How Sweet the Sound

by Jacquelin Thomas

  “There are no details,” Carys said. “Juicy or otherwise.”

  The two antagonizers eyed each other. “You know he’s always had a thing for you,” Lynn said.

  “That’s right,” Phyllis added. “Back when, a lot of us thought you should dump Nate and go with T.C.”

  “Yeah, right,” Carys said. “As if anyone would have advocated I choose the shy and impoverished country boy over the captain of the football team and heir to a fortune.”

  “T.C. is rich now,” Lynn pointed out as she applied lipstick to her mouth. “His church is big, not as large as some of the megachurches in D.C. or Dallas, but pretty big nonetheless, several thousand members. And he writes those books you’re always reading.”

  “And your point would be…?”

  “You’re single,” Phyllis said slowly as if explaining a quantum physics concept to a toddler. “He’s single. You like each other. Always have. You do the math.”

  “There’s no math to do,” Carys said.

  Even as she protested, though, Carys wondered why she was resisting this. It’s not as if she were again twenty years old and concerned about what people might think. She was her own woman now. Right?

  “I think you two are reading way more into this than the situation warrants,” Carys added.

  She unsnapped her handbag and plucked out a tube of coral lipstick that matched her dress.

  “So you don’t deny it?”

  “Deny what?” Carys said as she jockeyed for a position in front of the mirror.

  “That T. C. Holloway still has a thing for you.”

  “Aren’t we a little old to be talking about ‘having a thing for someone’?” Carys said, adding air quotes around her so-called friend’s words.

  “You might be old, sister,” Lynn said. “But my best years are in front of me.”

  “That’s right,” Phyllis concurred. “I’m looking forward to fifty. I’ll finally be a grown-up.”

  Both Lynn and Carys chuckled at that. But Carys wasn’t yet embracing the idea of fifty. While it was still three years off, only now did she feel as if she were coming into her own. If fifty meant the downslide had started, she didn’t like the idea of having wasted her youth.

  But it wasn’t wasted. She had two beautiful children. A delightful granddaughter. And for better or worse, she and Carl had made a comfortable home together.

  Comfortable.

  Dull. Predictable, even in its myriad complexities.

  “We only get so many shots at happiness, Carys. It would be a shame to blow this one because you’re afraid.”

  Carys blinked, wondering when Lynn had managed to turn so insightful. Normally, she could count on her friend to point out the lighter, more flirtatious side of life. Carys didn’t even try to deny—to herself at least—that her feelings included a measure of trepidation. And her girlfriends didn’t even know about the week she’d tentatively planned with Thornton.

  “I’ll try not to,” she said.

  “What’s that saying about trying?” Phyllis asked.

  “All right,” Carys said on a huff. “If this is a golden opportunity…”

  “For something wonderful with T.C.,” Lynn interjected.

  “For something wonderful with Thornton,” Carys parroted. “I won’t blow the opportunity.”

  “Opportunity for what?” Lynn pressed.

  Carys looked at each girlfriend, then clasped their hands in hers. “For happiness,” she said.

  It was well after two in the morning by the time Carys got back to her hotel. After the banquet and festivities, a group of the reunion class members went to the waterfront to cast stones into the lake, a tradition begun at the college so long ago that no one knew exactly why it was done.

  After sleeping in late the next morning, Thornton buzzed her suite at eleven. It had been a great reunion weekend she thought as she checked her lipstick before going downstairs. Saying goodbye to old friends and new ones was difficult. But they’d all keep in touch this time, Carys knew.

  Carys, dressed in a summer Capri set and sandals, met him in the lobby. Thornton was also casually dressed in khaki slacks and a Polo shirt. “Are you ready for day one of our adventure?”

  “As ready as I’m going to get.”

  Even to her own ears, Carys realized her words didn’t carry much, if any, enthusiasm.

  Thornton must have heard the hesitation. “You’re having second thoughts about this aren’t you?”

  “No,” Carys told him. “I’m way beyond second thoughts.”

  He took her hand in his and led her to one of the overstuffed sofas in the hotel lobby. A huge arrangement of exotic flowers scented the seating area.

  Thornton nodded at a man reading a newspaper as they took their seats. “This was supposed to be fun, not stressful.”

  Clasping her hands together in her lap, Carys met his concerned gaze. “I’ve never done anything like this before. I don’t think I really realized until an hour or so ago that this is probably the most spontaneous and impetuous thing I’ve done since graduating from college.”

  “Do I make you nervous or is it the situation?”

  “Honestly?”

  “I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he said.

  “Well, it’s both, then.”

  He contemplated that for a minute, then Thornton asked her about her children.

  So they sat in the hotel lobby talking, neither realizing how much time had passed as Carys told him more about all the things she’d wanted to do and never found the time. He shared with her the trials of being a single father while pastoring a large congregation.

  They laughed together about the headaches of coordinating play dates then later getting first young children and then teenagers to assorted practices and lessons.

  “When Lydia turned sixteen, I was only too happy to get her a car for her birthday,” Thornton confessed. “My mother said I was spoiling her, but let me tell you something, it was a relief not to have to shuttle that girl from cheering to piano and then her part-time job.”

