“Thank you, Thomas. Glad no one tried to enter the store while the robber was here. The front door was locked at the time, but I’m not sure what he would’ve done.”
“Yes. We have to be grateful for that. I’ll lock the front door again now, put the ‘Out to Lunch’ sign in the window, then we can go across the street for something to eat,” Thomas said.
“Now that you mention it, I am hungry.” I grinned at Thomas, realizing how lucky I’d been once again.
“When we get back, I’ll need to get the security system going again, then I’ll go tune Mrs. Goetz’s piano. Never did make it to her house this morning. First I forgot one of the instruments I needed, then returned to the sound of a robber’s voice trying to force you to open the safe, which changed my plans in a hurry.”
“I still can’t believe you came back when you did. It was nothing short of a miracle,” I replied. “Let me call Mrs. Goetz’s house to let them know you’ll be coming right after lunch. That an emergency came up this morning.”
“Good idea. I’ll wait for you out back.”
~ ~ ~
When Thomas returned from tuning Mrs. Goetz’s piano later in the afternoon, he asked if I could help him bring in an old antique piano stool that Mrs. Goetz’s daughter had given him. “I hope Daniel, Bob, Carl, and I will be able to haul the antique piano that goes with this stool out of Mrs. Goetz’s house and into the store. It’s huge, Anna Louise.”
Thomas wasn’t kidding when he said the piano stool from Mrs. Goetz’s house was heavy. Thomas dragged it toward the back of the SUV, then put the unloading ramp in place before we each took an end, making our way down to the street below. Thomas was all bent over while I hung on for dear life. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” I said, trying to catch my breath.
“This is the only one I’ve ever seen like it,” Thomas replied. “I have no idea how old this stool is, but if it’s an antique, it’s at least a hundred years old.”
Thomas had propped the back door open, so we kept going until we had the stool inside the store. “Let’s set the stool in a corner of the showroom for now,” Thomas said. “Maybe you can clear out a space for the old, upright piano while we’re gone. Mrs. Goetz has wanted me to take the big, old thing off her hands for years, but I just never got around to it. Her daughter greeted me today. Mrs. Goetz died not long ago and willed her antique piano to me.”
“Mrs. Goetz. Now I remember taking that call from her daughter.”
“Yes. Mrs. Goetz has an elegant grand piano in her ballroom, which her daughter wants to keep in the house. That’s the specially designed piano I tuned this afternoon.”
“Mrs. Goetz’s house sounds like one of those grand, old New York houses once filled with music and laughter. Parties for the rich and connected.”
“Indeed it was, Anna Louise. Pop and I were often called to Mrs. Goetz’s residence to tune whatever piano or pianos she currently had. She bought a number of pianos from Pop after he opened the Emporium.”
With his usual flair, Daniel banged through the back door to see what was happening at the Emporium.
“Hey, Daniel, glad to see you. I’ve got quite a job for you, Bob, and Carl tomorrow morning. I’ll be going along, too. I don’t know if you ever met Mrs. Goetz, but she died and gifted me with her old, antique piano, which probably weighs a ton. That’s the stool right over there.”
“Sounds like fun,” Daniel said, rolling his eyes. “Yikes, that stool is huge.”
“I’ll go call Bob and Carl to let them know they’ll be needed tomorrow morning,” I said, smiling over at Daniel.
Back in his office, with Daniel towering over him, Thomas showed his son the directions they would be taking to Mrs. Goetz’s house in the morning. “Glance around the house while we’re there. You’ll probably never see anything like it again,” Thomas commented.
“Do you think I’d be allowed to take pictures on my phone while we’re there? I’d like to show them to Mr. Benson at the college. Maybe they could be used to build staging for one of our plays.”
“Oh. I don’t know, Daniel. You’d have to ask Mrs. Goetz’s daughter to see if she would allow you to take pictures.”
“I’ll ask her when we get there, then. It’ll probably take us all morning to get the piano loaded and back here to the Emporium.”
