Redemption Song (39 page)

But none of that mattered right now. All Ethan was concerned about was the next twelve hours. He prayed with all he had that Alaina would consider his offer to go on tour with him. He couldn’t imagine getting the opportunity to sing and perform—two of his absolute favorite things—and getting to spend time with Ali while he did it. The possibility seemed too good to be true. Yet, technically, she hadn’t said no. He could see the reservation in her eyes, but she hadn’t said no. Which meant he still had time.

But no matter how much Ethan wanted to spend the next few hours trying to convince Alaina that the advantages of going with him far outweighed the disadvantages, he had already decided that their day together would have nothing to do with that. His ultimate goal was to simply spend time with Alaina and hope that she understood just how much he’d missed her over the past year.

After the airport, he asked Alaina where she wanted to go. Of course, she didn’t even know where to begin, so Ethan opted for the customary tourist attractions of the Big Apple. They did the Empire State Building thing and the Statue of Liberty thing. They walked through China Town and ate pizza in Brooklyn. And finally as the sun was beginning to burn over the edges of the skyscrapers that lined the Manhattan horizon, Ethan led Alaina by the hand into Central Park.

“Your city is beautiful,” she said as they passed by the lake where a team of paddle boaters were out practicing. They came to a stop there, at the edge of the water, the full view of Manhattan in the distance over the tree tops.

“It’s home, I guess.”

“I’ve seen this place a thousand times on TV and in movies, but somehow it’s just not the same as actually being here and experiencing it.”

Ethan squeezed her hand and turned her body to face him. He’d held back all day, but he couldn’t any longer. He bent to her level and found her lips with ease. He heard her sigh as she fell into his kiss in the cool city breeze. “I know exactly what you mean,” he murmured as they slowly parted.

Her eyes danced as she gazed up at his with excited curiosity. He wondered if she’d made her decision, but he refused to ask. It wasn’t time for that yet. He still had a couple of hours with her and he intended to use every single second.

“Come on,” Ethan said. “I want to give you something to take home to remember this day by.”

Alaina grinned and fell into step beside him, her hand never leaving his the entire way. A few hundred yards down the winding concrete path, Ethan slowed his step next to an older redheaded gentleman with a flaming goatee and sideburns to match. He wore a plaid beret and sat on a stool in front of an easel. A long narrow paintbrush lay with experience between his fingers while his other hand grasped a circular board colored like the rainbow with various oil paints.

Ethan reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out a couple of bills. He held them out toward the man. “You have a few minutes for us, man?”

The man’s eyes widened at the money Ethan offered and a wide smile spread across his cheeks. "Oh, yes sir! Right this way, sir.” The man had a thick Brooklyn accent and seemed quite pleasant. He led Ethan and Alaina to a little pallet he’d set up in the grass on the edge of the sidewalk. “Just have a seat here with your girl and I’ll paint you up something real pretty.”

Alaina giggled and knelt down next to Ethan on the blanket. When the man raised his paintbrush to the canvas, Ethan held up his hand and said, “Oh, yeah, hold up a second.” He pulled the cap off his head and removed his glasses. “Okay, sorry about that, now you can start.”

The man lifted his gaze to study the objects he was to paint and his eyebrows rose. He paused for a brief moment, but said nothing and went to painting. The brush connected with the canvas and his hand whirled around as if their images were simply coming to life on the paper through his fingers. Ethan and Alaina remained as still as possible, Ethan’s arm wrapped tightly around Alaina’s waist and their cheeks pressed together as they struggled to hold smiles longer than naturally possible. When the man claimed to be finished, Ethan and Alaina rose from the blanket, opening and closing their mouths to stretch their jaws back out.

The man tore the paper from the huge pad on the tripod and handed it to them. “I hope I did you justice,” he said kindly.

Ethan held out the painting for him and Alaina to view together.

“Wow, that’s amazing,” she said. “You’re very talented, sir.”

He smiled thankfully and held out Ethan’s hat. Ethan took it from him and peered inside to find his sunglasses and the bills he’d handed the man earlier.

“You might want to put that back on, Mr. Carter,” the man said. “I’d hate for a bunch of people to go ruining your day with your girl here.”

