Lucy ~ the Clarinetist by Judy Ann Davis

Author:Judy Ann Davis
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Judy Ann Davis

Chapter 8

Lucy looked at Andre and a mischievous glint flickered in her eyes. She raised her fingers to her lips and giggled, and then reached up to smooth down her rumpled hair. “How about you get the front door, Romeo, and I’ll get the back?”

He groaned. “Whoever it is, for Pete’s sake, kill them if you can’t get rid of them.”

Smiling and winding her way through the kitchen and billiard room to the back door, she was surprised to see Lewis Schmidt, the high school band director, standing on the porch.

“Why, Mr. Schmidt, how nice to see you. I was hoping that we’d get to cross paths.” Earlier in the week, she had been compiling a list of all the music directors, town musicians, and instrumental groups so she could determine their interest in performing at the barn theater.

He pushed his hands deep into his pockets and offered her a slight smile. “It’s Lewis, please. I bumped into your brother Clay in town, and he said you were here at the Mayer Farm checking out the work in the barn and helping Andre Almanza select colors schemes for the house.”

“Yes.” The corners of her mouth turned upward. “Andre has decided the house needs some tender loving updates.” She felt her face grow warm. The last thing they were doing was far from choosing paint chips. But it was tender and loving.

“Let’s sit in the kitchen,” she suggested. She gestured for him to follow her through the billiard room to the kitchen. “Please have a seat. Can I interest you in a cup of coffee?”

He chose a chair at the end of the table, and Lucy slid in perpendicular to him. He was a tall, slender man with dark hair starting to gray at the temples. A graduate of Syracuse University, he had been a young band director when she was a senior in high school.

“No. No, thank you.” He shook his head. “I was just stopping by to see when the barn theater might be ready for performances. You know my wife, Carol, is an English teacher at the high school and also in charge of the high school’s thespian club. But that’s not why I’m here. I recently started a small high school orchestra, complete with strings and a harp. We’re working on some Christmas music to perform somewhere in town during the holidays. If the barn theater was complete, I thought it might be the perfect place to help the kids get some exposure. I really don’t want the stringed instruments out in the weather playing at the annual town’s Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony.” He grimaced. “However, I doubt that old Nettie Jones would allow us. She seems to be very possessive of having only her students perform.”

“Yes, my sister-in-law, June Ciaffonni, tangled with her a year or so ago. Nettie is a treat to meet.”

“Perhaps she’ll change her tune and work cooperatively with others once the barn theater is up and running.” His gaze darted around the room from ceiling to floor.

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