by Karis Walsh
“I think I might be sick,” she admitted.
“I know,” Maggie said. “It’s a great feeling, isn’t it?”
Andy stared at her and could see that Maggie wasn’t being sarcastic. A glow of anticipation lit her face, and Andy felt it spreading to her as well. She was accustomed to a sense of peace when she played her viola in the middle of the section. There was little chance of disaster, as long as she carefully prepared her part and focused during the performance. Small mistakes could be covered up, difficult passages could be fudged if necessary. Now, however, it seemed like every time she had to play, there was more at stake. She was surprised to discover that despite the nausea, Maggie was completely right. It was a great feeling.
Andy walked onto the stage and acknowledged the polite applause as she and Maggie took their places. She could feel the audience’s expectant hush like a palpable thing. She glanced at Maggie, communicating easily after so many practice sessions, and then launched into the first trumpetlike notes of the sonata. The agitated opening sounds of the first movement helped work off Andy’s initial nervousness, and soon she settled into the fluctuating rhythms that she had described to Brooke as a viola having mood swings.
She poured her heart into the second movement, imagining herself in her practice room playing for Brooke who leaned against the door frame watching. The spontaneous burst of applause after the vivace section brought her back to the concert hall and gave her a moment to catch her breath before she launched into the third movement. This section had to be played with strength, showing off the power of the viola through the lyrical passages and into the faster final notes of the sonata. Twenty minutes flew by, and soon she and Maggie had finished and were taking their bows. Applause followed them offstage, and Adrienne hissed at them to play their encore. She had insisted they practice a short Scottish melody of Clarke’s, but Andy hadn’t expected to need it. She and Maggie sailed easily through the encore, their enjoyment of the simple melody evident in their playing. Finally they left the stage, barely making it to the wings before Adrienne pulled them both into a big hug.
“Beautifully done, my dears,” she said before turning her attention to Lyssa and Joan who were about to begin their sonata.
*
Andy experienced a delayed case of the shakes during Lyssa’s flawless solo, and she wanted nothing more than to go find Brooke in the audience. She managed to pull herself together enough to return to the stage with the orchestra and play Zwilich’s symphony. She hurriedly put her viola away, accepting the congratulations from various members of the orchestra, and rushed out of the room to find Brooke.
She saw her immediately, standing by the door leading backstage, but she was unprepared for the rest of the crowd. Normally after a concert, she left by the stage door with the other players and headed to her car alone. Tonight, however, she joined the throng of people in the lobby and only managed a wave at a beaming Brooke before she was engulfed by the members of her quartet.
“Very nicely played,” Richard said after she gave him and his still hugely pregnant wife a hug. “You conveyed the emotion of the piece, yet still gave a technically sound performance.”
“He means you kicked ass,” David translated as he and Jonas congratulated her. “I’ve already started a composition for solo viola in my head. You’re the inspiration, so you can be the first to perform it.”
Tina gave her a hug as well, a short redhead hovering behind her. “You looked too damned sexy up there,” she whispered in Andy’s ear. “I think my date is half in love with you.”
“Is it finally my turn?” Brooke asked from behind her. Andy turned and felt her heart skip when she saw the look in Brooke’s eyes.
“It’s always your turn,” Andy said and Brooke moved unhesitatingly into her arms, giving Andy a kiss that almost made her drop her viola case.
Brooke reached up a hand to cup Andy’s cheek. “You were perfect. I was so proud.”
Andy wrapped her in a big hug “I want to come home with you, Andy,” Brooke said when she pulled out of Andy’s embrace. “Tonight. I brought a suitcase.”
“Did you bring the espresso machine?” Andy asked, keeping her voice casual even though her heart was racing.
Brooke laughed. “No, but we can get it tomorrow.”
“Well, my apartment has seemed a little too clean lately,” she said with a shrug, stepping closer to Brooke. “I guess I wouldn’t mind having you mess it up again.”
“This calls for a celebration,” David said, slapping them both on the back. “Why don’t we go to Mickey’s for a drink?”
Andy and Brooke stopped kissing long enough to glare at him, but their friends jumped at the invitation.
“One very quick drink,” Andy said, her arm wrapped tightly around Brooke’s shoulders.
They went to Jonas’s car to get Brooke’s suitcase. Brooke still held her hand tightly, even as strangers kept stopping Andy to tell her how much they had enjoyed the evening. The attention was flattering but tiring, and all Andy wanted was a chance to be alone with Brooke for a moment at least. She breathed a sigh of relief when they finally were together in her car, Brooke’s suitcase stowed in the trunk with Andy’s viola.
Andy stuck the key in the ignition, but Brooke covered her hand and stopped her. “I’ve missed you so much this week,” she said, her eyes lowered. “I’ve been afraid to admit it to myself, or to you, but I love you, Andrea Taylor.”
Andy reached over and touched Brooke’s chin, turning her head toward her. “Please, Brooke,” she whispered, “don’t make more promises than you plan to keep. I don’t think I can take another night of believing we’re in love only to have you change your mind again the next day. I meant what I said earlier. You don’t have to say that unless you’re sure.”
“I am sure,” Brooke said, meeting Andy’s eyes. The love Andy saw there convinced her more than Brooke’s words could.
“I love you too,” she said, leaning forward so their lips met. “I love you,” she whispered again, against Brooke’s mouth.
