The Piano Teacher

Chapter 24

It was a pale, cloudy day, but that didn't take away from the ecstatic mood Charlotte had been in for the last few days. All the windows in the cabin were open, chilly autumn air billowing in, mixing with the warm scents of baked yams, roasting turkey, gravy, and other delicacies.

She tended to the large wood stove, listening to the sizzling of food in the iron pans as she cooked. Her uncle busied himself by sweeping dust from the floor outside the wide-open door. It seemed like it was the first time in her life that she wasn't tired at all. Nothing bothered her. She didn't think about her father, she didn't think about money, she didn't think about any pain in her heart.

She just thought about Nels Oleson joining them for Thanksgiving dinner.

"Uncle, don't forget to sweep the corners," she said, glancing at him over her shoulder.

"Yes, ma'am," he chuckled. "Don't know why you're so concerned about the cabin lookin' tidy. You never concerned yourself with it before."

"Well, we so rarely have guests," she said. She kept checking on the apple pie in the oven, making sure it was golden brown before she took it out to rest.

"It's a fine thing that you invited Nels to join us," said Samuel, sweeping a cloud of dust out the door. "Otherwise, I figure he'd be sittin' alone. Though I imagine you're tired of seein' him by now since you just about see him every day at the mercantile."

She laughed, mixing a big pot full of beef stew and another pot loaded with mashed potatoes. Everything she made was from her mother's old recipes. She had memorized them all a long time ago. She used to experiment with cookbooks but found that nothing was better than her mother's way of cooking.

She was glad that the cooking kept her occupied because otherwise, she believed she would have been positively jittery. Ever since her attempt at playing Etude No. 6 for Mr. Oleson, her deep affection for him had grown even deeper. So deep that she didn't even think of the pointlessness of her feelings.

For once, she just enjoyed the feeling, the pure euphoria she would experience when she was near him, when she thought of him. It just seemed that the more she got to know him, the more reasons she had to love him. As long as she could keep her feelings hidden, she could enjoy them in isolation. They were harmless when they were just in her mind.

She could manage with the small, innocent tokens of affection Nels occasionally gave her: a touch of the shoulder, a kiss on the forehead.... The kiss he gave her just a few days ago revitalized her in a way she never thought possible. She thought about it every other moment.

The pressure of his lips against her skin, his warm hands holding her face, muttering, I'm proud of you.

She wanted to play the Etude for him again. That song struck her with such mortification, but for Nels Oleson, just for him... she wanted to try it again. He believed in her even when she was unsure. She felt if only she could play that song, she could show him who she used to be. The better version of herself, before she was lost in chaos.

"Do you see him yet?" she asked, glancing at her uncle who stood just outside the door with his hands on his hips.

"Not yet," he replied, turning back inside. "Refreshin' day today. Glad I got the day off. Haven't had a wink of rest in a while."

She was glad to be back in the cabin with her uncle. It was comforting to have him around, but ever since he fell ill, she worried more about him. It was only a slight, distant worry, but the incident showed her that even her uncle, who she always assumed was the closest thing to invincible, was only mortal. The idea of anything bad happening to him was a terrifying thought.