When the Music Ends (The Winter Rose Chronicles) (21 page)

            "Me
either."

            "Well
anyway, I would kiss you right there. And I would hold you close while you fell
asleep. I love you Erin."

            "I
love you too."

            "Good
night baby."

            "Good
night."

            "You
see," Sheridan said softly as the phone beeped signaling the end of the
call, "he loves you and he wants to talk to you. Just plan to call him
every night at bedtime, okay, and save yourself worrying about it."

            "Okay.
I’ll do that."

******

            The
next day, when Erin was at her oboe lesson, Sheridan called her mother.

            "Hi
Mom."

            "Hello
darling. How are you doing?"

            "I’m
great. I just finished reading some amazing poetry. Would you like to hear
it?"

            "Um…"
Mrs. Murphy was not a great lover of poetry and both of them knew it.

            "I’m
just kidding Mom. Listen, did Sean talk to you yesterday?"

            Ellen
didn’t even pretend not to know what her daughter was talking about.

            "He
did. I simply can’t imagine what came over them. Couldn’t you have
talked them out of it?"

            "Actually,
it was my idea."

            "What?
Why?"

            "I’ve
always known those two belonged together. I set them up in high school too.
They’re a great couple."

            "So
you’ve known about them all along? Why does no one tell me
anything?"

            "It
wasn’t the right time then. You know that. Our family, wonderful though
it is, was strained to its limits. Who knows what might have happened if there
had been a fight over a girlfriend. And even though Erin was only eighteen,
she’s always been older than the calendar admits, and was perfectly
marvelous with Sean. Now she’s twenty-two. I’m healing, everyone is
better, and it’s time for those two to come out and be a couple for the
world to see. It’s the perfect timing."

            "I
just don’t understand it at all. Why Erin for Sean?"

            "Why
not? We all know what a wonderful person she is. Mom, the question isn’t
why Erin. It’s why do you have a problem with her?"

            "I’m
not really sure. Something about it just feels wrong."

            "It’s
not wrong for them to be together. It’s ideal. You know, if you’re
saying, after everything that Erin has done for all of us, that she’s not
good enough to marry your son... Well it’s like she’s a servant or
something."

            "What?
I don’t appreciate that comment at all."

            "No
seriously, think about it. Erin’s good enough to cook our Thanksgiving
dinner, play her instrument for us, baby sit me until her own life nearly
passes her by, but not good enough to be Sean’s wife? What sense does
that make? Mom, you need to get over whatever is bothering you and let this
be."

            "That’s
what everyone keeps telling me. I’m not going to order her out of the
house."

            "But
will you welcome her into it?"

            Mrs.
Murphy didn’t say anything, and the conversation ended without any
further resolution.

Later that afternoon Ellen Murphy went to talk to her priest. She
had intended on just getting information about how a Catholic couple could turn
a civil marriage into a church sanctioned one. It was something she would
absolutely insist they do before Erin’s Christmas break was over. The
priest was very kind with her about the situation and she ended up pouring out
to him her concerns and frustration, and her hurt about being left out of such
a momentous decision from the very beginning. It felt good to vent to a
disinterested third party, but it wasn’t enough. The next time she saw Erin, she intended to give the girl a piece of her mind before she even considered
welcoming her into the family.

Unaware of her new mother-in-law’s intentions, Erin threw herself vigorously into finishing her second to last semester of university
studies. When she had free time, she attended to certain details such as
applying for a new social security card. She would keep using the last name
James while she was in school, but would add Murphy after it. Once she
graduated she intended to drop her parents’ last name altogether. Of course,
she practiced like a fiend. With Christmas approaching, there were so many
different performances she was involved in, from the university orchestra to
the woodwind group, to her end of semester juries, a playing test designed to
show her progress. Just for fun she also ferreted out a few pieces of sheet
music featuring Christmas songs for solo oboe. If the Murphys wanted her to
play for them again she would be ready.

            Finally,
there was only a week left, and it was a whopper: finals in all of her classes.
Her juries had taken place the previous week during dead days, and had been
fine, fully up to her usual standards. However, this week it was time for the
paper tests.

            Erin called Sean on Friday afternoon, clearly very upset.

            "What’s
wrong baby?"

            "You
know how I said I would be there by evening?"

            "Yes."

            "Well
there’s no way. I’ve been delayed on one of my finals and I have to
take it tonight. If I don’t take care of it, I’ll fail the class
and put my scholarship at risk. I don’t know how long it’s going to
take, but I won’t be there until very late."

            "That’s
okay. Don’t be upset. It’s fine. Take your test. Do your best.
I’ll wait up for you."

            "No,
don’t wait Sean. It could be after midnight before I get there. Go to
sleep. When you wake up in the morning, I’ll be there beside you."

            "Okay.
Good luck. I love you Erin."

            "I
love you too."

            Sean
did try to wait up for his wife, but he had been so busy working on the
surprise he was giving her for Christmas that by eleven he simply
couldn’t stay awake anymore and fell into a deep sleep.