Their kiss was gentle until Brooke lightly bit at Andy’s lower lip, making her open her mouth with a soft sigh. Brooke slipped her tongue into Andy’s mouth, deepening the kiss as her hands clenched in Andy’s hair. Andy resisted the urge to pull Brooke into her lap, since members of the orchestra were still filtering past the car. They broke away from each other, both breathing deeply.
“We’re starting to fog up the windows,” Brooke said with a weak laugh. “We should get to the bar, or they’ll wonder what’s happened to us.”
“They know what’s happened,” Andy said with a grin. Then her expression grew more serious. “I want to go home with you. Now.”
“Me too,” Brooke agreed, leaning her forehead against Andy’s. “But tonight is for you. Let us all show you how happy we are that you did well and how much we love you. I’ll be there when we get home.”
“And in the morning?” Andy asked, the pain from their last night together still present.
“I promise I will be there in the morning,” Brooke whispered with a soft kiss.
Chapter Twenty-six
“Brooke!”
Brooke turned on the burner under a stockpot full of chestnut soup to warm it for Christmas dinner before following Andy’s voice into the bedroom. She was digging through a drawer, barefoot and wearing only her black jeans.
“I can’t find my green sweater,” she said in exasperation. “You have your own dresser, so why are all of your clothes migrating into mine?”
Brooke only sighed and opened the closet. “Wear this instead,” she said, handing Andy a dark gold dress shirt. “It brings out the color of your eyes.”
“Meaning you have no idea where my sweater is,” Andy muttered, reaching for the shirt as Brooke held it just out of reach so that Andy had to step closer.
“It’s in the bottom drawer,” she said, her eyes roaming over Andy’s naked torso. “But I think I prefer what you have on now.”
Andy smiled then and pushed gently against Brooke, backing her against the wall next to the closet. She pulled the shirt from Brooke’s unresisting hand and tossed it onto the bed behind her.
“How do you do it?” she asked, nuzzling along Brooke’s neck, losing herself in the sweet smell of Brooke’s hair and skin.
“Do what?” Brooke asked, her question ending in a small gasp as Andy’s hand moved under her sweater and caressed her breast.
“Make me forget everything I’m worried about and only think of wanting you,” Andy said, raising her head, her vision tunneling until all she saw were Brooke’s expressive eyes. She kissed Brooke on the mouth as her right hand reached down and unbuttoned Brooke’s jeans.
“We don’t have time…” Brooke said, although she made no move to keep Andy from unzipping her pants.
“Quick now, slow later,” Andy promised as her hand found its way past Brooke’s underwear. She smiled in surprise as her fingers found Brooke slick with moisture. “God, baby, you’re so wet already,” she murmured into Brooke’s ear.
“What have I told you about wearing bras around the house?” Brooke said with a weak laugh, her breath catching as Andy’s fingers entered her yielding softness. “You know you drive me crazy when you don’t.”
“Then I’m throwing them all away,” Andy said as her fingers grew bolder in their exploring. “That is, if I can even find them in my dresser.”
Brooke arched against her, and Andy slid her left arm around Brooke’s waist to help support her. “I’ve got you, Brooke,” Andy whispered. “Let go.”
Brooke dropped more of her weight onto Andy’s hand, moving her hips and taking Andy’s fingers deep inside her. Andy dragged her thumb across Brooke’s clitoris, matching the rhythm of her stroking fingers, until Brooke cried out as she climaxed.
She sagged back against the wall, still held up by the strong arm that Andy had wrapped around her. Andy gently brushed Brooke’s lower lip with a finger still wet from Brooke’s arousal before raising it to her own lips. They kissed as Andy maneuvered them over to the bed and lowered Brooke to a sitting position.
“Do you want your Christmas present now?” Andy asked, pulling on the gold shirt and buttoning it while Brooke leaned back on her elbows and watched.
“You mean there’s more?” Brooke asked with a grin.
Andy disappeared into her music room and came back with a small box in red wrapping. She sat next to Brooke and handed her the gift.
“Richard is bringing yours since I didn’t have anywhere to hide it,” Brooke said as she tore the paper off the present. She knew Andy was going to love the ornate music stand that she had found in an antique shop. Its wood was the same reddish gold as her viola, and it would look much more beautiful than the metal utility stand that Andy used for practice.
“Oh, Andy, I love it!” Brooke exclaimed when she opened the box. She traced the necklace with her finger, admiring the small tiger-head pendant with diamond eyes that dangled from the delicate gold chain. She held her hair out of the way while Andy fastened the necklace around her throat, and then turned to face her. “And I love you.”
Andy ran her thumb along the chain that lay across Brooke’s collarbone before leaning in for a kiss. “I love you too.”
A knock at the door interrupted them, and Andy pulled Brooke to her feet with an impatient sigh. “These holidays are exhausting, and there’s no time for us,” she said as they returned to the kitchen. They had spent Christmas Eve uncomfortably visiting first Andy’s family and then Brooke’s parents, and now Andy’s quartet was here for Christmas dinner. “Don’t even think about inviting everyone for New Year’s.”
Brooke turned away and stirred her soup.
“You already told them to come over, didn’t you?” Andy asked with a laugh.
“Jan’s coming to visit us for a few days, and I told you I think she and Tina will hit it off. So I figured we may as well have a party. Now go answer the door because your friends are waiting for you.” She turned back to Andy and gave her a quick kiss. “We have the rest of our lives to work on our duet.”
About the Author
Karis Walsh is a horseback riding instructor who lives on a small farm in the Pacific Northwest. When she isn’t teaching or writing, she enjoys spending time outside with her animals, reading, playing the viola, and riding with friends.
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