Whispers Of The Heart

He reached out to lay a gentle hand on the puppy’s head, rubbing a small ear, while the back of his fingers brushed against Autumn’s inner arm; she lifted her gaze to his, her mouth softening in compassion as he continued to speak. “I couldn’t let Timmy down by not taking both.”

“Yes, I—I can understand that.”

“But this is my problem. My mom is allergic to dogs and cats. She visits us quite a lot. It’s enough to ask for her to deal with one little dog in our house. So to take two…”

He shook his head again and withdrew his hand, shoving it into his pocket as though to imply he’d done all he could.

“Oh.”

He let her think about it, turning to see what Timmy was doing. The boy stood with his chin against her worktable, looking at a sheet of paper half covered with flashes of color.

“Tim, don’t touch,” he reminded the boy.

“Okay.”

The puppy wiggled and yelped at the sound of Timmy’s voice. Autumn gazed at the tiny body, wonder still lurking in her eyes. “I think she wants you, Timmy.”

“She does?”

“Perhaps you could give her a saucer of milk,” Brent suggested, by way of sidetracking Autumn’s thought. He didn’t want her to think the dog couldn’t live without Timmy or adjust to her.

“Oh, dear. I’m out of milk.”

“How about a bowl of water, then?”

“I can manage that.” She went to her cupboard and one-handedly lifted out a cereal bowl, turning on her sink tap to fill it. The puppy almost jumped out of her arm in excitement, making her laugh.

Brent had never heard her uninhibited laugh until now. It sounded all through him like a bell that reverberated against his bones. Or his heart.

“Do you have any newspapers?” Brent asked, strolling toward her at her kitchen counter.

“No, but I don’t care about this old rug.” She set the bowl down on the rag rug she kept in front of her kitchen sink, then folded herself down alongside it and gently placed the puppy nearby. The dog eagerly lapped a few swallows, then began sniffing and investigating her new terrain.

“Tim, don’t get into anything over there,” Brent reminded again, strolling over to the studio area. He glanced at some of the work she had stacked around.

More still lifes in watercolor, but some were cityscapes, scenes taken from her windows. Shadows played differently against some of the same views, reflecting they were painted at different times of day. But among the smaller sheets against the bookcase, an image of a small boy holding a doughnut, his face smeared with chocolate icing, captured Brent’s attention.

He recalled that morning clearly. Autumn had, too. She’d caught the very essence of a boy’s pleasure in a simple treat.

“This is really nice,” he said, nodding toward the painting. Autumn glanced up, then rose to join him as Timmy lay down on the rug to play with the puppy. He picked up the sheet and studied the composition. “You have an excellent eye for faces. You must sell it to me, please. I wonder…”

“Oh, I couldn’t sell that one,” she said casually, although the pink staining her cheeks told Brent she didn’t exactly feel casual about the work. Or the compliment? “You may have it, though. In exchange for the puppy.”

She didn’t look at him as she shuffled some of her dry, unfinished sheets into a portfolio. She swished a brush in a can of water, and replaced tubes of paint into a compartmentalized case. Behind her, a stepladder, painted with trailing vines, leaned against the bookshelves, additional evidence of what she’d been doing.

“Thank you, I accept,” he said quietly. “My mother will be delighted with it.”

“A fair exchange.” She remained quiet a moment, then asked, “What do you wonder?”

“Hmm…?” He’d been looking at the portrait of his son, his gaze tracing the way she’d captured the very shape of his eyes. He glanced up.

“Oh. I have a new project I’m very excited about. A church building. It’s a hundred-plus-year-old inner-city location that a young minister hopes to revitalize and bring back to life. I don’t know where his financing came from, but he seems to have a free hand and he has big plans for it.”

“That sounds nice. What has it to do with me?”

“I think…I think you should come see it.”

“Oh? Why?”

“I’d rather show you. Why don’t we take a run over there and I’ll tell you about it.”

“Tell me about it now.”

“All right,” he said, letting out a sigh. He wished she’d just trust him a little more. “David—Reverend Collier—and I have had several long talks about the restoration of the building and grounds. Though there isn’t much left to the grounds. And the building was put up in three stages, so what we really have are three buildings connected. There’s a long connecting hall, a corridor, really, one side almost all glass windows. The blank wall is crying out for a mural—”

“Oh, no.” She shook her head, a firm set to her chin. “I don’t think I want to tackle anything of that size.”

“You can’t say no out of hand. You haven’t heard my suggestion.”

“Why can’t I? And I can guess at what you wondered, and the answer is no. I don’t want to take on that much outside work. I don’t like crowds.”

“But Autumn, this is a very special project. I think you’ll be interested once you see it. It’s not your usual request, you have to admit. And what have crowds to do with it?”

She turned to face him, her back against the table. Only her fingers showed a tightness, curved around the table edge. “Churches have crowds. They’re made for bunches of people. Mobs of ’em. Their intention, their very purpose is to draw humanity together.” She pursed her mouth. “Uh-uh. I don’t think so.”

“Autumn…” He leaned a hip against the table at her side, watching her fold her hands tightly in front of her. Her objection struck him as nonsense, but he kept his irritation wrapped tightly and hidden from view by lowering his voice to a persuasive tone.

She couldn’t possibly be serious. Surely she exaggerated her antipathy toward crowds simply as an excuse to say no.

However, he was practiced in dealing with opposite views and stubborn people, having earned that hard-won skill during many a civic meeting. One of his strengths lay in presenting any given scenario or argument in a positive light.

“Don’t say no just yet, please. You haven’t even seen it. This church hasn’t yet regained its crowds, even though that’s what the new minister is hoping to find.

“And you wouldn’t be doing the work during the worship hours, now would you? The church is empty ninety percent of the time except for the building crew, who won’t even be in that part of the building. And David, of course, and a part-time secretary.

“The section you’d be working in was built sometime in the sixties and its structure is fine, so you wouldn’t likely run into the labor crew. But it does need something to make it attractive and David and I discussed using that long hall for a Biblical mural of some kind.”

“I don’t know much about the Bible.”

“Well, that shouldn’t stop you from researching it. And I’m sure David will consult with you.”

He paused long enough to take a breath and deepen his plea. “Autumn, if you could capture Timmy from memory like you did, I know you’d be perfect to do this hall. Why don’t you at least come see what I’m talking about?”

“Well…”

“If not now, then one morning later this week?”

A long moment of silence fell between them before she said, very tentatively, “Early? Before there’s likely to be a lot of people about?”

“As early as you want. At first light, even.”

“All right. I’ll come see the site, but I’m making no promises.”

“It’s a deal,” Brent said, offering his hand. He liked shaking hands on a deal. He felt the old-fashioned way of doing business, the way his grandfather had conducted his own, held a code of honor that covered more than sometimes appeared in mere printed contracts.

Slowly, she placed her hand in his; she had long fingers, which felt softer against his palm than he’d anticipated. He held it a moment before letting go, giving her hand a firm clasp. He had to force himself to let go—he’d wanted to hold on, to brush his thumb across the silky texture. Instead, he briskly set a time for later in the week.

Then, already certain of her answer, said, “Tomorrow is Easter Sunday. Want to come with Tim and me to celebrate?”

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