Eternal Melody (25 page)

“There are many techniques in swimming, but the basic two are the breaststroke and backstroke. 
Which would you like to learn first?”

“The backstroke.  It sounds pleasant to just
loll
on my back and float away.” Rebecca sighed, genuinely soothed by the water and not feeling fearful as she had expected.  Perhaps it was the tranquility of the swimming pool or the calming effect of Luke’s presence.  Whatever it was, Rebecca decided that she was quite fond of the water.

As though reading her thoughts, Luke smiled and said, “By the time we’re through, you’ll have grown fins and gills!”

He proceeded to demonstrate the backstroke, swimming a few yards while she watched, admiring his powerful but graceful movements. 
After a few repetitions, he swam to her side and guided her onto
her
back
to float on the water.  Supporting the small of her back with one hand, he used the other to gently hold her head above the surface.

“Start to make the movements with your arms, as I did.  Rotate the strokes from each side and see how your arms guide you across the pool.”

Gracefully, Rebecca extended each arm behind her, feeling steady and safe with Luke’s support.  “Your hands are like training wheels on a bicycle.” She laughed breathlessly, surprised by the exertion even this simple stroke required. 
Several minutes later, he removed his hand from her lower back and watched proudly as she sailed across the pool on her own.

“You’re a natural born swimmer!” He called, and she vaguely heard him,
as
she was enraptured gazing up at the
cloud-puffed
heavens, feeling as though she had returned to the womb.

There seemed no more perfect place than th
is cocoon of
clean blue water, gliding
while the sun swirled its cozy rays. 
When she reached the other side of the pool, she knew that she was sev
en feet above the water’s depth
but felt no fear at all.  Eagerly, she turned around and paddled back to Luke so he could show her the breaststroke.

“I love swimming.” She announced, standing upright in the shallow end of the pool.

“And I love watching you swim.” Luke said huskily, wading towards her for a quick, firm kiss.

“Do I taste like chlorine?” She
inquired with a giggle
.

“You taste like paradise.” He corrected, dropping his hands to the curves of her hips, while she wiggled in his arms, impatient to swim again.

“None of that right now, Luke.” She scolded.  “We’re here to swim.”

“Is that why we’re here?  I must have had a momentary lapse of memory.” He said wryly, reluctantly setting her free and beginning his demonstration of the breaststroke.
  To their mutual delight, Rebecca was as quick and adept at learning the breaststroke as she had been
at
the backstroke.  As the afternoon sun intensified, Rebecca was
experimenting with
advanced strokes like the butterfly and even flipping acrobatically on the deep end.

“This is the best class I’ve ever taken!” She gushed, swimming towards the side of the pool.

When she would have gotten out and wrapped herself in the comfort of a dry towel, Luke caught her around the waist and began kissing her neck.  “Not so fast.” He urged.

“Luke, this is a public swimming pool.  What if someone sees us?”

“Then lucky them.” He muttered, as she tried to escape.  Even in the altered gravity of the water, Luke was much stronger than her, and his grip was ironclad.

“Luke,” She persisted to protest, “We have to get dried off and go to work.  Remember that pesky little detail?”

Regaining his composure, he let her climb out of the pool and into her waiting towel.  As she vigorously rubbed her sopping wet body, she said seriously, “I want to repay you for teaching me how to swim.”

Still splashing around in the water, he said, “Well you could jump back in and do just that.  No one would dream of stopping you.”

She rolled her eyes in mock exasperation and rejoined, “I mean it, Luke.  I told you what learning to swim meant to me.  I feel this newly acquired skill has empowered me.  My mother didn’t know how to swim, but now I do.  I don’t feel as vulnerable as before.  And to repay you, I want to give you a private lesson in something.”

Seeing how sincere she was,
Luke resisted the compulsion to make another suggestive remark
and thought in earnest what she could teach him. 
There was one thing…if he dared to attempt it.  “Teach me how to sing.” He said bluntly.  “I may sound like a
foghorn
, but I’ll try it.  I hope your ears aren’t overly sensitive.”

Rebecca looked at him in surprise, unable to believe that this brilliant pianist and violinist did not know how to sing.  From the rich, layered tone of his speaking voice, she highly doubted that he would sound like a
foghorn.

“I will be your private vocal coach.  At your service, Mr. Springwell.”

Inevitably, Luke interpreted Rebecca’s offer as an invitation to finish what he had tried to begin several times in the swimming pool.  Before she could reach for her dress, he jumped out of the pool with such force that the water smacked her body, drenching the towel.

“Luke!” She accused, “Look what you have done!”

Belligerently, he snatched the wet towel as it made a whipping noise in the breeze.  With utter carelessness, he tossed the towel to the edge of the pool, but it missed its ta
rget and tumbled into the water.

“You’re too strong for your own good.” Rebecca murmured,
having abandoned all notions of trying to resist Luke.  She did not want some
slimy
voyeur to fetch a pair of binoculars and watch them make love, but there really did not seem to be anyone around for miles.  As Luke pulled her into a dizzying kiss, she wondered how
the man could
beckon
her into a dream state where she was numb with pleasure.

When she finally resurfaced from their lovemaking, she felt as though she had
dove
inside a bottomless abyss and fluttered like a mermaid to the top, where the
sun scorching her flesh
transported her back to reality.

Marginally aware of her surroundings, Rebecca whispered sleepily, “We really do have to be on our way now,
Luke.  It would be a shame for one joy to sabotage another.”

