The Soldier's Bride (27 page)

All of a sudden she remembered his scent, the smell of Sterling fresh from his garage. He was always clean, but the musky scent of motor oil with a splash of aftershave tagged along.

“I still think of him.” Her eyes filled with tears. She watched Jim’s face and searched for strength within. She sat up in bed. “You have my whole heart minus one corner where I’ll keep the memories I have of Sterling.” She covered her heart with a hand and then held her hand toward Jim. “You can’t expect me to act as if he never lived. I won’t see him anymore, but it doesn’t mean I never loved him.”

Jim shook his head. “Now there’s the Evelyn I knew, the one with a bit of fire inside.”

She lowered her eyes and waited for him to say more. He leaned against the headboard and draped his arm around her shoulders, drawing her to his side.

“That’s fair,” he said.

Evelyn lifted her face to his and studied his eyes. “You’re not mad?”

“I didn’t say I like it, but I think I understand. As long as you’re not thinking of changing your mind.”

“No. I made my choice and I choose you every day from here on out.”

“Then that’s all that matters.” He kissed her and hopped out of bed. “I’m going to meet with the bank manager in Callaway Grove this morning. I’d better get a move on.”

“I’ll get breakfast started.”

As the sausage sizzled in the pan, Evelyn thought about her dreams of Sterling and about what Jim had said. He was being more than fair with her and incredibly patient, and she was grateful for him.

She still thought of Sterling every day, but each time she did, she tucked the thought into a far corner of her heart. It was a corner full of love for the man who needed saving, loved her, and had saved her in return.

Evelyn didn’t mention Sterling anymore to Jim and there was an unspoken understanding between them now. Jim knew that part of her would always care for Sterling but was content because she wore his ring and would hopefully bear more of his children someday.

Danny was down for his afternoon nap when Jim returned from Callaway Grove that evening bursting with excitement.

“The bank manager told me about a job opening in Colorado Springs.” He slung his coat over the couch and lifted her into a tight embrace. “He even called and talked to the manager there and put in a good word for me. Evelyn, if this works out, we’ll return to our first home together.”

“That’s wonderful, Jim,” Marie said. She stood in the hallway and Harold came up behind her. “Colorado Springs, eh?”

“I hope you’ll be okay with me taking your daughter away again.” He touched her cheek. “Will you be okay with that? I mean, it’s not a for-sure thing, but it’s looking pretty good.”

“It’ll be harder this time to leave than when I was a new bride, but it sounds like a great opportunity.”

Jim clapped his hands. “I’ve been idle for too long. It’s time for me to contribute to society again.” He grinned when everyone laughed.

Harold slapped him on the back. “I’ll miss your idle company around this place. Marie has been beside herself since you went and completed every honey-do she could come up with.”

Jim laughed. “They want me to come up for an interview first thing in the morning. I’ll catch the early bus.”

“I’ll loan you my car. Looks like you’ll be in the market for an automobile,” Harold said.

“Actually I’ve already got something picked out—over a week ago now,” Jim said. “I just needed a stable job behind me to add to my war funds.”

As they chatted about possibilities for the new road ahead, Evelyn’s thoughts wandered. She knew there were more reasons than one that Jim was excited about moving to Colorado Springs. The main reason had green eyes and black hair that curled right above his brow line.

And just like that, they were moving. The day after Christmas, Jim whooped and hollered after he got off the phone with the branch in Colorado Springs. His new position as loan officer was set to start as soon as they could make the move.

Marie cried when Evelyn began packing up Danny’s things, and Evelyn did her best to hide the trepidation she felt at leaving the security of her parent’s home after all they’d done for her over the past three years.

In two weeks they were gone. At first she thought about sending Sterling a letter, but her heart clenched in pain as she considered what she could possibly say. Nothing could undo the hurt she had caused him, and because he had set her free, Evelyn believed it would be easier for both of them if she set him free as well.

