Everything You Are(102)
He begins to play a haunting melody, his eyes focused on hers all the while. “Allie’s going to need a new cello—the two of us are close to fighting over this one. I’m afraid I’m as obsessed as I ever was.”
Phee follows the music, hears the beating of his heart in it, the mystery of his soul.
“I can’t imagine any woman being able to cope with that.” His eyes ask the question he leaves unspoken.
Will you—can you—follow me into the music, Phee?
In answer, she crosses the room and lifts her violin from the stand. A moment to tune it, then she tucks it under her chin, lifts the bow, and twines her own music around his, joining him in the place that goes deeper than words.
For half an instant, she catches a glimpse of her grandfather standing in the doorway, translucent as mist. He bows formally.
“Well done,” she hears him say. He blows her a kiss, then melts into the music and is gone.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Every book is born out of an idea. This one, the concept of a cello with a life of its own, was particularly fragile and might never have come into being were it not for the encouragement of my agent and my editor, both of whom gave me the green light to go ahead.
Deidre, thank you for your support, encouragement, and wise guidance. And Jodi, your willingness to brainstorm, discuss, and work out book ideas is an incredible blessing.
Thank you so much to Heather Webb for the almost overnight read born of a way-too-tight deadline, and to my Viking for asking all of the important continuity questions.
To Marcella, my early-morning writing companion—thank you for your friendship and support, for holding me accountable, and for the virtual tour of the Ballard area.
Huge thanks to Jenna Free, my developmental editor, for not only agreeing to act as my guide for a hands-on tour of Ballard, but for driving out of the way to find me when I managed to get lost despite a perfectly good GPS system. Also, thank you for pushing me to go deeper with this story.
Celeste, thank you so much for being my invaluable cello consultant.
Megan and Linda, thank you for giving me the names Jo and Mitch—they turned out to be perfect and helped to shape the characters.
To all of my readers, thank you so much for sharing the magic of story with me. Without you, there would be no point to any of what I do.
Last of all, my thanks to all of the people who have brought music into my life, both music teachers and musicians, because I agree with Friedrich Nietzsche. Without music, what would be the point?