The Charm Bracelet(62)

Arden vigorously shook her head no. Jake chuckled and walked over, wrapping one muscular arm around Arden’s waist and pulling her into the room. Upon her entrance, he lifted the trumpet to his lips and played a dramatic flourish, as if she were royalty.

Arden giggled.

“We have a surprise visitor!” Jake announced in a faux English accent. “A queen of words!”

The seniors smiled, some giggling along with Arden.

Jake gave Arden a surprise peck on the cheek and whispered into her ear, “It’s good to see you. I’m in the middle of music therapy. It can really help patients with MCI and dementia recall memories from their past.”

Arden again thought of the snow woman, and then of the snowflake charm.

“Actually,” Arden said aloud, surprising Jake as well as herself, “I do have a request: ‘Let It Snow.’”

A few of the seniors clapped their approval.

Jake bent at the waist. “Anything for m’lady.”

And, with that, Jake lifted his trumpet, and Arden could have sworn she was once again in the middle of winter, happy for the holidays.

*

“So? What prompted this surprise?” Jake asked, taking a healthy bite of the roasted turkey sandwich that Arden had picked up at a farm stand and deli on her way to see him. “This sandwich is awesome. It’s like we had planned this.”

Arden smiled at the deeper meaning of his sentence. As she watched Jake eat, she thought of the little farm that had seemed to call to her—like the dream she had last night—as she was driving. The farm stand was beyond adorable. It was lined with baskets overflowing with homegrown produce: blueberries, early white asparagus, eggs, fresh herbed chèvre, beets, lettuce, and spinach. The deli was operated out of a restored barn, its old doors pushed open so you could see right through to the fields beyond, which were filled with bleating goats jumping around like excited children.

A man and woman draped in aprons ran the stand and deli, and they seemed to communicate to one another without saying a word.

Just a few weeks ago, I wouldn’t have stopped there, Arden thought. I wouldn’t be here. I want what that old couple have. I want what my parents had.

“I was supposed to call you for a date.”

“What?” Arden asked, returning from her thoughts.

“I was supposed to call you for a date.” Jake stopped, his eyes twinkling. “Remember? So? Is this a date?” he continued, raising his eyebrows and nudging Arden with his knees.

“I’m the writer,” she said. “Let’s call it a meet-and-greet.”

“Wow,” he said, taking another bite of his sandwich. “So romantic.”

The two were sitting on facing benches outside Lakeview. It was one of those stunning May days, as Lolly used to say, that made her “soul ache.”

Arden took a bite of her kale salad dotted with tart Michigan cherries and shook her head. She couldn’t contain her smile.

I feel as giddy as a schoolgirl, she thought.

Arden lifted her face to the sky and let the sun warm her. The sun was playing hide-and-go-seek through the branches of the apple trees that circled the patio where they sat. The two had it all to themselves. No one else was eating outside. A clematis vine was just crawling to life on a trellis next to them, its green arms slowly stretching heavenward. Soon it would be filled with luscious, white blooms.

Arden inhaled.

It’s not the only thing coming to life, she thought.

The scene felt so romantic, so sweet, that the two could have easily been dining on a tree-lined street in Paris.

It just feels so right, Arden thought.

As the two ate, their knees touched. Each time they did, a sudden sensor of heat and excitement pulsed through Arden’s legs and body. She tried to act nonchalant, although she felt as if her heart were thumping out of her chest.

“I didn’t know you played the trumpet,” Arden said. “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

Jake smiled. “I’m a man of mystery, I guess.”

“Did you take music in college?” Arden asked.

“Minored in music,” he said. “Played trumpet all through college … orchestra, jazz band, marching band … you name it.”

Explains the muscular lips, Arden thought, again turning red.

“A real Renaissance man, huh?” she asked.

“I never thought of it like that,” he said, gesturing with his sandwich. “I always just pursued what I liked.”

Jake shot Arden a look as he finished the sentence, and then winked at her to reinforce the double entendre.

Arden’s heart raced again.

“I like you, Arden,” Jake said suddenly. “I know all of this—me, your mother’s health—is a lot to take in, but I just want to be honest.”

Arden’s eyes met Jake’s, but she couldn’t match his words for some reason.

Being honest with my feelings has never come easily, she thought.

“Do you even realize how much you’ve changed over the last week?” Jake asked.

Arden nodded. “I think I’m starting to see.”

“You’re becoming a whole person again,” Jake said. “Daughter, mother, friend, caregiver, reader, writer,… date…”

Arden laughed. “Again with the date?”