            About
four hours later, Erin entered the apartment quietly. It had been terrible
trying to drive so far in the dark, after such a difficult week, but she had
managed it. She set her bag quietly on top of the dresser and approached the
bed. Sean, beautiful sexy Sean, her husband, was lying on his side, deeply
asleep and relaxed, the blanket riding low to reveal his powerful shoulder and
chest. He had left a little space for her beside him. She must be the luckiest
woman on earth to have such an amazing husband. She simply looked at him for
another moment, and then, having brushed her teeth before she left, she slid
into the bed beside him and pressed her body gently against his, her back to
his front, the way they always talked about on the phone.

            He
didn’t wake up, but stirred slightly, cuddling closer to her, his arm
falling over the soft curve of her waist. She pulled the covers over them both
and closed her eyes. It was so wonderful to be home.

******

            Sean
woke up rather early the next morning feeling very warm and comfortable. He
opened his eyes to see his wife snuggled close in front of him. His arms
tightened around her waist. She must have arrived very late for him not to be
aware of it. Silly girl. He hoped she had been able to drive safely. Not
wanting to wake her he kissed the top of her head gently and carefully lifted
his arm from her waist, rising slowly from the bed.

            He
just looked down at her for a moment, admiring her beautiful face, thinking of
all the decadent things he was going to do to her once she woke up.

            Smiling,
Sean walked into the kitchen to make some coffee.

            Around
nine, Sean walked back into the bedroom and knelt beside the bed, stroking
Erin’s hair and leaning down to kiss her softly on the lips. She stirred
and made a little humming noise.

            "Wake
up baby," he said softly.

            "Ugh,"
Erin groaned, "What time is it?"

            "Time
to get up. Listen, I know you haven’t had enough sleep, but if you sleep
all day you’ll be mixed up tomorrow too. How late did you get in?"

            "Around
three."

            "Oh
wow, that’s really late. Well, there’s some coffee for you if you
want it, and you need to have some breakfast too."

            "Why?"

            "I’m
sure you can guess. I intend to put you through your paces today little girl,
and it won’t do to have you getting faint from lack of
nourishment."

            Erin smiled.

            "That
sounds pretty intense. I can’t wait. Can’t we just get
started?"

            "Nope.
Food first."

            Erin stretched, the blanket falling away from her upper body and Sean pressed a soft kiss
to each of her breasts before extending a hand and helping her to her feet. She
stepped into the cradle of his arms for a long welcoming hug and then headed
into the kitchen in search of that coffee.

            She
sipped it as she poured cereal into a bowl and splashed milk on it, and then
sat down at the small table.

            Sean
joined her.

            "What
happened yesterday? Why did your test go so late?"

            "It
was the weirdest thing. That test was supposed to be Wednesday, first thing in
the morning. I got there, all ready to be done with political science forever,
and sat down, but after I had barely started, I got really sick. I actually had
to go to the bathroom and throw up. It was embarrassing. I guess the cafeteria
food wasn’t too good or something. The professor could see I wasn’t
up to working on it, and he said I could take it later. He would email me the
questions and I could work on them at my own pace, but that they were due by midnight Friday or it would be a zero. That sounded fine. I spent the rest of the morning
throwing up, but I was okay after that. He never sent me the questions though.
I called and left messages, emailed him, and looked at his office, but I
couldn’t find him. Finally on Friday I just waited for him. It was two
hours before he showed up. He had forgotten completely. So I stood there while
he sent the email, but then I had to go and take a final in one of my music
classes. That was supposed to be the last one. I finished around six, had some
dinner, and then started the test. It was so hard, and my grade in there
isn’t very good. If I aced the final, I could possibly get an A, but I
still had to do really well for a B. I don’t want to end up with a C, so
I worked my butt off on it."

            "One
C is not the end of the world."

            "I
know, but I don’t like it. I don’t even like getting a B, and
I’ve only had three of them so far: both semesters of chemistry and
algebra."

            "You’re
such a good student."

            "Thanks.
I do try hard. Anyway, I finished the test about ten and spent another hour
looking it over. Then I submitted it electronically, but I wasn’t about
to go until I got confirmation that he had received it. He didn’t do that
until midnight, and that’s when I was finally able to leave."

            "You
probably should have waited and come down in the morning," he told her seriously.

            "Sean,
I don’t want to sleep away from you one more night than I have to."

            "That’s
sweet, but please don’t risk your safety. We have a lifetime of nights to
spend together."

            "It’s
not enough."

Sean kissed her forehead. "So you’re feeling okay
now?"

"I think so. I do feel a little funny, but that’s
probably just fatigue."

"No doubt."

"Um, would it be okay for me to take a quick shower before we
get started? I feel kind of grungy."

"Okay. Don’t bother getting dressed afterwards
though." He winked at her.

Erin
shivered with delight and hurried into the
shower. While she was getting cleaned up, Sean deliberately lowered the
temperature in the apartment slightly. It was freezing outside and the small
adjustment made a big difference. He grinned. This was going to be fun.

Soon, Erin emerged, dripping. She dried off quickly and ran a comb
through her wet hair before searching for her husband. He was sitting on the
sofa flipping mindlessly through the television channels when she intentionally
stepped between him and the screen. He looked up. Erin was completely naked.
Between her damp skin and the coldness of the room, her nipples were harder
than he had ever seen. They were also exactly level with his face. Beautiful.
He wrapped both arms around her waist and pulled her to kneel straddling his
lap.