  “Your daughter worked?”

  Thornton nodded. “Sure. She needed to learn the value not only of a dollar but of hard work. I grew up without and wanted to make sure that didn’t happen to my family. But I also didn’t want to deprive her of the lessons she’d have to learn herself about stewardship and discipline. Lydia is a good kid. She makes me proud.”

  “It sounds like you did all right raising her by yourself.”

  Thornton chuckled. “That’s not quite how it went. With a church full of surrogate mothers and my own mother hovering nearby, there was little chance I’d veer too far off the home-training track.”

  “There’s a term I haven’t heard in ages—home training.”

  “At New Providence, we have a lot of outreach ministries. One that I work closely with is a youth ministry targeting at-risk kids in the community that the church serves. It’s really easy to see which ones have had some home training by parents or mothers who spend time with their children. Everybody thinks those kids are the ones who’ll be all right, but they, like the ones who have essentially raised themselves, also need positive role models and support to succeed.”

  Carys smiled.

  “What?”

  “You turned out exactly the way I thought you would.”

  “And how’s that?” he asked her.

  “Full of life, committed. Focused on service. You were all those things back when we were in school.”

  “Not really,” Thornton said. “I was just a country boy who had a crush on an unattainable girl.”

  Carys’s gaze met his.

  “Yes, you. I had nothing to offer you then. If it hadn’t been for scholarships and a lot of prayers, I never would have even been here. Getting a two-year associate’s degree from Summerset was the farthest along in education anyone in my family had ever gone.”

  “And look at you now,” Carys said.

  Thornton shook his head. “I’m
still the same man. You can put the country boy in tailored suits and wing tips, but you can’t take the country out of him.”

  “You miss it, don’t you?”

  “Shh,” Thornton said, putting a finger to his lips and glancing both ways. Laughter danced in his eyes. “If word got back to Lydia that I even joked about moving back to Summerset, I’d never hear the end of it. Mom and I used to take her there to visit relatives and she’d cry the entire time. And when she stopped crying all she did was complain about Grace’s boring music. ‘Daddy, did somebody die?’ she asked me. I had to laugh, because Grace could make anything sound like a dirge.”

  Carys’s stomach rumbled and her eyes widened. She placed a hand over her tummy. “I’m so embarrassed.”

  “Don’t be,” Thornton said. He glanced at his watch. “It’s after four. We missed lunch.”

  Carys reached for his wrist. “It can’t be that late. I just came downstairs.”

  “Time flies when you’re spending it with someone you enjoy.”

  Carys nodded. “That’s true.”

  “How about we go find a late lunch or an early dinner?”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  A few minutes later, they were strolling the downtown streets, considering restaurants and perusing menus posted outside to lure diners in.

  “You know what I really want?” Carys said.

  “What’s that?”

  “A big, juicy burger.”

  Thornton tapped the menu of the all-American restaurant they were standing in front of. “I think we’ve found our place.”

  Carys reached for his hand, entwined her fingers in his as they entered. “Yes. I think we have.”

  It wasn’t until much later that Carys realized that moment had been a turning point. Finding her place in life meant more than learning to live single in a double world. For Carys, finding her place also meant learning to trust again, to put her hand in someone else’s.

  That night as she prepared for bed, she thanked God for allowing her to reconnect with Thornton.

  At his hotel across town, Thornton stared out the window at the dark of the night. Like a calm river, contentment ran through him. Thornton smiled. Today had been a good day. Every day, every moment with Carys was good.

  As he thought about the time they’d spent together in the last few days, he realized that the song playing in his heart had never ceased its melody. Carys’s name was engraved on each note.

  More than once over the next few days, Thornton and Carys were mistaken for husband and wife. The first couple of times, they corrected the person, be it waiter or usher. Then, it became something of a joke between them.

  The maître d’ at tonight’s restaurant had come to the same conclusion.

  “Maybe we just look like we belong together,” Carys whispered as they were led to an intimate table for two.

  After dinner, they enjoyed an elegant lemon torte and then coffee.

  “I’ve been thinking about that,” Thornton said. Soft candlelight illuminated the small dining room. A Haydn symphony accompanied the murmur of voices and the muted tinkle of silverware on china.

  “About what?”

  “How we make a good team.”

  “We do.”

  “Then let’s make it permanent,” he said.

  Carys’s dessert fork clattered on her plate. Her gaze met him. “Excuse me?”

  “Marry me, Carys Shaw. I’ve always loved you. I love you still.”

  Carys glanced to her right and left. “Thornton, hush. You’re embarrassing me.”

  “Is that a no?”

  With not quite steady hands, she reached for her coffee. “You shouldn’t play like that.”

  He stilled her hand. “I’m not. I’ve waited a long time for our timing to be right. It is right now.”

  “Thornton…”

  “Hear me out,” he said. He reached into the inside pocket of his suit jacket. “I have something for you.”

  Carys’s eyes widened and she began to shake her head. “I can’t, Thornton. I’m just not…”

  “It’s not a ring,” he said, pulling out the long thin box.

  He handed it to her.

