the idea that Aunt Vivian was lonely. She seemed happy for the company anyway.
Putting her coat on and pulling her purple hat down over her forehead and ears, she shoved her hands in her mittens, wrapped her scarf around her neck, and walked outside.
It wasn't as bitterly cold as she'd expected, even though the sun had gone down, taking its minimal warmth with it.
She walked along the street, thinking, trying to keep her mind off of the idea of the band concert, but she found herself crossing the street and heading over to the music shop.
She wanted to be like a child and stick her nose on the glass and peek inside, but she didn't. Instead, she stood there, and in the quiet, she heard the most beautiful violin music drifting through the cool night air.
It wasn't anything she recognized, although there were plenty of symphonies where she didn't know every single part of every single instrument. Still, this sounded like a melody, and one she should know, except she didn't.
As her eyes got used to the dark, she realized Noah stood inside, his back toward her, a small light behind the counter casting a glow up on his face that she'd missed because of the glare on the window from the Christmas lights behind her.
It was even more obvious when he stopped playing, bent over, jotted something down, and then began to play again.
He played with so much beauty and emotion, his tone so clear and pure, but he was clearly playing for himself and not for any kind of performance.
But... When he stopped again and jotted something else down, and then went in a different direction, she had to wonder. ..was he writing his own music?
Almost as though he finally felt her eyes on him, he turned, still playing, and looked out the window.
For a brief, frozen second, their eyes met. His music stopped mid-note, and he was obviously embarrassed.
Grace was embarrassed to have embarrassed him and to have been caught staring and putting her nose in his business.
She mouthed "sorry" before she jerked back away from the window and hurried away.
For the first time since she'd come to town, she prayed for God to show her what He wanted from her, instead of her begging God to do what she wanted.
Lord, is there a reason for me being here?
Is there a reason for everything that I'm experiencing?
Do you have some kind of plan that I'm not aware of?
Is it for those children who need a band concert instructor?
She paused, and then she gathered herself and said, "Please, Lord, show me what you want, and then give me the courage to do it. "