Time passed and they settled into their new home. Evelyn felt comfortable in Jim’s arms and soon the joy of her growing family overshadowed the dull ache in her heart. When they traveled to Aspen Falls to visit her parents, they steered clear of the side of town where the Silver Lining and Sterling’s home were located. She didn’t see him again for many years.

Emika opened the side compartment of the music box and clasped the tin March of Dimes pin she had worn proudly in her youth. Although it had been nearly twenty-five years, Emika still remembered the stark reality of the therapy she underwent to regain most of her muscle use. At times it had felt like torture to watch the other children run, jump, and dance with ease. Her legs and her confidence were so weak that she didn’t dare do more than walk cautiously, looking for cracks in the sidewalk that might trip up her disobedient legs.

But she had never grown tired of listening to the music box, and when she learned to read, Leland’s message became as important as the music itself. Even now, if she closed her eyes, she could see the thick black strokes of his carpenter’s pencil and read the words without even looking at the paper pasted into the music box, “Live to dance again.”

Emika opened another compartment of the music box and pulled out a crumpled ribbon. Second place in the ballroom dance competition. She had overcome her fears and danced for everyone to see. She eventually danced right into the arms of the man who was now her husband, Tony, and they settled down close to her parents.

When Daiki was born, she felt that she might never stop dancing, cradling her beautiful dark-haired baby boy, and feeling the joy swelling in her chest. She remembered humming the tune of the music box to him. Even as an infant, Daiki had loved music and responded to all new sounds with smiles and gurgles.

He was nearly four months old when they discovered his blindness. His eyes were so dark and beautiful that it was difficult to understand why he couldn’t see. But Daiki responded to human voice and music. When he cried Emika would wind her music box for him over and over because the tone soothed him.

She remembered the soldier from the hospital. She didn’t need to unfold the origami peace crane fashioned from bright green paper to read the words her mother had written to help her remember. The same words the soldier had told her before he left. “There’s something I learned in the war from the people who helped me.” He had spoken just above a whisper, but his deep voice rumbled. “Listen close enough and you can change the world.”

Emika had always been a good listener. Because Daiki couldn’t see, Emika whispered the message to him as she rocked him. “Listen close enough, Daiki, and you can change the world.”

When Daiki turned three, he stumbled onto the piano and began playing notes and laughing. When he was five, he composed his first melody and it sounded vaguely similar to the tune from the music box.

By the time he was seven, Emika recognized he had a talent. She took him to a conservatory and enrolled him in lessons. Now her beautiful baby was a handsome eight-year-old boy preparing for his first concert. On Saturday, he would perform three original compositions as well as pieces from Bach, Liszt, and Beethoven. He hoped to change the world with his music.

Emika replaced the ribbon and the March of Dimes pin in the drawer. She turned the brass crank and listened to the familiar melody float from the chambers of the music box. The ballerina still danced as gracefully as she had in Emika’s youth, although the tulle looked a bit faded and worn, and the paint on her bodice wasn’t the vibrant pink of years ago, having dulled to a warm coral hue.

The music box had collected quite a bit of dust, and Emika wiped off the indications of neglect wondering how life could be so busy. Daiki hadn’t listened to the music box for some time, but that was because his fingers constantly caressed the ivory keys of the piano, making music of all varieties.

She hadn’t told Daiki about her fight with polio yet, wanting to wait until he was old enough to understand. Emika knew it was important because he would still face many difficulties and obstacles as a blind person. She wanted him to know he had inherited her tenacity and strength.

His ability to create magic with the piano would serve him well, but Emika knew there were times her little boy wished to be an active participant in the games he heard children playing. Emika knew exactly how he felt. It was time to tell him, to let him know that she understood his fears and sadness, those emotions he hid so adeptly in the music he composed.

After she dusted off the last compartment, Emika looked at the few pieces of jewelry tucked inside. She tried on the large emerald ring her father had given to her mother on their thirtieth wedding anniversary. She wished time could unwind and she could still see the ring sparkling on her mother’s hand instead of sitting in the dark music box, pillowed against the velvet lining as it had for the past three years. The ring was too elegant for Emika and she worried she might lose it, but perhaps she might wear it for Daiki’s concert.