  Without breaking eye contact with him, Carys accepted the box. “What is it, then?”

  “Open it and you’ll see.”

  For a moment, they just stared at each other. Then, Carys, taking a deep breath, lifted the hinged lid on the black velvet box. Nestled inside was a strand of exquisite pearls. A small charm was attached to the center of the strand.

  Chapter Seven

  “That must have been some reunion,” Lydia Holloway said as she snapped her fingers in front of her father’s face. “Earth to Dad. Come in, Dad.”

  “Yes, baby?” He put down the newspaper he hadn’t been reading.

  “You know, I can be ignored up at school.”

  Thornton smiled. “I’m not ignoring you, daughter mine.”

  Lydia smiled. “So I can go?”

  Thornton eyed his offspring. “I think the answer is no.”

  “You don’t even know what the question was.”

  He laughed as he got up to top off his coffee. “True. But you’ve been running that scam on me for twenty years now. You always wait until I’m distracted, and then you pounce. I know how to smell a trap.”

  Lydia snapped her fingers again. “Curses. Foiled again.”

  “Why are you here tormenting me?” Thornton asked. “Don’t I have an expensive hair or nail appointment to pay for?”

  Lydia held out her right hand examining her fingernails. “Hey, that’s not a bad idea. Can I take the platinum card and the convertible?”

  “No. And no,” Thornton said.

  “Boy, I am really striking out today.”

  Thornton tugged on her ponytail as he passed by on the way to the kitchen counter. “That’s what you get for trying to take advantage of your old man.”

  He refreshed her coffee then put the carafe back on the heating element of the coffeemaker.

  “So you had a great time at the reunion, huh?”

  He nodded as he leaned against the counter. “The best.” He eyed her over the rim of his mug as he sipped. “You know how you’re always encouraging me to, uh, date.”

  Lydia looked up, a slow grin spreading across her face. She was the spitting image of her mother, but had Thornton’s dark, serious eyes. “Is that what you were up to? You sly fox.”

  “Hey, I’m still the father.”

  She hopped up, stood on tiptoe and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Well, I think it’s terrific.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “You do?”

  “Sure. What’s she like? When do I get to meet her?”

  “Soon, I hope,” Thornton said. “And she’s wonderful. We were close friends in college.”

  “And she looks the same as she did when you guys were in school?”

  “No,” he said, shaking his head. “She looks even better.”

  “That must have been some reunion you and T.C. had,” Lynn told Carys. Although they’d been home for almost a week, the two old friends had talked twice and decided to meet for lunch even though each had to drive an hour to meet in the spot midway between their homes.

  “What makes you say that?”

  “Hmm, could it be that silly grin that’s been glued on your face?”

  Carys tried to wipe away all expression from her features. “What grin?”

  “That one,” Lynn said, pointing to the edge of Carys’s mouth where the telltale edges of a smile valiantly tried to break through. “The one that hasn’t let up since you and Thornton got back together.”

  “Well, we didn’t exactly get back together,” Carys said by way of clarification. “There never was a together to begin with.”

  Lynn waved that comment away. “A mere technicality.”

  “I have something to show you,” Carys said.

  Lynn nibbled on a piece of celery while Carys reached into her tote bag. She pull
ed out a black jewelry case.

  “What’s that?”

  “A gift from Thornton.”

  “Get out! What is it?”

  Carys opened the case and showed Lynn the strand of pearls. Attached on a gold pendant was a small key.

  “What’s that?”

  “It’s a key that I gave Thornton years ago.”

  “A key to what?”

  Carys’s gaze met and held her friend’s. “My heart. I told him to hold on to it in case Nate broke my heart.”

  “Oh,” Lynn said, clutching her chest. “Oh, my. This changes everything. You know that, don’t you?” She reached a hand out and touched the small gold key. “He kept it. All these years?”

  Carys nodded.

  “Wow,” Lynn said. Still apparently not believing what she was seeing, her face scrunched up in concentration as she worked through the implications. “Men don’t hold on to sentimental trinkets, unless they have a really strong significance. So, he’s giving your heart back to you. What exactly does that mean?”

  Carys took a deep breath. “He asked me to marry him, Lynn. Thornton wants me to marry him.”

  Lynn’s mouth dropped open and she plopped back in her chair as if a strong wind had whipped over her. “Double wow.” After a moment, she sat up quickly, leaning forward. “You said yes, right? Please tell me you said yes.”

  Carys touched the pearls. “He said it takes many years to make one perfect pearl. He’s waited all this time hoping he might be able to recapture what he lost all those years ago.”

  Lynn reached for Carys’s hand and closed it over both the box and Carys’s fingers. “You did agree to marry him, right? Right?”

  “I told him I’d think about it.”

  Lynn tossed her hands into the air. “Think about it! What’s to think about? You’re crazy about him. You’ve talked of nothing else since the reunion, after which, I might add, you spent a week getting reacquainted with the man.”

  “Exactly,” Carys said, before Lynn could really get ramped up. “One week in the middle of a lifetime. I’m supposed to just run into the arms of someone I haven’t seen in twenty-five years and after the span of, what, ten days, just ride off into the sunset with him?”