Eternal Melody (29 page)

“Rebecca, are you angry with me?”

Sarcastically, she replied, “Why
in the world
would I be angry at you?”

“There’s no need for that tone, Rebecca.”

“I shall adopt whatever tone I please, Luke!  Forgive me for being cross that you left me wasting away on my sick bed this morning!  All because of a bouquet of flowers from a stranger!”
An imploring wail from the baby quickly snuffed out what had promised to be an impassioned rant, and Rebecca fell silent.  “Now you have upset the baby.” She accused.

At her ironic comment, Luke exploded into mocking laughter, thundering between guffaws, “I made her cry?!  Rebecca, you are a gem, my love.”

Peering at him through veiled eyes, Rebecca tended to the baby, grabbing
the
milk bottle and offering it to Annabelle, who drank for a moment then pushed
it
away.  Misunderstood, the baby wailed even more loudly,
scrunching her hands into little fists and flailing around in Rebecca’s arms.

“What does this child want?” Rebecca wondered aloud.  Then, remembering the soothing rocking motion that she had stopped when Luke barged in, she cooed, “Oh, I think I know what baby wants.”

Luke observed Rebecca swaying back and forth with the now subdued child nestled in her arms. 
Rebecca was such a versatile woman, excelling as opera singer, maternal figure, even student swimmer, he marveled. 
For a fleeting moment, he imagined that she was holding their own baby, and that this bedroom was not in a hotel but in their countryside house. 
As quickly as the vision appeared in his mind, it faded away, leaving Luke with the same fears that
had plagued him
before.

“Rocking chairs always console babies.” Rebecca explained.

“Then Annabelle would love a transatlantic boat ride.” Luke quipped, earning a brief smile from Rebecca.

“
Yes, I doubt she would
suffer
seasickness as I did
. 
Would you like to hold her?” Rebecca asked, already positioning the baby for a transfer of arms.

Luke looked nervous for a moment, but then, perceiving the baby’s docile state and Rebecca’s trust in him, accepted the tender bundle.  Cradling the baby against his hard-muscled chest, he felt her squirm a little, no doubt adjusting to the sharp change from Rebecca’s softness. 
To his surprise, the baby relaxed against him, letting out a fragile sounding sigh and allowing him to walk with her around the room.

“I’ve never held a baby before.” He admitted,
trying to imitate the rocking motions that Rebecca had used to calm little Annabelle.

“Well you’re doing wonderfully.  It looks like this is something you don’t need to be taught.”
She graced him with a smile.

Looking down at the baby girl, Luke’s mind wandered again to the scattered flowers and the mysterious man from whom they originated.

In a faraway voice
laced with unhidden contempt
, he
muttered, “I suppose you are on the hunt for a father for this precious babe.”

Mystified, Rebecca asked blankly, “What?”

“Ryan told me how you will be expected to adopt Annabelle at some point in the future.  If you are to officially become her mother, then you shall need a husband.”

If Ryan had been present, Rebecca would have tackled
him to the ground.  How dare he convey something so intimate to Luke?

“
M
y brother had no right to discuss
tha
t
with you.  Please don’t feel that I am trying to corner you into marriage and premature fatherhood. 
In fact, you are the one who sought me out in this hotel room, knowing that I was caring for the baby.”

Luke listened objectively, forced to acknowledge that she was right.  How could he tell her that
nothing in the world would please him more than being her husband, even if it did mean raising another couple’s child? 
It would be selfish to give her false hope, but it would be cowardly to run out again with no explanation.  Battling with his conflicting
concerns
, Luke
chose to be honest, even if it meant wounding his pride.

“Rebecca, don’t blame Ryan for confiding in me.  Your brother is a comrade whom I like and respect. 
I
came
here knowing that the baby would be under your tutelage, and I’m glad I did.  Interacting with you in Annabelle’s presence simply reaffirms
the reality that you need to find a suitable, and financially solvent,
father
for her.  Unfortunately, I am not that man.”

Rebecca regarded him contemptuously, disappointed by his apparent willingness to walk out of her life because of his own projection that she needed a wealthy spouse.  
She imagined that Luke
deemed
himself noble for stepping aside and allowing her
freedom to locate such a partner.  But he was forgetting several pertinent details: she was no longer a virgin, Annabelle’s adoption would be tarnished with the sca
ndal of her parasitic relatives and, most importantly,
she was in love.  Though she had not dared to speak the words to Luke, she knew beyond reason that she loved him. 
Her heart pleaded with her to shower him with the sentiments, but her head would not listen.  He had disappointed her, trying to push her aside as though they had shared a stolen kiss rather than an entire summer
of bonding
.

Making her way over to him with long strides, she held out her arms for him to hand over Annabelle. 
Wordlessly, he complied and gently placed the sw
eet, dimpled baby in her arms.

Placing the baby down on the bed for what Rebecca hoped would be the beginning of a long nap, she said icily, “You have made yourself abundantly clear and are free to go, Mr. Springwell.”

In
wardly
, the frost in her
demeanor
morphed into kindling, and if he were to touch her now,
all her concealed passion was likely to catch ablaze
. 
He walked slowly to the door and lingered there, feeling her eyes penetrate his back,
compelling
him to
reach for
her as though he were hypnotized. 
Spinning around and locking eyes, he ran shamelessly to her, forcefully pressing her against him and drawing her into a desperate, melting kiss. 
Willing him to stay, she returned his passion with more vigor than she had ever known herself to possess, rubbing her lips against his until her mouth felt raw and abused.