“Anna Louise will clear out a spot in the showroom for the piano while we make the trip,” Thomas replied. “Once we return with the piano and actually have it inside, I’m going to see if I can find out the value of it online. Maybe I can sell it sometime in the future.”
“Maybe you could put my brothers, sister, and Savannah through college with the money,” Daniel said, laughing. “I’ll take pictures for sure once we have it back here in the showroom.”
“Good idea. Thanks, Daniel.”
That evening, as Mara and I sat eating ham and turkey sandwiches on fresh-baked bread with lettuce and tomato from the deli down the street, I finally told her about the attempted robbery that morning at the Emporium. She said Daniel had sent her this convoluted text about a robbery at the store. She didn’t believe it. But, once I told her the whole story, she knew Daniel hadn’t been kidding. “Weren’t you scared, Anna Louise?”
“I was, but after the drug dealer and the bombings, I just went with my gut until Thomas came in when he did. His timing had to be sent from above.”
“Will you be okay while Daniel and I are gone?”
“Yes. Don’t worry, I’ll be careful.”
~ ~ ~
The next morning it was Bob and Carl who came banging in through the back door. “Good morning, I called out as they entered the store. Daniel had come in early with his dad. Thomas then told them what the job for the morning would be. More eye rolling followed Thomas and Daniel out to the truck. Thomas and Daniel hopped in front while Bob and Carl held on in the back of the truck. Three fit nicely up front, but not four. I watched as they drove out of sight.
On the way to Mrs. Goetz’s house, Thomas reiterated to Daniel how everything had unfolded the morning before at the store. “Anna Louise sure kept a cool head through all of it. I’m just glad things went down the way they did. It was scary, though.”
“Has the store ever been robbed before?” Daniel asked with a serious look on his face.
“Not since Pop bought the Emporium, but Anna Louise said the robber knew right where the safe was, so I’d say yes the store has been robbed in the past.”
The bombings that took the life of his grandfather and now the robbery of the Emporium had Daniel concerned for his family. “Things sure have changed in the city, haven’t they, Dad?”
“They sure have son, but we can’t live in fear. I like the happy-go-lucky person you’ve become, so keep on striving for your goal of becoming a Broadway actor one day.”
“Thanks, Dad. I will”
As Thomas pulled into Mrs. Goetz’s driveway, Daniel went, “Whoa! That’s some kind of house. I can hardly wait to see inside.”
Bob and Carl met Thomas and Daniel on the steps leading to the front door. Thomas rang the doorbell. Mrs. Goetz’s daughter opened the door. “Good morning, gentlemen. Do come in. Thomas, you know where the old piano is. Go right ahead and move it out.”
“Thanks. It may take use a while, but we’ll be careful not to scratch up the floors or walls.”
“Ma’am,” Daniel said, “Thomas is my dad. I’m a theater student at New York University and wanted to ask if I l could take a few pictures on my phone of the inside and outside of your home for future staging of plays at the college?”
“Sure. Go right ahead,” she replied. “Mom loved going to plays, so I think she would be happy to know that replicas of her home might show up on the stage at the university.”
“Thanks, ma’am,” Daniel said with a wide g
rin on his face. “Guess I’d better get to work.” He snapped a few photos as he followed his dad, Bob, and Carl to the ballroom where the antique piano stood off in one corner.
After a long, slow fight trying to move the huge, old piano out of the ballroom and into an ancient-looking elevator—they all hoped would make it down to the main floor—the men were relieved when the piano was finally loaded and they could hop back into the truck, returning to the store where I would be waiting for them.
Once the men had finagled the old piano out of the truck and into the Emporium, they collapsed onto a couple of piano benches standing nearby. Noticing they all looked tired and hungry, I offered to play waitress and ran across the street to pick up lunch for everyone.
As I came back into the store, I remembered Mrs. Goldberg’s call from yesterday. “Oh, Thomas. I’m sorry, but I forgot to tell you about taking a phone call from Mrs. Goldberg to tune her piano right before the robber came into the store yesterday. I said you would tune her piano today. Do you want me to reschedule for tomorrow?”