“Mama, I’m ready for you to hear my new song,” Daiki called from the front room.

“I’ll be right there. I can’t wait to hear it.” Emika smiled as she closed the music box and returned it to the shelf. Daiki had worked hard at composing a new piece for the concert, but he hadn’t wanted Emika to hear it yet. Of course, she had heard bits and pieces of the enchanting melody, but this would be his first performance.

“What are you going to call it?” Emika said.

“I have an idea, but listen first and then you can tell me if you think it’s the right name for this piece.”

He sat up straight on the piano bench, his slight frame barely casting a shadow against the keys. With a quick stretch of his fingers, Daiki began playing. Emika felt a shiver go through her body when Daiki reached for the high notes, so ethereal and beautiful as to take her breath away.

She closed her eyes as memories from the past overpowered her, and when the music ended, the last note blended into the silence so subtly that it seemed the melody continued on the wisp of wind coming from the open window.

Emika opened her eyes and saw that her son had turned, his sightless eyes focused in her direction. She knelt by the piano bench and pulled him into a hug.

“Daiki, that was magnificent. I feel like you’ve reached inside and touched my soul with your music.”

A wide grin encompassed his face, and he pushed at a stray lock of gleaming black hair. “I knew you’d like it.”

“I do,” Emika said. “And what is the name of this masterpiece?”

Daiki touched her face, pushed the hair away from her ear and leaned in close. He whispered the name of his melody and Emika smiled. “It’s perfect.”

“Evelyn, it’s nearly six. We’d better hurry if that concert starts at six thirty,” Jim called from the kitchen.

“Grab my sweater, would you? The blue one with the heart-shaped pin. I’ll be right out.” Evelyn smoothed her hair back into a tortoiseshell clip. She frowned when she saw a gray strand near her temple and plucked it out. The deep auburn tone of her hair looked glossy under the light; she didn’t want any signs of her age apparent tonight. Jim was taking her to a piano concert, a special date to celebrate being empty nesters.

She put a hand over her heart, trying to make sense of how the time had passed. Kitty, the youngest of her three children, had married her sweetheart last month, and Evelyn had cried when her daughter walked down the aisle on Jim’s arm.

Life had been so good to them. She wouldn’t regret that those childhood years were gone so quickly. She was entering a new chapter of her life, although she could do without the gray hairs.

“Did I ever tell you how beautiful you are?” Jim stood in the doorway holding the sweater that matched the hue of his sapphire eyes.

Evelyn started and smiled. “I think you have once or twice.” She held out her arms and let Jim help her into the sweater. Then she rose on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.

She ruffled the bit of gray in his sideburns. “I’m glad we’re not too old to date.”

“We’ll never be too old for that.” Jim took her hand and led her toward the front door. “But I wouldn’t mind going back to the age I was when I took you on your first date.”

She laughed and almost nodded, but then she remembered the events surrounding those years when she was nineteen, and then twenty-two. “No, I might shave a few years off forty-six, but that was too long ago.” She swallowed and chided herself for the heat she felt creeping into her cheeks. Her mind had wandered to that forbidden corner full of memories of Sterling Dennison that she had locked away. The recollection wasn’t painful anymore, those emotions had been replaced by the deep love she had for Jim and her children, but she would never forget.

“You’re right,” Jim said. “Our children have given me some of the happiest moments of my life. Now if Danny would just get busy and give us a grandchild.”

She squeezed his hand. “I’m sure they’ll have some news for us any day now.”

Jim lifted his eyebrows. “You think so?” He opened the car door and Evelyn slid onto the cream-colored leather seat.

She laughed as Jim closed the door. When he started up the car, she patted his arm. “Thank you for taking me tonight. I know this wasn’t your first choice.”

“My first choice is to be with you,” Jim said. “But I am interested to see this pianist. It’s incredible that he’s blind and only eight years old and putting on a concert.”