On the bed, Annabelle stirred, erupting into a fit of tears, apparently not ready to go to sleep.  Resentfully, Rebecca pulled away from Luke’s scalding embrace
and turned reluctantly towards the bed.  Mastering himself with difficulty and then reverting to his previous feigned indifference, Luke walked to the door and opened it decisively this time.

As he walked out, Rebecca called after him, “I don’t need a wealthy man, Luke!”  When she knew he was out of earshot, she
added in a shaky whisper
, “I need
you
.”

*****

Frustrated, Luke walked out into the obsidian night, the obscurity of the sky brushed with a sliver of moonlight. 
Shivering without a jacket
, Luke felt sorely tempted to return to the tavern where he had dined that afternoon and order up a calming nightcap, but he resisted, roaming the streets aimlessly. 
When he passed his apartment building, he merely sneered and crossed to the other side of the street,
determined to stay as far away as possible from that bittersweet place
and all the memories it housed.

Like a drifter, Luke forged farther and farther away from his sentimentally charged dwelling, not caring if he walked until dawn. 
The more his familiar surroundings faded in the distance, the more Luke regretted his hasty actions.  That last kiss had communicated unequivocally how passionate and sincere Rebecca’s feelings were for him, and her desperate assertion as he was leaving that she did not need a rich man made him feel like a prideful moron.  Perhaps he did fixate too much on money, and she could be perfectly happy with him, as modest as their lifestyle might be.

In those brief moments at the hotel, he had felt that the three of them could truly form a family.  Why had he run out on her again?  In retrospect it seemed dangerously rash
, perhaps killing her feelings for him
. 
Turning around and walking resolutely towards the apartment building, he vowed to atone for his error the very next time he laid eyes on the beautiful Rebecca Meadow.

Chapter Twenty

For the next several days, Rebecca avoided her apartment building completely.  She passed all of her time with Gloria and Annabelle at the hotel, recuperating from the most turbulent week she had ever endured. 
Ryan dropped by on just one occasion,
and Rebecca scolded
him for interfering in her affairs.

As Wednesday and the second week of performances crept closer, Rebecca became agitated and eager to take the stage again. 
While she was genuinely happy for Gloria, whose dinner with
Christopher Graysen had sprouted
three more shared meals in as many days, it was
difficult
to hear her constantly rhapsodize about her burgeoning feelings.  Exultantly, Gloria told her granddaughter how Mr. Graysen made her feel like a school girl, like a maiden, and like a lady all at the same time.  Their courtship was devoid of the complications that plagued Rebecca and Luke.  The older folks were already established in life and did not have to worry about providing for offspring.  Listening to her grandmother
recount every cherished moment spent with the conductor
, Rebecca wished that she and Luke could enjoy the same simplicity.

When it was finally time to leave for her matinee performance
on Wednesday
, Rebecca breathed a sigh of unconcealed relief, avid to break loose of the hotel room and her caretaking responsibilities of Annabelle, who was teething and becoming increasingly whiny. 
She did not care that she would have to perform not only in the afternoon, but also give an encore show in the evening.  She would welcome that kind of exhaustion after the sleepless nights listening to Annabelle shriek.

In the auditorium, the orchestra members were seated in rows, apparently awaiting a speech from Mr. Graysen, who stood at a lectern in the center, holding his baton and looking like a wizard with a magic wand. 
Rebecca selected a seat up front, smiling as Mr. Graysen nodded in her direction.  Luke was seated one row back, and though Rebecca could feel his eyes glued to her, she made no effort to turn around and greet him.
Setting down his conducting stick on the lectern and clearing his throat importantly, Mr. Graysen began his announcements.

“Welcome back, my friends.  I trust that you have had a restful three days of leisure. 
Today, we return to work
,
and I am pleased to share some wonderful news with you.  After the outstanding review that we received on our opening night, the music community in Vienna has been buzzing ceaselessly.”

Rebecca smiled in satisfaction, mollified that Greta’s beastly scene on the second night had not destroyed the ensemble’s credibility.

Mr. Graysen continued, wearing an expression of thinly veiled excitement.  “It is my honor to announce that we have been asked to perform abroad.”  Immediately, the
players began to gasp and whisper, now clinging to the conductor’s every word.  “At the close of our run of
The Magic Flute
in October, we will be packing our bags and leaving for Venice!”

Italy!  Rebecca had to sit on her trembling hands to keep herself from clapping loudly and disrupting the room.  But she needn’t have worried about making noise, as the entire room resounded with joyful hollers and
thunderous
applause.

Raising his voice to speak over the commotion, Mr. Graysen said, “I know we originally set our goal as London, but I don’t think any of us will be turning our noses up at Venice, will we?” He chuckled, watching the ecstatic reactions of his orchestra.

“As for housing, we have the opportunity to lodge in a
spacious
villa by the Grand Canal.  This is optional, of course, as you may choose to reside wherever you wish.  But if you would like to rent space inside the villa, you are most welcome and will find the fee affordable since the place has the capacity to house
more than
two dozen people.”

Without a second thought, Rebecca decided that she would rent a room
for herself
within the villa and
another for Gloria and Annabelle
.
Gratefully, Rebecca envisaged herself in Italy, safe from the clutches of Greta and a perturbing secret admirer.  Maybe the romantic Italian city would even inspire Luke to
recognize his feelings as love and unite with her. 
Heading backstage to
apply the finishing touches to her makeup
, Rebecca hummed a jubilant tune.