“Well, I just assumed—”
“Assumptions will lead you to the ditch of delusions, ma’am,” he said.
“Oh, my heavens, I never want to go there.” A smile broke across her face.
“Wise choice. See those rocks? I think that’s where you wanted to go this morning. That’s the fishing stream, but we’re taking the path over there and heading south just a bit. I want to show you something else.”
Roderick surprised himself. What is it about this woman? Her soul runs deep like her beauty. I’ve never brought another woman to Beckoning Rock, and yet I truly want her to see and know this place. I want to take her hand and lead her there.
Slow down. Caroline’s not a deal to be made.
They walked on talking, mostly Caroline commenting on the undisturbed beauty of this place. And him just listening and thinking about this woman whose hand he wanted to take in his.
“See the big boulder over there? That’s Beckoning Rock and where my father taught me to swim. This was our swimming pool. Mother wouldn’t hear of putting in a pool at the house. ‘It’s just so unnatural,’ she’d say. She didn’t like chemicals and the noise of pumps running. So we’d come here for picnics and to swim.” He climbed up a bed of large rocks to get to the top. “Here, take my hand.”
Caroline accepted his help. “I’m hoping this will be worth the climb.”
Roderick led her carefully to the top, unwilling to let go of her fingers.
“Oh, it’s worth it. It’s so clear and pristine. I can see all the way to the bottom. How deep is it?”
“I think maybe fifteen feet or more. It’s safe to dive from here.”
Caroline picked up a small stone and tossed it into the water and began softly singing:
“Toss a pebble in the pool, and what happens then?
Ripples start to flow again and again.
You can’t stop the ripples—that’s the ripple rule.
So be careful of the pebbles you toss in the pool.”
“Do you know a song about everything?”
“Just about . . . and if I don’t, I just make one up.”
“Did you make that one up too?”
“Sure did.” Caroline looked again at the water. “My dad taught me the Ripple Rule while we were fishing one day.”
“Ripple rule?” I’m feeling like that pool, rippling from the effects of this woman. She’s right. I can’t stop the ripples.
“Yes, I’m sure you have one. You just call it something else. But Daddy taught me that all my actions have a ripple effect. It’s a good rule, but I think it’s why I have so much trouble making decisions. I can’t predict or control the ripples.”
Caroline plopped down on the rock with her legs dangling a few feet above the water. Roderick joined her, his arm gently brushing hers.
Caroline surprised him by taking his hand. She closed her eyes, inhaling deeply, and then opened her eyes, turning her head toward blue sky. “Good morning, Father. How kind of You to provide such a morning, and I’m enjoying it so. The rocks remind me of Your strength, the water reminds me of Your constant foreverness, the walk reminded me that I’m healthy, and my new friend here reminds me that You provide company for the journey. Thank you, Father.” There was no “Amen.”
As she prayed, Roderick studied her fingers draped across his own long, slender tan ones, wondering how these soft, diminutive, but well-formed hands could master a piano. It was only when he sensed Caroline removing her fingers that he realized her prayer was over. “That was a prayer?”
She paused and looked at him. “Yes, it was. Sounds like it surprised you. And honestly this spontaneity surprised me too. Don’t think I’ve prayed so naturally in a while. But how could I sit here looking at all this and not thank the One who made it?”
“I’ve just never heard anyone pray here, and I haven’t heard anyone pray like you pray before either.”
“Sorry. I don’t speak King James English. I don’t know any other way to talk to God.” They both laughed.
She was full of surprises, unlike the women he knew—predictable women all cut from the same mold, arrogantly rich, beautifully wrapped, and tied with silk bows of pretentiousness, with so little inside the wrappings. No woman he knew would have risen early, without makeup, dressed in sweats, and asked to walk with him. Caroline was different. She was real. No pretense, no games, and he guessed there was a real treasure underneath this packaging.
“Okay, Mr. Adair, it’s my time to ask the questions. Tell me about your growing-up years.”
Roderick described his childhood as a happy one, growing up with obvious advantages. He mentioned his family’s wealth with sensitivity and discretion. He’d graduated from a boarding school in Virginia and then gone on to Vanderbilt, where he had done his undergraduate studies in business. His parents wanted him to continue his education, but he had no interest in further schooling. He was ready to leave the classroom for the business world. It had always been quietly assumed he would take over the family’s businesses. Fortunately for him, it was something he really wanted to do.
“You like your work, don’t you?” Caroline asked.
“I do. Oh, there are days I’d rather be trout fishing. But I like the challenges. I like to think that what I do makes a difference in a few lives anyway.”
She picked up a pebble from between the boulders, tossed it into the water, and watched its ripples. “What is it that you like the most?”
“The sense of successful accomplishment—when the deal is done and when it worked just as I had planned.”
“And what happens when the deal goes bad and didn’t work according to your plans?”
He was impressed with her questions. “I just come home to Rockwater, sulk at least thirty minutes, and then turn my attention to something else.”
“Sounds honest and healthy.”
“So now you’re Dr. Carlyle? And by the way, Dr. Carlyle, we need to head back.”
