Page 81 (1/1)

"I guess itmy voice, unsure of what to say beyond that He stared at"I never would have guessed you would have reacted like that…that you even thought of me after you left I didn’t know you…you cared" I finished ineptly, unable to co at his confession

"I did, and I do," Saht line, his eyes onfaint The water fro hair found its way down my back, and I shivered violently Samuel reached down and took my hand, and alked back towards the truck, the blanket trailing behind me He stooped and picked up the cooler and set it in the back as he opened my door and helped me in

With the heater on full blast, we drove back towards Levan Music tinkled softly froie I had always loved this piece Rachmaninoff was considered one of the finest pianists of his day Sonja had a live recording of hiht me to tears when I had first heard it It had been many years since I had enjoyed the expressive breadth and the rich lyricism in his piece Hesitantly, I reached up and slid the volu the lass

"This is my favorite piece of h as the hed

"You always did love Rachmaninoff" I remembered the first time he had heard Rachmaninoff on the bus and his reaction to the power and the intensity of Prelude in C Sharp Minor "Rachreat Roed by thepopular Once, in an interview, he said that the modern music of the new composers ritten more in the head than the heart TheirHe said the modern composers ‘think and reason and analyze and brood, but they do not exalt’" I held up two fingers on each hand and wiggled them to indicate quotation marks "I looked up the word ‘exalt’ in the dictionary when SonjaI liked best was to "nify, to praise, to extol Rachie because it is what yearning sounds like" Samuel stared ahead as he spoke

I stared at Samuel for a moment, ie actually means lament Some say Rachmaninoff was depressed when he wrote it, but there’s such pronounced hope woven throughout the piece that I tend to think, in spite of his suggested ie wasn’t an expression of defeat - he was justyearning" I shtly as I echoed his si early on in his career His philosophy was one rooted in spiritualism - he wanted to create beauty and truth in hisIt’s ironic that he gave his last major interview in 1941, when the world was at war The world needed truth and beauty then h Nephi and out on to the long ridge connecting the shts of Levan twinkled before us, and we pulled into the sleepy little town, turning on to a pot-holed side street, driving past the bar and the old church before heading up the diravel in front of one on his way to Moab and the beckoning Book Cliffs

"Would you like to couys, and I couldyummy to eat I think I have ice crea to put on top?" I waggled my eyebrows at him in the diuys?"

"Oh you know, I’m here all alone, the house is dark Just look under the beds andin ht?" His broere lowered with concern over his black eyes

"Nope I just wanted to give you a reason to come inside"

His expression cleared, and his voice lowered even further "Aren’t you reason enough?"

I felt the heat rise in my face "Hmmm," was all I said

"Josie"

"Yes?"

"I would love to come in"

We clihts and excused myself for a minute I ran upstairs to my little attic roo for so to wear – sweats? No Pajaers through lets - h! I spritzed myself with lavender and pulledtoo hard I left ot a little tangled up, and I ca off the last stair into the washroom like a bat out of hell I steadied myself on the dryer and took a deep breath "Geez! Calm dooman!" I told myself sternly When Saooseflesh and hormones "That’s just e need, fall down the stairs and spend the rest of the time Samuel has in Levan on crutches," I muttered

I walked into the kitchen where I’d left Saathered the butter, evaporated ar, vanilla, and cocoa powder as we chatted about this and that Soon the shed in contents of cookie dough ice creaenerous amounts of hot chocolate over the top