Emeline froze.He must mean Hawthorne.
“Are you okay?”
She swallowed down the thought of the tithe collector and nodded. “You didn’t need to come here. I told you in my letter not to worry.”
He shrugged. “I wanted to see you.”
Emeline should have been happy to see him. Instead, she felt … nothing at all.
He cocked his head. “Am I going to get invited in?”
“Oh. Sure.” She stepped back through the door. “We’re just having dinner.”
Joel followed her inside. Slipping off his coat, he threw it on the back of a chair and kicked off his tan chukkas. “Whowasthat guy who delivered your note? He wouldn’t stop scowling at me. I’m not sure what I did to make him dislike me so much.”
“He scowls at everyone. I’m sure you’re overthinking it.” She turned away, leading him through the house. In the diningroom, she pulled up an extra chair, made introductions, then fetched an extra plate of food.
Joel seemed about to continue their conversation when Corny burst through the doorway.
“Ewan! I found your button box!”
“Corny, seriously …” But his wife’s voice drifted off as Pa slowly pushed out his chair, getting to his feet.
Joel leaned in towards Emeline. “This is … lively.”
Emeline nodded. Dinners in Edgewood always were.
“I’m not sure how much I remember,” Pa said, coming to take the thick scarlet straps from his friend.
Corny hesitantly held up the silver and white music box, unsure if Pa could handle the weight of it. “Do you need help?”
Pa shook his head. “No, no, I’m fine.” He slid the straps over both his shoulders, so the accordion hung across his chest, and moved into the adjoining sitting room, where there was more space.
As he stood in his dark gray cardigan, with everyone’s attention on him, Pa’s right hand came to rest on the black and white keys running down one side of the instrument while his left went to the silver pushbuttons on the opposite side.
He hesitated only a moment before he started to play. Eyes closed. Head tilted back.
With the red velvet straps looped over each arm, he stepped slowly. His fingers moved firmly over the keys, pressing buttons as he tugged the accordion open and closed, the box fanning out and in, the red interior flickering like a tongue.
Song after song he played without faltering.
It astonished her. Watching him, Emeline remembered only a few minutes before, when he’d forgotten how to read his watch. Yet here he was, after not picking up his instrument in what must have been years, playing five songs in a row. Howcould he do that but not remember something he knew how to do yesterday?
On the sixth song, Pa’s fingers fumbled and his breath quickened. He played the same part twice.
Seeing it, Corny moved towards him. “Ewan! That was great!”
As Pa slid off the straps, Corny caught the heavy box and let it sink to the floor. While Corny helped his friend back to the table, the room erupted in applause.
A slow smile spread across Pa’s lips and he took a playful bow.
Joel slid his arm around Emeline’s shoulders. “Want to get out of here?”
Emeline frowned up at him. She’d only just arrived.
But Joel didn’t know that. Nor did he know she had limited time left to spend with the people she loved. She’d mentioned nothing of the Wood King or his court in her letter. As far as Joel knew, she’d been here all week and was probably desperate for an escape.
“I’d like to stay, if that’s okay.”