“Robber,” Bob and Carl exclaimed together.
“Yes. We had quite and exciting day around here yesterday.” Thomas told Bob and Carl the story, then said to me, “No, I’ll go tune Mrs. Goldberg’s piano this afternoon. But, would you please keep your cell phone on you at all times while I’m out and call me right away if anything happens?”
“Actually, I stuck my phone in my pocket the second all of you drove away this morning,” I replied. “Guess yesterday’s episode still has me a little shaken up.”
~ ~ ~
When I walked into the apartment that night, Mara was busy packing what looked like everything in her closet. “You’re taking everything. Aren’t you planning on coming back?” I asked.
“Don’t worry, my friend, you can’t get rid of me that easy.” Mara donned one of her crazy hats and winked at me. “I’ve never been to California, so packed it all, just in case. Not that I have a lot of clothes anyway.”
“If I had to guess, it’s probably hot in California in July.”
“You’re probably right. Oh, well, I’ve got it all packed now. Daniel is picking me up at four in the morning. Is it even light out at that time of day?”
“Not sure. What time does your flight leave?”
“Six a.m. Can you believe that?”
“But, just think, it’ll be all clear blue skies after that for a whole week. I can hardly wait to hear about your trip and you haven’t even left yet.”
“That sounds like you maybe need a vacation, too.”
“Now that you mention it, I talked to Thomas about that, and we decided we’ll all take turns having some fun in the sun this summer.”
“Fantastic,” Mara sang out, glancing up at me from under her crazy hat. “Let’s go out and have some fun tonight. Daniel and I discovered this great little place here in SoHo that caters to everyone and has live entertainment seven nights a week. I think it’s hip hop tonight.”
“Do they have food? I’m hungry.”
“They do, but it’s mostly vegan-style food. Would that be okay?”
“Sure. Why not. I think I need to see this place so I can report back to Thomas where you and Daniel are hanging out these days.”
“Tattletale.”
“Enough. Let’s go eat. I’ll be sad about your leaving. Good thing I won’t be awake at four in the morning.”
“Never fear. I’ll wake you.”
“What for?”
“A hug.”
All I could do was shake my head.
Chapter 17
Thomas and I just stood there and stared at one another the next morning, knowing Mara and Daniel were on their way to California. “Guess I’d better head toward the Shulman residence to tune their piano,” Thomas finally said. “Should be back in a couple of hours.”
I hugged him as he picked up his leather bag and opened the back door. After preparing the store for the day, I sat down in my little office to work on the last song of the musical score for Mr. Benson.
Hearing the front door open, I looked up, checked my pocket, and then made my way out to the showroom. The gentleman looked familiar. “Good morning. How can I help you?”
“Good morning. I’m Hans Anderson. I believe we met at your last recital at Alice Tully Hall,” he said. “Ms. Thompson told me where I might find you. I wanted to talk to you in person and not just on the phone.”
“Yes. I remember you from the recital. Please come in.”
“I like this place. The Piano Emporium,” Mr. Anderson said. We strolled toward the back of the store. Looking around, he said, “You’re surrounded by the most beautiful pianos on earth. What a luxury.”
“It is. I feel very fortunate to be working here. The Cutler family, who owns the store, have been extremely kind to me.”
Well, Miss Armstrong, I had a nice chat with Ms. Thompson and she couldn’t find enough adjectives to describe your talent. She called you a prodigy.”
“Thank you, Mr. Anderson. Ms. Thompson means the world to me.”
“You played Mozart flawlessly at the recital, and I was greatly impressed. Would you be able to play something more for me today?”
“Of course, but I must also watch for customers, so may need to stop in the middle of playing for you.”
“That’s fine. You decide what you’d like to play and I’ll listen.”
“I’d like to play a song that I wrote a few years back by the name of ‘The Gift of Goodbye.’” I thought of Chase. I missed him so much. Where was he?