Ethan gazed back at the man in surprise. “But I don’t understand,” he said. “You know who I am but you won’t let me pay you? Please, sir, your work is beautiful. Take the money.”

The man let out a hearty laugh. “Trust me, Mr. Carter. You have already given me so much more than money.” When Ethan and Alaina exchanged confused expressions, the man went on. “You see, I’m actually a Pastor at this little street church in Brooklyn. This painting thing is just something I do to minister to people I come into contact with in the park. But I have a daughter about your age who loves you, kid. But for the longest time, I couldn’t get her to listen to a word I said about God. She just didn’t want to hear it. But when you stood up for what you believed in and gave up everything to sing for your Savior, well, she finally started to listen. She got baptized just this past Sunday. You’re making a difference in the lives of your fans, Mr. Carter. So please understand that this painting is the least I can do to repay you for your service.”

Ethan couldn’t even speak. He knew he’d made changes in his own life, and he knew that his amazing fans had transitioned pretty well to his new genre of music, but he’d never thought about how many of them would be led to Christ because of him. He’d never felt more useful in his entire life. He prayed for it all the time and it was happening. God was using him.

When Ethan continued to not say anything, Alaina spoke for him. “Thank you very much for the painting, sir. And we’re really happy to hear about your daughter.”

Ethan finally found his voice and agreed with Alaina. He also asked the man for permission to use his canvas, insisting on leaving an autographed message for his daughter, congratulating her on her decision to give her life to Christ and thanking her for staying faithful to his music.

The rest of the night spun by in a blur. Ethan treated Alaina to a lakeside dinner at one of the restaurants inside the park. Then they finished the night off with a carriage ride back to the edge of the park where he’d left his vehicle earlier that afternoon. He’d lived in New York his entire life, but decided then that he’d never truly felt its magic until that night. Alaina was right. It was beautiful. And so was she.

The sun had long since set over the horizon by the time Ethan pulled into the parking lot at the LaGuardia Airport. They’d remained silent the entire ride there, each unsure of how to proceed from that point. It was a bittersweet ending to an utterly perfect day.

They continued to walk in silence, with their hands clasped firmly together as if prepared for a battle meant solely to yank them apart. They walked for what felt like miles to the Central Terminal until they finally reached the very end of Concourse C. Idling outside the window of Gate C 14 was the plane what would fly Alaina back to Alabama, and once again, out of Ethan’s arms and life. Ted was seated comfortably in a padded chair next to the attendant desk. When they approached, Ted stood to greet Alaina with a welcoming smile and a ticket.

“It’s so nice to see you again, Alaina,” Ted said. “I’m so glad you are allowing me to accompany you home. I’m looking forward to getting to visit with Mae.”

Alaina smiled, but it was obvious she was battling something inside. “Thanks, Ted. She’ll be real excited to see you, too.”

Ted, being ever perceptive, knew precisely when to take a hint. He gave a slight nod. “I think I’m going to grab one last cup of coffee before we take off.” He left them alone by the window.

Ethan took a deep breath, not fully believing that this moment had arrived so soon. Wasn’t it only moments ago that Alaina was in his room agreeing to spend the day with him? How could his time with her possibly be over so soon?

She looked up at him and gave a pained smile.

That’s all it took. “Come here, you.” He reached out and pulled her to his chest. He grasped her hair, his lips just above her ear. “I can’t believe you’re leaving already.” She didn’t answer but he felt her head bob in agreement. His face fell to the nape of her neck and rested there with the smell of her shampoo filling his senses. “I’m guessing by your silence that you’ve decided to opt out of the tour idea?”

She pulled her head away slowly and peered up at him with confused eyes. “Ethan, I . . .” But then she fell silent again.

“Can I just ask why?”

She pulled back farther but left her hands clasped in his, holding on to them tightly. It was as though she was struggling with an inward battle, just trying to hang on long enough to make it through. Ethan didn’t understand the problem. Just stay . . . that’s all there was. That was the only option. Just stay with him and be with him and love him. That’s all he wanted.

But it was then that he realized he hadn’t yet considered what she wanted.

“Is it me?” he asked quietly. “Do you not want to be with me?”