Roderick picked up a small pebble from the boulder’s crevice and stood up. He extended his hand to Caroline and pulled her to her feet. When they were both standing, he opened his palm and offered her the pebble, nodding in the direction of the water.
With both hands, she took Roderick’s hand and coerced his long fingers back around the stone. “It’s your turn. I’ve tossed my pebble into the pool.”
Roderick didn’t hesitate. “Let’s see what kind of ripples I can create.”
Caroline smiled.
Roderick had grown fond of the dimple in her left cheek when her face was happy. He liked thinking he had put it there.
They climbed down and started the walk back on a different path.
“Are we headed in the right direction?”
“Sure we are. Can’t take the same path home. This way, you’ll have something else to pray about when we get there.”
When they had set their pace, Caroline surprised him. “Surely there must be a woman in your life?”
He paused. “Well, you were candid in answering my question, so I’ll be candid in answering yours. There was.”
“Past tense too?”
“Past tense. She didn’t die, but still painful. I dated through high school and college, but nothing serious until my senior year. Her name was Julia Crownover. She was a smart and ambitious young woman, but I found out later her driving ambition was to marry well.”
“Does it come with being named Julia? My sister-in-law’s name is Julia. She certainly didn’t marry James because he was from a wealthy family, but he was an attorney. To her that meant financial security and some degree of social standing in a small town. But James loves her, so our family has accepted her.”
“My family accepted this Julia, too, but not without suspicion. I didn’t listen and had to find out for myself that she was more interested in what I could provide than in sharing our lives.”
“How long did it take you to find out?”
“Long enough. It was a quick summer romance that
led to our engagement. She spent our senior year at Vanderbilt and most of my allowance on wedding plans. Remember assumptions and the ditch of delusion? I wound up there, and trust me: I didn’t like it.”
Caroline gave him a thoughtful look.
“About three months before the wedding, I crawled out of that ditch and called off the wedding. She quickly turned to one of my fraternity brothers, proclaiming she had loved him all along. They were married six months later and divorced two years after that. But they had a child, and Julia and that child are set for life now.” Roderick kicked a small limb out of Caroline’s path.
“I’m sorry. Seems we’ve both experienced pain—for different reasons, but pain is pain.”
“But you seem to have made for yourself a life in Moss Point, and you seem to be content.”
“I guess so. No, that sounds ungrateful, and I’m not ungrateful for the life I have.”
“So then we’ve established it: no significant man in your life.”
“Oh, but there is. I have my father, my brothers, my nephew, and Sam. And you—what about you? Anyone since college?”
“I have a privileged life, and I’m grateful. The Julia jaunt made me gun-shy and a bit wary of female motives, though.”
“That’s understandable.”
“Sarah’s still trying to fix me up with women she knows. She’s a psychologist, remember, and she has better discernment than I do. Put me in a boardroom, and I can’t be fooled. But otherwise I count on Sarah.”
“I can’t wait to meet her.”
“She’ll like you, Caroline.” These words slipped out of his mouth before he could stop them.
“I hope so. I’m bothered when people don’t like me,” she said with a grin.
“You commented yesterday that you have three goals for yourself, but you mentioned only your teaching.”
“I must have gotten sidetracked. I do that sometimes. Just take an illegal left turn in the middle of the conversation.”
He was convinced if she took a left turn it was because she wanted to, not because she was distracted.
“You’re right. One goal was to finish a musical piece I started six years ago.”
“Must be a tremendous work”
“Actually, it’s not. It’s only one song. Do you remember when I was telling you about Bella? I mentioned it then—the song she was playing. It . . . My surprise wedding gift to David was to be a song. I was in the process of writing it when he was killed. There’s nothing so remarkable about the song. It’s just that I need to finish it—for myself, I need to finish it.”
“Is this the unfamiliar melody I heard you playing last night?” He thought he understood her need to finish the piece and bring closure to this part of her life.
“Yes, but I get to this one part, and the music stops. I’ve played and written down so many options, but none are right. I still get to the same place, that groove again, and the music stops. I can’t tell you what snapped inside me when I was walking to my studio and heard that song being played on my piano a few weeks ago.”
“I can only imagine.”
“Now I know that it was Bella, but then I had no idea—only confusion. I even wondered if I was losing my mind. Well, finishing the song was my second goal. Not there yet.” She shook her head in dismay.
The smell of bacon and coffee greeted them as they approached the door to the kitchen. Roderick stopped on the steps. “Do you want to eat or shower first?”
“Since I’m the tour director, I’d like to eat first. We shouldn’t keep Lilah waiting. We’re probably late, and I don’t like being late.”
He looked at his watch. “No, we’re right on time.”
“Do you mean it took only forty-five minutes to tell our life stories?” Her dimple appeared again.
“Hey, those were the condensed versions. What can I say? But wait. The third goal—you didn’t tell me that.” He stood on the bottom step looking up at Caroline
“The third goal was to find my piano and play it again. That one, sir, I can check off. So I have taken it upon myself to set a fourth one—that is if your offer still stands to locate some waders that won’t drown me in the trout stream this afternoon.”
Roderick laughed and followed her inside where Lilah had their breakfasts waiting. “So I take it you’ve set trout fishing in Kentucky as number four.”
