“You said it could be the
theme for your life?
Now it is.
I was planning to surprise you tonight,” he
said softly, as he watched her eyes fill with tears.
When no words would come, no
way to say what it meant that he had done this wonderful thing for her, she
slipped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
Once again, the three men applauded.
Across the room, Peg raised her hands and
softly joined in.
They had been to Tiffany's,
spending considerable time learning about diamonds, cuts and settings, quality
and brilliance.
In the end, Emily had
chosen a traditional setting, instructing the very kind Miss Marshall to make
sure Stani didn't buy anything too showy or expensive.
“I can't wear a huge rock on my hand when I'm
digging in the dirt, or even when I'm caring for patients.
And I don't plan to ever take it off,” she
confided.
In the car, they nestled
together in the back seat while Robert patiently drove them around town, taking
the long way back to the hotel at Emily's request.
“Don't you think there's something very
seductive about the back of a limo?”
She
slipped her hand into the front of Stani's overcoat, resting her head on his
shoulder.
“I think there would be
something seductive about the back of a subway car, if you were there.
You do realize Robert is supposed to have us
at the hotel in time for me to dress and get back to Peg's by six?
John will be your escort for the evening, and
you won't have to be there nearly so early.
Are you wearing another of Martha Jean's inspirations tonight?”
“Oh, yes, the very best for
last.
You'll just have to be
surprised.
No previews tonight.”
Snuggling closer, she gazed out the window at
the passing scene.
“Stani, when were you
planning to tell me that you and Peg had been lovers?”
Instantly, she felt him
stiffen.
“She didn't. . .she promised
me,” he choked.
“No, of course she
didn’t.
She didn't have to.
I suspected it the first time I met her.
I couldn't imagine the two of you spending so
much time together without becoming. . .close.
After seeing the way she looked at you last night and hearing her talk
about you today, it was obvious.
I can
only assume you were going to tell me at some point.”
She lifted her head to look at him, a
sympathetic smile in her eyes.
“I don't
mind, you know.
I knew there had been
women, you told me so.
I'm actually
relieved that at least one of them was someone who cared so much for you.
It may be somewhat irregular, but it's not
something I can't live with.
Don't look
so miserable, Stani.
I'm not
angry.”
She stroked his face, as if to
ease away the tension.
“You're sure?
I was afraid if you knew, you would resent
her, or me.
What happened with Peg, with
us, it's hard to explain.
I'm not sure I
understand it myself.”
His eyes were
dark, his expression so intensely pained, she pressed her fingers gently to his
lips.
“You don't have to explain
anything.
I may understand it better
than you do.
Loving you, I can see how
Peg would too.
Let's promise never to
mention it again.
I just wanted you to
know that I knew, so you wouldn't feel you had a secret to keep from me.
I may be naive, but I believe with all my
heart that you are committed to me, to us, as completely as I am.
All that matters is what we do together, from
now on.
Now will you tell me you love me
and promise you'll be happy for the rest of the time we have together?”
In the rear view mirror,
Robert was treated to the sight of two heads bent together in a very long,
exceptionally tender kiss.
His face
wreathed in a smile, he said softly over his shoulder, “Sir, we're coming up on
the hotel.
Should I just keep driving?”
Chapter Fifty-six
For John, this evening offered
a rare treat.
To dress in his own
tuxedo—which he usually shunned unless he was required to blend into the crowd
at a particular function—and play escort to a beautiful young lady was not part
of his customary duties.
Granted, the
young lady could have been his own daughter, but still, it made a man take more
pride in himself knowing he was to be seen with such a vision.
And a vision she was.
When Emily opened the door to his knock, he’d
been warmed by the sight of her.
In her
slate blue dress, the flowing cut of which displayed every line of her slender
figure, she was glowing.
Her winter tan,
her pale eyes, and the mass of dark hair swept back from her face struck him as
somehow exotic.
The sleeveless dress had
a modestly high neckline, but it bared her shoulders, and she had draped a
shawl, a tapestry affair of sapphire and gold, over her arms.
Her only jewelry was the locket Stani had
given her for Christmas.
She had smiled
up shyly, asking if she looked all right.
“I'd say.
Poor Stani, once he gets sight of you, everything
he knows about that violin may go right out of his head.”
Taking her wrap, he laid it on her shoulders,
and as she arranged her hair and adjusted the collar, he went on.
“He's a lucky boy, our Stani.
I hope you know what you've done for him, how
changed he is since he found you.”
John
could feel the blood rising in his face, but he wanted to take this one
opportunity to tell her what it meant to him.
“He’s truly happy for the first time.
He smiles.
And laughs.
Never, even when he was just a little thing,
did he laugh so much.
He's going to be
all right now, with you.
Thank you.”
She stood on tiptoe to kiss
his cheek.
“And thank you, for taking
such good care of him.