I sat down on the bench of one of the baby grand pianos. Mr. Anderson stood nearby. I began to play and didn’t stop until I’d played the song clear through to the end.
“I’m speechless, Miss Armstrong. What a beautiful song, and you said you wrote it.”
“I did. I guess you could call it my signature piece.”
“I’d like to invite you to audition with the Chamber Orchestra of New York as its guest pianist,” Mr. Anderson said, appearing stern, as a small smile escaped from the corners of his mouth.
“I’d love to audition with the orchestra. When would you like me to be there?”
“The address for the orchestra is on the card I gave you. Would tomorrow be too soon for you?”
“I’m sorry, but I’ll be alone here at the store most of the time this week, so could we make it next week?” I hoped he wouldn’t walk out because I couldn’t audition this week, but I’d never leave Thomas shorthanded.
He pulled out what I assumed to be his calendar and watched as he flipped through a few pages. “Would next Wednesday at one p.m. work for you?”
“Yes, I’m sure that would be fine,” I replied, trying not to sound overly relieved. “I’ll call you if anything comes up.”
“It’s been a pleasure,” Mr. Anderson said. “You’ll be playing for the conductor of the orchestra when you come in, so something classical would be appropriate next Wednesday.”
“I look forward to playing for the conductor of the Chamber Orchestra. Thank you for coming in.” I shook his hand. “I can’t wait to tell Ms. Thompson about my audition with the orchestra.”
“Give her my regards when you speak to her,” Mr. Anderson said with a wide smile.
“Indeed I will, sir. Thank you.”
I quickly dialed Ms. Thompson’s number, telling her about Mr. Anderson and my audition with the Chamber Orchestra. “Would you please help me pick out a few pieces of classical music I could play for my audition?” I asked with a pleading tone in my voice.
“Sure. When is your audition?” she inquired.
“Next Wednesday at one o’clock. I’m so nervous.”
“Can you come by after you finish work today? I should be able to have a few pieces picked out
for you to play by then.”
“I’ll be there. I don’t know how to thank you,” I said. “Oh, Mr. Anderson wanted me to relay his greetings to you. He seemed to have a twinkle in his eyes when he said it.”
“Like you, Hans has a good ear for music. That’s what I like about him. See you later this afternoon, then.”
“Yes. I’ll be there about five-thirty. Bye.”
~ ~ ~
When Thomas returned, I told him about Hans Anderson coming into the store and about my audition the following Wednesday afternoon, and that Ms. Thompson was going to help me pick out a few songs to play. He gave me his blessing, but he could tell I was nervous. “You’ll do fine, Anna Louise. Ms. Thompson is a skilled teacher and pianist. She’ll know exactly what music you need to play for the audition.”
“She is great, isn’t she?” I said. “She’s like a friend to me now. I don’t know what I’d do without her when it comes to my becoming a concert pianist.”
“Well, I’m off to tune another piano. Stay alert while I’m gone,” Thomas instructed me.
“I’ll be careful. See you later,” I replied.
Customers kept me busy the rest of the day. I didn’t even notice when Thomas came back and was sitting in his office. The clock said five o’clock. “I’ll be going now,” I said to Thomas as I retrieved my purse and headed out the front door, locking it behind me, to hail a cab.
Ms. Thompson helped me pick out a few songs I could play for the audition, then I practiced every evening after work until I’d memorized each and every one of them. Wednesday arrived before I knew it. As I climbed into the cab, I gave the driver the address listed on Mr. Anderson’s card, my hands were shaking so much I wasn’t sure I’d be able to play a note. Once inside the building, I saw a sign that said auditorium, so opened the doors and walked in. There stood Mr. Anderson next to another gentleman. Spotting me, Mr. Anderson immediately came to greet me, then escorted me over to where the conductor was standing and introduced us. The conductor bowed, asking me to have a seat at the piano and to play two of the pieces I held in my hand while he and Mr. Anderson listened from out in the audience.
The Gift of Goodbye Page 16