“Yep. What do you say about four o’clock we head for the stream, do a little fishing, and have a picnic?”
Lilah heard this conversation and popped into the morning room as Roderick and Caroline sat down to the table to eat. “I’ll have the picnic basket ready at four, and then I’m taking off the rest of the afternoon and evening if that’s okay with you, Roderick?”
“How could I say no to either of you?”
They talked through breakfast and then finalized their plans.
“Till four o’clock. I’ll practice and do a little reading,” Caroline said. “I might even mosey through the gardens.”
“And I’ll be going into town to find some waders that won’t sink our novice little fisherman and wash her downstream.” He looked at Caroline and noticed her raised right eyebrow again. “Lilah,” he called through the kitchen door. “I’ll check with you before I leave. And Caroline, if you need anything, Lilah’s here, and Liz’s office is through those doors right over there.”
Caroline showered, dressed for the day, and found herself at the piano in short order. Feeling the ivory keys underneath her fingers was like settling in after a long journey. No instrument had ever compared to the way this one sounded or responded. The warm, rich bass and brilliant treble resonated throughout this large space and bounced off all the hard, reflective angles and surfaces of the loggia. This was the perfect spot for this magnificent piano.
She played for quite a while, unaware of time. When she stopped, she saw Lilah sitting in a chair in the hallway off the kitchen. “Hi, Lilah. Have I been playing too long?”
“Oh, Miss Carlyle, you could never play long enough. Why, you’ve brought music, real music, back into this house. Thank you.”
“You’re so kind.” Caroline acted on a hunch. “Hey, do you sing?”
“Nothin’ much I like better than singin’, Miss Carlyle.”
“Well, there’s not much I like better than playing. So if you’ll call me Caroline, I’ll play and you can sing.”
“Oh, Lord, Miss Caroline, I’ve never sung while someone like you played.”
Acting on another hunch, Caroline said, “I’ve been the church pianist since I was fourteen, and I know all the hymns. Do you know a few?”
“Ohhhh, that’s all I know. How ’bout ‘Peace in the Valley’?”
“Goes like this?” Caroline started to play in a southern gospel style, catching Lilah off guard, from the look on her face, but bringing a broad smile as Lilah closed her eyes and sang and swayed. Her full voice filled the cavernous room with rich tones, and the freedom in her singing liberated Caroline as she accompanied her, adding her own vocal harmonies.
They were having a grand old time with one hymn leading to the next until Liz entered. She stepped up to the piano. “Excuse me, Lilah. Roderick is on the phone and would like to know if there’s anything else you need from town. And by the way, aren’t you supposed to be working?”
“You tell Roderick I don’t need a thing, Miss Hampton.”
Caroline chimed in, “And please tell Roderick that Lilah is doing a superb job of entertaining his houseguest.” She winked at Lilah. “I think I need a break.”
They both watched Liz’s pencil skirt slither out of the room in a huff.
“You just make yourself at home ’cause your music and your smile are making this house a home again.”
Caroline gave Lilah a hug and walked away. She selected a book from the library, picked up her journal, and headed out the front door to choose a garden bench. The pathway wound through each level of the terraced garden, where garden stakes identified prizewinning dayl
ilies and roses named for horticulturalists and queens. She found a shady spot next to the stream at the bottom of the hill.
She read for a while before thunder in the distance alerted her to the approaching thundershower. Picking up her books, she headed back to the house, wondering if the afternoon storm would put a halt to their fishing and picnic. She needn’t have worried. After a restful nap in her room while the rain fell, she rose to see steam rising off the bluegrass as the midafternoon sun shone. There would be fishing and a picnic after all.
Lilah had prepared the picnic, and Roderick had the fishing gear loaded in his vehicle. Caroline bounded down the steps in her jeans, a T-shirt, and her ponytail bouncing through the hole in the back of her university ball cap.
Lilah handed her a bottle of water and told her Roderick was outside ready to go.
“Do I need anything else?”
“Don’t think so. Roderick has taken care of absolutely everything.”
Caroline left through the kitchen door, but not before she heard Lilah say, “Liz, I’m done with my work for the day. Roderick is taking Caroline fishing and out for a sunset picnic. I know they’ll be having such a good time that they won’t be back till after dark. Please leave some lights on when you leave.”
She guessed that Lilah had liked making that announcement more than she should.
Three hours and a picnic later, however, she knew Lilah had been right: she had enjoyed her afternoon more than anything she had enjoyed in a very long time. Now Caroline stood on the balcony speculating if the tiny flickers of light in the distance were stars or fireflies showing off. The night sky was wonderfully clear, and the distance from city lights painted the sky even darker. She felt relaxed and alive and realized how much she’d needed to get away from her routine and from Moss Point.
The long morning walk and the sharing of their stories, playing the piano, standing hip deep in a trout stream to catch more fish than Roderick, sitting on the big boulder to open a bottle of wine and have a picnic, all the talk about everything and nothing—it had truly been a good day. Her fears of being uncomfortable with Roderick had dissipated like the afternoon rain.
Return of the Song Page 31