Maybe between us,
we can keep him safe and happy.
He can't
do without you, John.
And I have a
feeling I won't be able to either.”
She
slipped her arm through his.
“Shall we?”
They had mingled with the
elegant guests, stood briefly talking with Jana and Milo.
For a time, Peg had dragged Emily away,
introducing her to carefully selected individuals she especially wanted her to
meet.
When the time came to go up to the
ballroom, John had taken her to the seat Stani had chosen.
It would give him the best view of her while
he was performing he'd said.
He wanted
to see her reaction to the music.
The
seat was also away from everyone else, in a little alcove, where she would be
more at ease he knew.
She had told John in the car
that she had never seen Stani perform.
He had played her father's violin for her at Christmas, but she said
that wasn't the same as seeing him in front of an audience.
She’d heard people talk about how exciting he
was, how charismatic.
Yes, John had
agreed, she was in for a treat.
Even he
found it hard to take his eyes off Stani once he began to play, and he'd been
watching him for years.
With a grin, he
told her that as a little boy, Stani had caused old ladies to weep when he
played.
Now it was the young ladies who
seemed to get emotional at the sight of him.
He hoped Emily would not be so swept away tonight.
“I would hate to have to
protect him from you, girl, but that is my job.”
She had laughed, an enchanting sound that he
hesitated to term a giggle, and promised to keep herself under firm control.
When the four musicians had
taken their places, all her attention focused on Stani, a hint of a smile fixed
on her lips.
Leaning forward in her
seat, her hands clasped in her lap, she seemed to be bracing for the music.
John had thought Stani might acknowledge her
presence, but his eyes never came her way.
Instead, as first violin, he turned his attention immediately to the
other players.
With his usual intense
concentration, head down, eyes closed, he and the others began to play.
John thought he heard a little
gasp, and turning he saw that Emily's eyes were wide and shining.
The smile had spread into one of rapturous
proportions, a dimple appearing in one cheek.
Slowly, she raised her hand to the locket, touching it tenderly.
He only wished he could adequately describe
to Stani later the way she'd looked, the effect he'd had on her, as if she were
falling in love all over again with this new image of him.
When the first piece ended,
Stani did look her way, touching the bow to his forehead in a salute.
What passed between them, John thought, was
too intimate, too intensely personal, to watch.
He was glad she was seated away from the others, particularly Milo.
He felt a keen desire to protect the two of them,
shield them from anyone who might not understand what they shared.
Shaking himself from his own observation of
them, he grimaced inwardly.
He was
getting to be such an old woman.
He'd
never been in the middle of so much romance, and it was clearly playing havoc
with his imagination.
At the conclusion of the
program, as the audience rose in appreciation, the musicians returned to their
places.
The crowd grew quiet, and John
thought Emily seemed especially eager, poised on the edge of her chair.
With a very pointed glance in
her direction, Stani played the opening measures of the encore, the others
joining in turn.
It was the music Stani
had composed, John knew, something just for Emily, something personal and
significant to their relationship.
As he
watched her profile, waiting for her reaction, he was not disappointed.
Though she was again smiling ecstatically,
there were tears sliding unheeded down her face as she folded her hands over
the locket.
Whatever had prompted Stani
to give her this gift, John felt certain he would be duly rewarded.
As the piece ended, the
players rose, bowed to the audience, and then turning, all four bowed in
Emily's direction.
She stood,
applauding, the shawl draping gracefully from her outstretched arms as she
extended an embrace that included them all.
Again, John was struck with how easily this girl would fit into Stani's
world.
She might consider herself a farm
girl from some remote valley, but she had all the elegance and charm to move
naturally among the assortment of cultures and personalities that populated
Stani's international workplace.
And he
felt sure those people would embrace her, recognizing her unique gifts as
surely as they did his.
John turned her over to Stani
as soon as the crowd around him began to thin.
In spite of his beaming smile as she went into the circle of his arm,
John could see the strain in his eyes.
It was there at the end of every concert now no matter how satisfied he
might be with his performance.
Taking
the violin from his hand, he said with a grin, “I'll replace one priceless
treasure with another.”
Stani grimaced, even as he
stood shoulder to shoulder with Emily, his eyes never leaving hers.
“She turns peasants into poets, John.
Take care she doesn't expose you for the hopeless
romantic you really are.”
They made their way down the
stairs to join the others at the buffet.
Peg would insist on his greeting her guests, but John knew Stani would
be anxious to leave as soon as possible.
The tension in his jaw and the way he clenched his fingers told that he
was in need of rest.
Just as they reached the foot
of the stairs, where Stani was accosted by a group of bejeweled, white-haired
ladies who had been eagerly awaiting his arrival, Emily turned to John.
“Could you find Robert and ask him to have
the car at the door in fifteen minutes?
I think we'll be ready to leave by then, don't you?”