Page 140 of Winterset
“Too long,” he said. “Do you still play?”
“No.”
“Wouldyou play a piece with me?” Damon rephrased his question. “Something easy? Anything you can remember.”
“The only thing I even vaguely remember is Bach’sMinuet in G Major. But I’m not sure I can play it with my shoulder as it is.”
Damon nodded. “What if I play the right hand and you play the left?”
I wasn’t sure I wanted to play. I’d never really enjoyed playing the pianoforte and that wasbeforeFather had imbued the instrument with negative memories and physical pain.
But ...
As a boy, Ihadloved sitting here with Damon. I loved the silly songs we used to create, the laughs we’d shared. If only Father had not robbed us of those times, how different things might have been.
But I had no desire to revisit the dark memories of our past or make myself melancholy about what might have been. I wanted to begin making new memories. Pleasant ones that would start us down a new path.
So I set my left hand on the keys, and Damon placed his right hand on the upper ones.
Damon tapped his foot on the ground to count us into the song just as he used to when we were boys, and then we began playing.
It was not pretty. I played more wrong notes than right, and my pacing was all over the place. But none of that mattered. What mattered was that Damon and I were sitting here together making music.
We played only a few measures before memory failed me, and we removed our hands from the keys.
“Thank you,” Damon said, his voice thick with emotion.
I knew just how he felt. The road back home had not been an easy one, but I was so glad that I was finally here—with him.
“I wanted to talk to you about something.” He cleared his throat. “Your plans for the future.”
I’d known this conversation was coming. He’d tried to bring it up several times already, and I’d successfully circumvented the conversation. I wasn’t sure why.
“Hannah and I have talked, and we would love for you and Kate to remain here at Summerhaven with us. We were thinking that you and Kate could live in one wing, and Hannah and I in the other. And once Winterset has sold, you could use the funds to build a new house right here on the property. I am still happy to oversee the sale of Winterset, if you wish.”
Now my throat thickened. “That is a generous offer, brother. But I cannot accept it.”
His face fell. “If you are worried about not owning the land that you build on, you needn’t be. When the entailment is no longer in force, it’s yours. I have already spoken to my solicitor and requested that he draft the documents.”
“It’s not that,” I said. “I have loved being here with you, Hannah, the girls, and Mother. But with the threat of Markham gone, Kate and I want to return home to Winterset. I’ve grown to love it there, brother. I cannot wait to show it to you.”
Damon didn’t respond right away.
I could tell he was disappointed by the downturn of his mouth. I’d only just come to Summerhaven, we’d barely begun to mend our relationship, and now I would soon be leaving again. It hurt me, too, but I also knew Winterset was where I belonged. It was where Kate and I were meant to make our home and start our family.
“We will miss you, Ollie. Desperately. Kate too. But I am also so proud of the man you’ve become.” Damon squeezed my good shoulder. “Promise me that we will remain in close contact and visit one another regularly.”
“I promise,” I said. “I would like nothing more.” And I meant it. I was so glad to have my brother by my side again and to know that whatever came, we would face it as a family.
Kate
Six months later
“Hold still, husband.” I squintedat the canvas. “I am almost finished.”
“You said the exact same thing two hours ago, wife. I daresay Mrs. Owensby will be cross with us both for missing luncheon.”
Twohours? Had we really been sitting in Winterset’s walled garden so long? How time hastened when I had a paintbrush in my hand. “Well, had you not moved, Iwouldhave been finished. Now, stay still. I am trying to get the shape of your scar right.”
