“I don't know, but I have a feeling you're going to tell me.”
“First of all, what you thought was feeding birds is called tashlikh. It's a ritual of sorts, for wiping the slate clean in the new year. The breadcrumbs are all your sins and regrets, and the water carries them away.” She shook her head. “Feeding the birds. Jesus, Elle.”
“What?” She felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment. “All I remember is we used to walk to the Hudson River with the Abramsons who, you may or may not recall, had a daughter named Becky who was a cheerleader. It's possible I wasn't paying close attention to any of the other details.”
“Fair excuse, I guess. The point is, that's what we're going to do tomorrow, you and me.”
Eleanor sighed. “It's a nice symbol, Mimi, but I'm not sure it will help.”
Her sister reached out and patted her hand. “It can't hurt. Now get some sleep. We'll go tomorrow after breakfast.”
Miriam stood on the sidewalk outside her in-laws' building, holding a bag of stale bread and bouncing impatiently on the balls of her feet as Eleanor came down the stairs. Eleanor cradled a hot coffee in one hand as she held the iron railing with the other. “Sorry it took me so long. I was waiting for the coffee to brew.”
Miriam groaned. “Don't talk to me about coffee! Mark's mother wouldn't even let me have a cup of decaf this morning, just in case one stray molecule of caffeine irreparably damages her grandchild.” She started walking east, toward Central Park, and Eleanor followed, a confused frown tugging on her lips.
“Um, Mimi? I'm pretty sure giving up coffee has damaged your brain. The river's the other direction.”
“I know that,” Miriam said with a laugh. “I thought we'd go along the Loch Path instead. Riverside Park gets so crowded.”
“Whichever you prefer,” Eleanor replied. She'd never noticed much difference between the two locations. It was New York. Every place was crowded. “Far be it from me to argue with a pregnant lady suffering from caffeine withdrawal.”
They'd reached the edge of the park when Miriam suddenly stopped and slapped a hand to her head in almost comic exaggeration. “I left my phone back at the house.” She shoved the bag of bread into Eleanor's free hand. “Here take this and head toward the path. I'm just going to run back for it.”
“Seriously? Do you really want to walk all that way just for that? I have mine.” It was obvious to Eleanor that growing a baby had caused Miriam to go completely loopy in the head.
“I'd feel better having it with me.” Miriam wagged her finger at Eleanor. “Don't argue with the pregnant lady, remember? Go find a nice spot at the stream, maybe by one of the waterfalls, and I'll meet you there.” She started back toward the crosswalk, then turned with a final thought. “Oh, Elle? Take a picture and text it to me so I know which one you're at, okay?”
Eleanor shook her head with a laugh, thankful that she was unlikely to ever experience this type of hormonal craziness on top of her pre-existing quirks. “Whatever you say. I've promised not to argue.”
She entered the park and walked along the path to the first waterfall, but it was surrounded by a group of tourists taking selfies. Eleanor rolled her eyes. Miriam's insistence that this location would be less crowded didn't seem to have much basis in fact. She continued on to the next cascade and was pleasantly surprised to find the rustic wooden footbridge above the falls deserted. Perhaps Miriam's choice had been loosely grounded in reality after all. Eleanor grabbed her camera and clicked a picture, dutifully sending it to her sister, before settling herself on one of the large boulders along the stream to wait.
The minutes ticked by as Eleanor listened to the gurgling of the water as it splashed against the rocks on its journey to the shimmering pool below. A light breeze rustled the tree leaves, whose edges were tinged with the golden hues of early autumn. This, along with the coolness of the air, made it clear that summer was over. Eleanor opened the plastic bag and broke off a bit of the round loaf of challah bread left over from dinner the night before. She closed her eyes and saw Jeanie's face, the same as she did every time she closed her eyes. Time to let go of the past and make a fresh start. She lobbed the chunk of bread into the water and watched it slip over the edge of the cascade.
“That doesn't seem fair to the birds,” said a voice coming from behind her. A sudden shot of adrenalin sent Eleanor's pulse racing. I know that voice. “If you're going to feed the birds,” the voice continued, “shouldn't you throw the crumbs into the pool so they don't have to brave the waterfall for them?”
Eleanor spun around and stared, slack-jawed, at the vision of Jeanie Louise Brooks, in a vintage navy blue and white polka-dot dress and fire-engine-red lipstick, leaning against the log railing of the footbridge. “Jeanie?”
“Hi, Elle.” She picked her way cautiously along the uneven path, tottering in a pair of pumps that matched her handbag like something out of a 1940s' magazine ad.
