Chapter 13

Chapter

Thirteen

Over breakfast the next morning, Nico asked his mother, “Are you certain Sister Mary Gertrude didn’t say anything else about why Father Andrew wanted Matty to come to his office?”

“I am quite sure, Nicolo. The little nun was so skittish she could barely look at me, and only asked if I knew of Matty’s whereabouts because Father Andrew wanted him immediately. I promise you that was all.”

“It’s so odd that he didn’t return. I’m going to head over to his house and find out what happened. If he’s not there, I’ll go to the church.” He looked at Eden and said, “Why don’t you stay and relax, and hopefully I’ll be back soon—maybe even with Matty. But if I can find Father Andrew too, I’ll talk to him about a wedding.”

“I guess I can wait here, but isn’t there anything I can do? ”

“Why don’t you spend the time thinking about how you want to get married and getting to know my mother better? At some point, we’ll want to find our own place to live, so take advantage of her company while you can.”

Suzette spoke up, “We can definitely talk about wedding plans, Nicolo. I will take care of your Eden. But do not be gone long. She may become bored with my company.”

Eden chuckled. “Never.”

Rising from the table, Nico added, “I also need to talk to Doc Louis soon about starting back to work at the clinic.”

With a concerned expression, Eden said, “If you’re leaving right now, I’ll see you to the door.” They made their way out of the dining room and out of earshot before she asked, “Mentioning Doc Louis brought up another of my concerns, and I would rather ask you about it privately.” She looked down and gathered her thoughts while Nico stared at her. Facing him, she asked quietly, “How badly do you want me to work in the clinic? That isn’t one of the main reasons you asked me to marry you, is it?”

Nico’s eyebrows shot up. “Eden, no! Of course it isn’t. Remember I said you could choose to work there or not, and it was completely up to you. While I would welcome your company and think you might want to utilize the skills you learned in nursing school, I also think you may be less interested in a strenuous job while you’re pregnant. If it were all up to me, I would honestly prefer that you didn’t work in the clinic—or if you wanted to be there in some capacity, perhaps you could take on something physically easy to handle. I want to make sure you stay healthy. There are lots of jobs that are probably unsuitable for a pregnant woman. I hope you haven’t been fretting about it or thinking that I wanted to take advantage of you in some way.”

“Not really. I’m convinced you love me, but I worry sometimes and just wanted to be certain. The truth is, I don’t think I have the energy to do much work. Maybe that will get better with time. I don’t want to be in the way or be a detriment to your medical practice.”

Nico pulled Eden into his arms and kissed the top of her head. “How about this? You made some friends at your school, so maybe you can think of one or two of them you’d like to offer the job to. Surely with the dedicated ladies you studied with, there is someone suitable and hardworking you think would enjoy living in Los Angeles. Why don’t you write some letters and see who might be interested?”

“Oh, Nico, I think most of them are interested in finding jobs. The employment prospects for those women aren’t at all promising, so if you could provide jobs for a couple of them, that would be wonderful. I’ll write some letters right away. Thank you.” She stood on her tiptoes and planted a kiss on his lips. “Good luck finding Matty. I hope everything is right with him.”

“Have I told you today how much I love your smile, Eden?” He gave her another hug .

“You just did. Now go find our man and bring him back to us.”

“And I love how this attitude of yours is developing.” He kissed her and was off.

Eden turned back toward the dining room where Suzette was saying goodbye to her husbands who were ready to head off to work. Walter was dressed in an impeccably tailored suit, and Isaac wore clean but casual work clothes. He was telling them about an order he’d received to make instruments for a Boston music school. Besides designing and building fabulous furniture, Isaac was a talented and sought-after luthier. This was all new to Eden, who had not been around musicians before.

Isaac said, “I finally have all of the wood I need to complete the order. It’s going to be a rewarding job to do.”

“That sounds so interesting,” Eden exclaimed.

“Would you like to see the studio where I make them?”

“Oh, I would. Thank you.”

“It’s just a five-minute walk from here. We have all of the businesses together in one area. You can see what we all do if you like. Suzette, darling, why don’t you come too, and then you ladies can walk home together? I have a new violin I’d love to show you. Maybe you’d like to try it out.”

“Absolutely! We can be ready shortly,” Suzette answered, looking at Eden.

Not long after that, Isaac was proudly showing Eden around his special studio reserved just for instrument making. When he finished the tour, he pulled a shiny new violin off the wall, tuned it quickly, and grabbed a bow. He launched into a sweet piece of music that caused Eden’s jaw to drop.

“What is that?” she whispered to Suzette.

“Mozart,” Suzette replied almost reverently. “Oh, Isaac, the tone is magnificent.”

Isaac stopped playing and handed the instrument and bow off to Suzette. She played a couple scales, grinned, and then launched into something else, nodding to Isaac. He picked up another violin and seamlessly joined her.

Eden looked questioningly at Walter who stood watching with stars in his eyes. He turned to Eden and proclaimed, “This is a Haydn duet they play sometimes to warm up.” He sighed. “I am the luckiest man in the world.”

While the music was pretty, it wasn’t something Eden could say she adored. But the piece drew to a finish, and Isaac put down his instrument, saying, “Go on, Suzette, show Eden what you can do.”

Suzette launched into a piece that looked impossible. Her fingers and the bow danced over the strings as the most amazing sounds Eden had ever imagined poured out of the violin. There wasn’t a sound in the building except for her music. The men in the next room even stopped their work and approached the door to watch and enjoy. This was music like nothing Eden had ever imagined, and Suzette was creating it!

When she was finished and took a modest bow to everyone’s applause, Isaac explained, “That composition was written by an old friend and mentor of Suzette’s, Nicolo Paganini—the most famous violinist ever. We named Nicolo after him.” He laughed. “Such irony.”

“Oh my,” was all Eden could say. “Thank you.”

Briskly, Walter announced, “Ladies, Isaac, I must get going or I’ll be late for my meeting. Thank you for the wonderful treat, as always.” He planted a kiss on Isaac’s and then Suzette’s lips and rushed off.

Isaac too looked as if he was anxious to get back to work, so Eden and Suzette headed for home. It was a glorious sunny day, and Suzette waved and greeted several people along the way. A couple of times she introduced neighbors to Eden, explaining that the younger woman was Nicolo’s fiancée. Everyone had something nice to say. Eden couldn’t believe how lovely everything was.

She knew how Walter felt. Perhaps she was the luckiest woman in the world.