From the Heart

awhile.” When he laid her on the bed, Kasey reached out to him.
    “Sleep with me.”
    Jordan pulled back the covers and drew her into his arms.
     
    It was late afternoon when Kasey woke. She remembered when Jordan had left her, urging her to stay and sleep. She had pulled him back for a kiss that had led to another storm of loving. A glance at his clock told her he had left more than an hour before.
    Lazy, she told herself and stretched. If he had still been with her, Kasey would have found it no effort to roll over and go back to sleep. She pictured him down in the study working. She still had a job, she reminded herself. She pulled herself from bed and dressed.
    Halfway down the stairs, she heard Alison practicing the piano. Beethoven this time. A lovely piece played without interest. She paused in the doorway and watched. She’s doing her duty, Kasey thought with a stir of sympathy.
    “Did you know Beethoven was considered quite a revolutionary in his day?” Alison’s head shot up at Kasey’s voice. She’d been waiting to hear it since she’d returned from school. Kasey smiled and crossed to her. “His music is so full of power.”
    Alison glanced down at her fingers. “Not when I play it. Uncle Jordan said you were sleeping.”
    “I was.” Kasey stroked a hand down Alison’s hair. “You play very well, Alison, but you don’t put yourself into it.”
    “It’s important to have a firm basis in the classics,” Alison stated. Kasey could hear Beatrice in the words and bit back a sigh.
    “Music is one of the greatest pleasures in life.”
    Alison shrugged and frowned at the notes. “I don’t think I like music. I might be tone deaf.”
    This time Kasey struggled with a grin. “That could be a problem.” An idea shot into her head. “Hang on a minute.”
    She bounded from the room. Alison heaved a sigh andwent back to Beethoven. She was still fighting with the notes when Kasey returned.
    “This is a good friend of mine,” Kasey informed her and set down a guitar case. “He’s good company,” she went on as she pulled the battered instrument from the case. “He travels well. I don’t.” She smiled at Alison and was satisfied that she had caught the child’s interest. “I can take him with me on a dig or on a lecture tour which makes him more practical for me than a piano. I need music.” She began to tune the guitar as she spoke. Alison rose from the piano stool to take a closer look. “It relaxes me, pleases me, soothes my nerves. It’s also nice to play and do the same for someone else.”
    “I never thought about it that way.” Alison reached out to touch the neck of the guitar. “You can’t play Beethoven on this.”
    “Oh, no?” Drawing on memory, Kasey began to play the movement Alison had been practicing.
    Alison’s eyes widened. She knelt down to watch more carefully. “It doesn’t sound the same.”
    “Different instrument.” Kasey stopped to cup the child’s chin. “Different feeling. Music comes in all forms, Alison, but it’s still music.” Why doesn’t anyone take the time to talk with this child? Kasey wondered. She soaks up words like a sponge.
    “Will you play something else?” Alison settled down at Kasey’s feet. “It sounds beautiful.”
    “Maybe you’re not tone deaf after all.” Kasey smiled at her as she began to play again.
    Jordan stood in the doorway and watched them. Would she ever stop surprising him? he thought. It wasn’t her playing that surprised him. If he had learned she had conducted an orchestra, he wouldn’t have batted an eye. He doubted there was anything she couldn’t do. But her capacity to give and draw love overwhelmed him. Was she born with it? Did she learn it? Was she even aware of the power she had?
    Alison loved her. He could see it in her eyes. She simply accepted Kasey for what she was and loved. There were no questions, no doubts. And Kasey gave it back to her in the same way. But I have doubts, he mused. And questions. She’sright again. When we grow up, we lose the talent for loving without restrictions.
    Kasey glanced up and saw him. A smile moved across her face. “Hello, Jordan. This is the music appreciation hour.”
    He returned the smile. “Am I invited?”
    “Uncle Jordan.” Alison scrambled up and forgot to brush out the creases in her skirt. “You should hear Kasey play. She’s wonderful.”
    “I did.” He glanced at Kasey again. “You are.”
    “Alison was having a little difficulty