“Just out for a nature stroll?” Eleanor couldn't help but laugh, an action that greatly helped to dispel the anxiousness in her belly that had begun its slithering the moment she'd realized that Jeanie stood just a few feet away.
“I'm on my way to a swing dancing festival at Bethesda Fountain.” Jeanie smoothed her dress around her legs as she sat beside Eleanor on the boulder. Eleanor attempted not to stare as she did so, and failed miserably.
“Bethesda Fountain's on the other end of the park. You're in the wrong place.”
“Am I?” It sounded like a challenge. Eleanor's heart thudded so loudly in her ears that she was certain Jeanie could hear it, too.
“Jeanie, what are you doing here? I assumed you'd be in Vienna by now.” Eleanor tried not to wince at the hurt that showed through in her words. She attempted a softer tone. “I'm sorry, did you not get the job?”
“Funny thing about that. They actually did offer me the job, but I turned it down.” She laughed as Eleanor's eyebrows shot up. “It surprised me, too. But I kept hearing this voice in my head telling me I shouldn't rush into anything before weighing all the consequences and thinking it through.”
“Did it sound like a nagging Jewish woman from New York?” Eleanor looked at her sheepishly.
“Uncannily so. Only maybe less nagging and more sultry.” Jeanie grinned impishly as Eleanor's cheeks blushed scarlet. “Anyway, when I really thought about it, I realized I had better options here in New York.” Their eyes locked and Eleanor shivered delightfully at this revelation, then Jeanie looked away. “Job options, that is,” she clarified, looking disconcerted.
Eleanor studied Jeanie's face in wonder, still not completely believing that she was here. “And then our paths just happened to cross in Central Park.”
“Our paths never just happen to cross. Didn't we figure that out before? As an analytical genius, you must know that running into each other here would be like finding a needle in a haystack.” She paused a moment as if waiting for a response, but Eleanor just frowned, stumped. “Your sister saw that I had added an event in Central Park for today to my calendar. She sent me a message last night and told me where you would be if I wanted to see you. She even sent me a picture a few minutes ago so I wouldn't get lost.”
Eleanor thought of the photo she'd been ordered to take and groaned. “Miriam never could resist meddling.” Far from having her addled wits, it appeared her sister had transformed into a matchmaking mastermind. “I guess now I know why she insists on staying friends with all my exes.” A sharp stab of regret struck her at the word choice, and she thought she saw a corresponding flash of pain on Jeanie's face. She squirmed at the sudden awkwardness. “What time does that festival start? I don't want you to be late on my account.”
“Soon. But being on time's more your thing.”
“Still.” She realized too late that her shift in the topic of conversation made it sound like she was eager for Jeanie to leave. Panic grew within her at the prospect of watching Jeanie walk away. “Why don't I walk with you?” She offered, holding out a hand
to help Jeanie back to the path before she had a chance to argue.
As they headed along the path, Eleanor reached inside her purse to stow the leftover breadcrumbs. As she did, her fingers brushed against a familiar, rough clay surface. On impulse, she pulled out the little statue and held it out to Jeanie. “You left this in Prague.”
“The Golem! I can't believe you still have this.” Jeanie took the figurine, a questioning look in her eyes.
“You left before I had the chance to give it back.” She blinked rapidly, determined to keep back the tears. “I've had it with me ever since.”
Jeanie stared fixedly at the ground, as if gathering courage to speak. “I should have at least stayed to hear you out, even when I knew I wouldn't like what I was going to hear. That was wrong of me.”
“You mean you didn't leave because my panic attacks started up again?”
“Of course not! I left because I couldn't face hearing you say that you'd rather stick with our original arrangement of a holiday fling.”
“Damn. My sister was right! I truly think this baby of hers is giving her some sort of relationship superpowers.”
“I don't understand.”
“Jeanie, I'm not sure exactly what I would have said in the morning if you'd still been in that hotel room when I woke up, but it wouldn't have been that. What we had was never just a fling.” Eleanor could see a crowd gathered at Bethesda Fountain several yards ahead. As she searched Jeanie's face for the answer, big band music started to play. They were running out of time, but the thought of saying good bye again broke Eleanor's heart.
Jeanie looked out across the crowd, where couples had started pairing off to dance. Her body swayed unconsciously to the rhythm, like a woman who was born to dance. “Elle, I was wondering something.”
Eleanor's breath caught in her throat. Is she going to ask me to dance? She wasn't certain that she could.