Alaina reared her head back and let out a frustrated half laugh half sigh. “Do you really think that’s it?” she said. “You think I don’t want to be with you?”

Ethan shrugged. He didn’t see any other alternative.

Alaina removed her hands from his and put them up to his face, grasping both of his cheeks between her hands so that he was forced to look her square in the eye. And then, she said the words that would eternally turn his world upside down.

“Ethan, I love you.”

Ethan struggled to catch his breath. Three short weeks with Alaina had been all it took for her to steal his heart. Just three short weeks. But when he’d messed things up, he never thought he’d be able to salvage their relationship. He never expected her to forgive him. He’d prayed and prayed until he couldn’t even find the right words to pray anymore, but he never truly expected God to answer that prayer. But there she was, the girl that captivated his very soul, telling him that she loved him.

He reached up, took her hands in his again, and a frustrated sigh escaped. “Ali, you cannot tell me that and then get on that plane.” He paused, trying to get every word to come out perfectly. “You know I love you, too. I mean you must know that, right? I have missed you every second of everyday since that night on the beach. How can you really be leaving?”

Ethan looked around not even sure what he was looking for. He wanted something . . . anything that would change her mind. “Why won’t you go on tour with me? We can be together, Ali. You know what we have. We could be so great together.”

She sighed, obviously trying to fight back tears again. “I know,” she said quietly, “but I just can’t.”

Ethan wasn’t giving up that easily. “Look, Ali, you have done nothing but work your brains off for the past two years playing the adult of your family. You’ve been released from that, now. It’s time for you to live a little.”

“I know.” She sighed again and looked up to meet his eyes. “I know it is . . . and that’s why I can’t go with you, Ethan. If visiting that campus yesterday taught me anything, it’s that I want to go to college.” She elaborated when Ethan eyebrows scrunched with confusion. “I never got to experience my high school days. I missed all of it. And I was good at it. I made good grades. I never got in trouble. Teachers liked me. But I missed almost everything about it. And . . . I want that. I want to go to college and have to work my butt off to make the grades. I want to pull all nighters and stress about project deadlines. I know it sounds crazy when you’re offering me so much by going with you, but the tour is just . . .”

“Not your dream,” Ethan finished for her. “It’s my dream. Not yours.”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

"Flight C 14; it is now time to board! I repeat Flight C 14 to Alabama; it is now time to board the aircraft!"

The flight attendant's voice sounded over the loud speaker above their heads and put a solid end to Ethan and Alaina’s last moments together. Ted returned at that moment, realizing he was barging in on a farewell moment. He smiled at both of them and said, “I’ll see you on the plane, Alaina.”

Alaina turned back around to Ethan and tears welled in her eyes. “I promised myself I wasn’t going to cry this time.” She gave her head a solid shake and pulled herself back together.

“So this is it,” Ethan said. “This is goodbye?”

Alaina shrugged. “Does it really have to be? I mean, I won’t be in school forever. There will be holidays and breaks. And your tour only lasts during the winter, right? Technically, there are possibilities here . . .”

Alaina’s tone had turned lighthearted as she tried with all her might to shed light on the situation, but all Ethan heard was one message that rang loud and clear in her words.

She was not closing her heart off to him.

Just because she wasn’t going with him didn’t mean that she was giving up on the possibility of them being together one day. And if that’s the best Ethan could have from her, then that’s what he would take.

Before she could finish her sentence, the flight attendants voice rang out a last notice to board the plane before it took off. Running out of time, Ethan didn’t let her finish. He pulled her to him once more and gave her a kiss that he was sure she wouldn’t forget anytime soon.

When he finally pulled away, her eyes remained closed as if she was still relishing the feel of his lips on hers. Ethan felt his cheeks tint red with satisfaction.

They had to part now.

The flight attendant was giving them an annoyed look from the terminal door. But they would not part with goodbye, because there was no goodbye in store for them. Just like Ethan had learned when he’d given his life to Christ; the world was open to all sorts of possibilities if he just had enough faith in God to provide him a way. And this was also true of his relationship with Alaina. God had put them together, of that he had no doubt. And with enough faith, He would provide a way for them to find each other again.