Mountain Song (22 page)

“And now...you do? You
want a family? You want us?”

“If—if
you
want.” Andy’s color deepened and
Claudia slowly realized that under the downcast lashes stirred a deep
uncertainty.

He didn’t know if she
loved him.

How could he not? “I’ve
never stopped wanting you,” she admitted, hoarse-voiced, slipping her fingers
between his. Twined together, their hands conveyed a simple intimacy deeper
than any they’d shared in their long history of loving. “When I left it was
because I was afraid...that wanting you so much would...” She swallowed,
cleared her throat. She had felt as though it would kill her, to want him so
badly and not be loved in return.

“Don’t be afraid.” His
voice was clear now, his eyes delving deeply into hers. “I’m sure of this. I’ll
be there for Paul. You have my word.”

“How,” Claudia bit her
lip, hard, struggling to absorb everything. “How will I ever explain this to
him?”

The slow smile
appeared at the corners of Andy’s mouth again, as he pulled her to him,
nestling her into the warmth of his arms and gently pushing aside a stray
tendril from her face.

“I think the first
order of business might be for me to ask permission to marry his mother.”

EPILOG

“Be still,” Claudia
said, laughing despite the pins clenched between her teeth, as she smoothed the
sapphire satin bodice into place.

“I
hate
to sit
still,” Bea said, tapping her fingers impatiently on the armrest of her
wheelchair.

“Look, do you want to
impress the suave and handsome Archie Goldstein, or not?”

“Shame on you,” Bea
said playfully. “Arch is just a friend, as I keep telling you.”

“Oh, really. That’s
why you two are out nearly every evening? Honestly, between Archie and all your
activities, you’re impossible to reach these days.”

“That’s why they
invented voice mail, my dear. But listen, while you’re at it with those pins,
can you do something about this neckline? It just seems kind of...frumpy. I
wonder if a little snip or two might enhance my décolleté?”

“Bea!” Claudia gasped
in mock horror. “You’ll be positively indecent. Remember, you’re wearing this
to my
wedding
!”

“All the better. I’ve
been working quite hard in my exercise class to do justice to this gown, so you
can bet I’m planning to show off the goods.”

“‘Show off the goods?’
Where on earth did you pick up a phrase like that?”

Bea didn’t even bother
to blush. “Cindy, our exercise instructor. You’d love her.”

“I’m sure I would.” Claudia
stepped back and admired her handiwork. In the morning sunlight in the living
room of Bea’s new apartment, her grandmother looked positively radiant. The fitted
bodice would be joined by a sweep of sapphire lace skirt, specially contoured
for a seated woman. While she was proud of all the designs she’d created since
starting Special Clothes For Special People, this dress would be her piece de
resistance.

“Perfect,” she
murmured. “Speaking of your class, how is the exercise wear working for you?”

“Oh, all the gals love
it,” Bea said with a wave of her hand. “You sure have an ingenious way with
Velcro. Now hand me my blouse so you can go sew the skirt on this lovely little
frock. Where is my darling great-grandson?”

“They’ll be here any
minute now,” Claudia said, packing away her pins and scissors, and folding the
satin in tissue to carry back to her studio. “Andy promised Paul an
early-morning hike.”

Bea chuckled. “Before
you know it that boy will be scaling sheer rock face like a little monkey.”

“It’s the mountain
blood that runs in his veins,” Claudia said softly. “His father’s legacy.”

“Indeed.” Bea touched
her wrist lightly. “You did the right thing by moving here, Claudia.”

“I know.”

A sharp rap on the
door was followed by a blur of motion as Paul burst into the room.

“Mama! Gramma Bea! I
picked these for you!” Paul carried an enormous bouquet of sunny yellow
chrysanthemums, tied with a length of gingham ribbon.

“Try again, Tiger,”
Andy chided, bending to kiss both women—lingering a little when his lips
met Claudia’s.

“Uh, sorry Dad. These
are just store flowers,” he added a little regretfully, placing the bouquet
carefully in Bea’s lap. “Dad says we can’t pick the ones that grow wild ‘cause
they’re for everyone to look at. And if everyone picked ‘em there wouldn’t be
any left.”

“Your father is a very
wise man,” Bea said, reaching to touch Paul’s cheek.

“Yeah. He’s smart. He
knows about all kinds of different things. He made you feel all better, right?”

“Fit as a fiddle,” Bea
agreed, zooming her chair in a tight circle. Paul squealed with laughter and
clambered up onto her lap and they spun again.

As the two frolicked,
Claudia and Andy stepped back out of the yellow pool of light to watch.

“He thinks you can do
anything,” Claudia said softly, twining her fingers through Andy’s.

“I’m sure I’ll
disappoint him one day,” Andy said. “When he figures out I don’t really have
super-hero powers.”

“Really?” Claudia
arched her brow slyly. “You sure had me fooled. Remember last night...?”

Andy reddened
slightly. “Let’s change the subject,” he said, “or we’ll never make it down to
the famous Fruitvale Senior Community chili cook-off.”

As the sun crested the
mountains out the window, four hearts beat a little faster in the bright
apartment. Four lives had changed, their journey bringing them here, in the
shadow of the mountains whose song would lull them to sleep for many nights to
come.

###

About Ruby Laska

Ruby Laska grew up in
the heart of rural Arkansas, the youngest of four sisters who shared a passion
for state fairs, Vince Gill, and the local library. Now she lives and works in
the not-so-small town of Little Rock, where she and her husband share their
home with three rescue greyhounds. When not writing, Ruby loves to bake in her
restored 1952 Chambers oven, and won a blue ribbon for her lavender shortbread
last year at the Pulaski county fair.