“I know I'm impulsive. And we couldn't be more different. And you're probably not the slightest bit interested anymore, but just in case,” Jeanie's voice had grown increasingly shaky. “I just thought that maybe…”
Eleanor felt her own body tremble like one of the leaves falling from the trees around them as she realized that Jeanie wasn't asking for a dance, but a second chance. “We need to talk. And I don't mean that as the standard relationship brush-off, if that's what you were thinking. We both seem to have a lot of feelings, and I'm not always good with those. I think it would help to try to put them into words, but I don't think I'm ready to do that just yet.” With enough time in a quiet place, just maybe they could get this right. Eleanor needed to prepare. She couldn't afford to mess it it up, and she prayed that Jeanie understood. “So, can we talk over dinner tonight?”
“That sounds both promising and daunting.” Jeanie's eyes crinkled as she considered the offer. “Will there be wine?”
“Without a doubt.”
“Then yes, I'll have dinner with you. Even though you know I'm impatient and the wait might kill me. If you need to take your time, I understand.”
As Jeanie said the words, Eleanor realized just how true they were. This woman understood her in a way that no one had before, maybe better than she understood herself. It was clear how desperately Jeanie wanted to put everything out in the open immediately in her usual haphazard way, but she was sincere in her willingness to wait, if that's what Eleanor needed from her. It's what made Jeanie unlike anyone she'd ever known.
The realization of how much she loved this woman struck Eleanor like lightning from a clear blue sky. She'd thought she'd been in love before, but she'd been wrong. She'd thought if she could analyze and quantify her feelings that she could understand them, but her relationship with Jeanie defied logic. How they fit together so perfectly when they were opposites in every way was an anomaly, a mystery that she might never fully comprehend. She was shocked to realize that she wouldn't want it any other way.
“So, you're really sure we can't talk about it now?” Jeanie offered a hopeful smile.
Accommodating as she was to Eleanor's needs, sometimes it was too easy to forget that Jeanie had needs of her own. If there was one way that she'd failed in the past, Eleanor knew that this was it. To be a worthy partner, there were things she'd need to learn to be better at, and things she'd need to be willing to do. One such thing was staring her in the face at this moment. Screwing up her courage, Eleanor vowed that she wouldn't let the opportunity slip away.
“Positive. Because right now, I'd rather dance with you.”
Eleanor folded her arms around Jeanie as they melted into one another, erasing the distance of the past ten weeks. When at last they were able to pull themselves apart enough to move, Eleanor took Jeanie's hand and led her into the throng of dancers. Their bodies swirled in time to the music against the backdrop of the New York City skyline, thousands of miles from where their adventure had started, and exactly where they belonged.
The End
Afterword
A Note From the Author
Dear Reader,
I love to travel, but like so many people, I just can't find the time or money to go everywhere I'd like to go. That's how I came up with the idea for my new series, Americans Abroad. In each of these stand alone novels, American women traveling or living abroad will find love, often in the most humorous and unexpected of ways. And the best part is, we get to go along for the ride—no passport required!
Waltzing on the Danube is the first book in this series. The next book, Holme for the Holidays, will be arriving in December, just in time for you to spend Christmas in Yorkshire, England. In February, look for Letters to Cupid to whisk you away to Italy for Valentines Day. If you'd like to nominate a favorite destination for a book, drop me an email at: [email protected]
Special Offer for Mailing List Subscribers Only!
If you'd like to be the first to find out when my new books become available, and save some money, too, sign up for my mailing list! As soon as a new book publishes, I alert my mailing list subscribers and offer the book at a discounted price for the first 24 hours only. The mailing list is the only place to find out when this offer goes live.
Update on Love's Encore Series
If you're a fan of Rorie and Cecily from A Road Through Mountains and Your Name in Lights, don't despair! The final novel of the trilogy, Fifty Percent Illusion, is coming soon! I had to adjust my publication schedule to make sure that Holme for the Holidays was ready in time for, well, the holidays—but I haven't forgotten about these ladies! Look for the conclusion of their story in early 2017.
Finally, thank you so much for reading my book! I really hope you enjoyed it. As an independent author, I can't begin to tell you how important reviews are for helping me reach new readers. Please consider taking a moment to write a review at Amazon or Goodreads. It's so very appreciated.
Best regards,
Miranda
Also By Miranda
Telling Lies Online
Love's Encore Series:
A Road Through Mountains
Your Name in Lights
Fifty Percent Illusion*
Americans Abroad Series:
Waltzing on the Danube
Holme for the Holidays*
Letters to Cupid*
Stockholm Syndrome*
*Coming in 2017
Waltzing on the Danube Page 22