Luke’s passions had been thoroughly abated, and he now shared her urgency to leave their poolside rendezvous and forge ahead to
the
concert.  For the first time that day, Luke thought about
the despicable scene
that had transpired last night. 
Reminders
of the damage were still visible on Rebecca’s tender skin, angering Luke and making him ponder Greta’s fate. 
With an inward sneer, he hoped that she would be deported from Austria-Hungary, though he deemed that an unlikely scenario since there had been no theft or murder involved.
If Greta were just jailed for a nominal time, then she might wreak even more severe havoc upon release, Luke thought disgustedly.
Why couldn’t she just disappear from their lives
?

Perceiving
a shift in Luke’s mood, Rebecca put a hand on his shoulder
and asked, “Is something the matter?  You seem upset all of a sudden.”

Unwilling to shatter their blissful
day
with the sludge of Greta’s attack, Luke coughed and said, “No, nothing is wrong.  I was just thinking that we really must be going.”

They smiled at each other
and proceeded to dress
, but not before Luke grabbed Rebecca one more time to deposit a compelling kiss on her lips
. 
As they
walk
ed away from the swimming pool, Rebecca
decided to give Luke his first vocal lesson.

“Let us begin with you singing the scales…
do re mi
!” She started for him, seeing the awkward, self-conscious expression he wore.  “Go ahead.  Singing is one of
the most liberating activities
…other than swimming and making love that is.” She favored him with an encouraging smile as he acquiesced and repeated the scales in a voice that instantly struck Rebecca with its inherent beauty.

Luke’s voice, while clearly untrained, had a wonderfully rich and deep quality to it.

“Your voice is remarkable.” She marveled.

“Remarkably bad?” He asked dryly.

“No!  Why would you say that?  If you ever tire of playing the violin or piano, I daresay you could line up another career as a singer.”

“Don’t be absurd, Rebecca.  This sidewalk singing lesson is the first real exposure I’ve had to singing in my life.  It takes years of serious training to call oneself a vocalist.”

“Perhaps, but you have a natural talent, truly.  I would not say that if it weren’t true.”

As they walked to their apartment building, they sang in glorious harmony, ignoring the curious stares and giggles of onlookers.  It amazed Rebecca that their voices seemed to join together as naturally as their bodies did
, as though they existed within a single, inseparable entity
.

*****

Once they arrived at the
apartment building,
humming more of their favorite tunes,
Luke and Rebecca parted ways
with air-blown kisses and went
to their respective chambers.
At the top of the staircase stood Gloria
, holding Annabelle in her arms and looking frazzled.

“Grandmother, what are you doing here?” Rebecca asked, suddenly queasy with worry.  The sensation was similar to what she had felt right before Greta attacked her on stage, and it terrified her.  As the old woman remained mute, clutching the docile baby to her bosom, Rebecca demanded again, “What are you doing here?  Please, tell me what is wrong!”

In a trembling voice, Gloria squeaked, “Gregory and Ethel are gone.”

“What do you mean they’re gone?”

“They
have absconded and left the baby with me!”
She raved.

“I don’t understand, Grandmother.  Please try to calm down and explain it to me.” Rebecca coaxed, gently lifting the baby out of Gloria’s shaking arms.

“Rebecca, my dear, they have abandoned their only child, and I shudder to tell you why.  It is a humiliation to our entire family.”

Gloria hung her head in shame, as Rebecca’s mind raced wildly, utterly clueless as to what secret her grandmother was about to reveal.

Chapter
Seventeen

“Grandmother, please.  I cannot bear this suspense.  Not after all that I’ve endured lately.  Please.” Rebecca prodded desperately, as Gloria’s normally rosy complexion turned ashen.

“At least let us go inside your chamber, Rebecca.  I don’t want the entire hallway to be privy to our scandal.” Gloria shuddered.

“Scandal?” Rebecca echoed, shifting the baby to her left side while she opened the door with her right hand.

“Yes,” Gloria whispered glumly.  Once they were safely inside, Gloria resumed a regular decibel and admitted, “I should have told you about this much sooner, but Gregory promised me that he would make sure everything was taken care of.  You know how manipulative and domineering he can be.  I had little choice but to listen to the brute.”

Rebecca nodded in concurrence, though she was startled to hear her grandmother speak so unfavorably about Gregory.

Gloria paced the minuscule room, looking towards the window as if to seek strength.  Finally, she confessed, “
Gregory and Ethel had gambling debts back in Michigan.  That’s the real reason we came here, not because Gregory was fired.  You know how many nights those two spent away from the house.  I knew that Gregory was playing all sorts of high stakes card games, but I had to turn the other cheek because he would never listen to me.”

The queasiness Rebecca had felt upon seeing her grandmother now increased, and she sat on the bed when she knew her legs would no longer support her.  “Go on.” She whispered.

“
When Gregory came here, I thought it would mean a clean slate for his gambling addiction, but things only became worse in the city. 
With no occupation to keep him out of trouble, Gregory gambled away every dollar he could get his greedy hands on and…”

“And you permitted it!” Rebecca burst out.  “You even convinced me that I should share my earning
s
with him!  Grandmother, how could you?”

The old woman’s features told the story of a woman
distraught and wracked with self-contempt.  It was not in
Gloria’s
nature to be dishonest; s
he had merely wanted to keep the peace, even if it was an illusion.

“Forgive me, Rebecca.  I know I was wrong not to tell you and Ryan.
But Gregory put me in such a terrible position!  He is my first born grandson, after all.  And I kept hoping he would change.
”