Montana Sky

Chapter 13: A Rose Under the April Snow

Love soft as an easy chair
Love fresh as the morning air
One love that is shared by two
I have found in you
Like a rose under the April snow
I was always certain love would grow
Love ageless and evergreen
Seldom seen by two
– Barbra Streisand: Evergreen (Theme from A Star Is Born) –

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Stefani stared miserably at the keys of the old, grand piano she was sitting by, running her fingers lightly across the black and white; the instrument was absolutely lovely, old-fashioned and decorated with a beautiful script of the manufacturer's name, but after several years in the storage room, it was also terribly out of tune. Bradley, Thomas and Tim had very carefully moved it to the living room on the evening before and Mary had spent a good while dusting and cleaning it with Lea's eager help, but as much as Stefani itched to play, her sensitive musician's ear had been able to tell immediately that until the gorgeous piano was tuned properly, using it would probably only serve to create damage. And due to the impending snowstorm, it was going to be at least a few days until the tuner was able to come from Bozeman, so she had no other option than to wait; sighing, she continued to caress the keys softly, lifting her head and turning her eyes to the cloudy, cold early afternoon. A few snowflakes were slowly falling already, the sky starting to get ominously dark.

Her day hadn't gotten off to the best start; not only was the piano unusable, but during her appointment at the hospital, her doctor had told her that although her collarbone and shoulder were improving nicely, she still needed to wear the sling at least until her next appointment two weeks from now. After some whining from her part, he had given her permission to spend a little time daily playing the piano once it was fixed; chuckling at her overflowing gratitude, the doctor had pointed out he wasn't going to be the one to keep Lady Gaga away from music entirely, but the sling was to still stay on for most part. Apart from that, the visit had been successful: her concussion was well on the mend, the stitches were removed from her forehead, no one had spotted her and Stefani had left the hospital in relatively high spirits until they had come crashing down following Bradley's trip to the supermarket.

No Fruity Pebbles.

He had been very apologetic and her pouting face had amused Natali greatly on the drive home; upon hearing of this disaster, Mary had saved the day by calling the manager of the grocery store in Big Timber whom she had gone to school with, asking if there was anything he could do to help. As a result, a big box of the cereal was now on its way over from a wholesaler near the state capital of Helena; Stefani had shed some happy tears at the news, feeling very amazed and at the same time very silly, starting to apologize for creating such a mountain out of a molehill, but Mary had only hugged her gently, assuring her there was no need. She really was more and more grateful every second for all these incredible people, for getting them into her life just when she had clearly needed them the most.

Watching out to the yard, she saw Bradley make his way towards the horse paddocks; he and everyone else were busy with some last-minute preparations before the storm front would arrive fully. Natali had gone to help out too and the house was empty apart from Stefani, Lea who was asleep upstairs and Willow dozing on the couch; the blonde's duty right now was to babysit and she was perfectly happy doing that, though hoping she might still have time to take a quick trip outside, to make sure her little calf was okay in the shed. She kept her eyes on Bradley for as long as she was able to see him, shivers of warmth and love and desire moving through her like always when he was in her vision, a soft smile on her face.

"You're the one that I've been waiting for..." she hummed to herself, the lyric appearing out of nowhere; she quickly reached for her phone, typed the words down. Willow awoke, stretching luxuriously on the couch and Stefani smiled at the cat, her brain working hard to produce more verses, or perhaps they were coming straight from her heart.