“Let’s go backstage,” Lara said.
Keller turned to look at her. Her voice was trembling with excitement.
The backstage entrance was at the side of the orchestra shell. A guard stood at the door, keeping the crowd out. Keller said, “Miss Cameron is here to see Mr. Adler.”
“Is he expecting you?” the guard asked.
“Yes,” Lara said.
“Wait here, please.” A moment later the guard returned. “You can go in, Miss Cameron.”
Lara and Keller walked into the greenroom. Philip was in the center of a crowd that was congratulating him.
“Darling, I’ve never heard Beethoven played so exquisitely. You were unbelievable…”
Philip was saying, “Thank you…”
“…thank you…with music like that, it’s easy to be inspired…”
“…thank you…Andre is such a brilliant conductor…”
“…thank you…I always enjoy playing at the Bowl…”
He looked up and saw Lara, and again there was that smile. “Excuse me,” he said. He made his way through the crowd, toward her. “I had no idea you were in town.”
“We just flew in this morning. This is Howard Keller, my associate.”
“Hello,” Keller said curtly.
Philip turned to a short, heavyset man, standing behind him. “This is my manager, William Ellerbee.” They exchanged hellos.
Philip was looking at Lara. “There’s a party tonight at the Beverly Hilton. I was wondering…”
“We’d love to,” Lara said.
When Lara and Keller arrived at the Beverly Hilton’s International Ballroom, it was filled with musicians and music lovers, talking music.
“…have you ever noticed that the closer you get to the equator, the more demonstrative and hot-blooded the fans are…”
“…when Franz Liszt played, his piano became an orchestra.…”
“…I disagree with you. De Groote’s talent is not for Liszt or Paganini etudes, but more for Beethoven.…”
“…you have to dominate the concerto’s emotional landscape.…”
Musicians speaking in tongues, Lara thought.
Philip was surrounded, as usual, by adoring fans. Just watching him gave Lara a warm glow.
When Philip saw her arrive, he greeted her with a broad smile. “You made it. I’m so glad.”
“I wouldn’t have missed it.”
Howard Keller watched the two of them talking, and he thought, Maybe I should have learned to play the piano. Or maybe I should just wake up to reality. It seemed so long ago when he had first met the bright, eager, ambitious young girl. Time had been good to her, and it had stood still for him.
Lara was saying, “I have to go back to New York tomorrow, but perhaps we could have breakfast.”
“I wish I could. I’m leaving for Tokyo early in the morning.”
She felt a sharp pang of disappointment. “Why?”
He laughed. “That’s what I do, Lara. I give a hundred and fifty concerts a year. Sometimes two hundred.”
“How long will you be gone this time?”
“Eight weeks.”
“I’ll miss you,” Lara said quietly. You have no idea how much.
Chapter Twenty-two
During the next few weeks Lara and Keller flew to Atlanta to investigate two sites at Ansley Park and one at Dunwoody.
“Get me some prices on Dunwoody,” Lara said. “We might put some condos there.”
From Atlanta they flew to New Orleans. They spent two days exploring the central business district and a day at Lake Pontchartrain. Lara found two sites she liked.
A day after they returned, Keller walked into Lara’s office. “We had some bad luck on the Atlanta project,” he said.
“What do you mean?”
“Someone beat us to it.”
Lara looked at him, surprised. “How could they? Those properties weren’t even on the market.”
“I know. Word must have leaked out.”
Lara shrugged. “I guess you can’t win them all.”
That afternoon Keller had more bad news. “We lost the Lake Pontchartrain deal.”
The following week they flew to Seattle and explored Mercer Island and Kirkland. There was one site that interested Lara, and when they returned to New York, she said to Keller, “Let’s go after it. I think it could be a money-maker.”
“Right.”
At a meeting the next day Lara asked, “Did you put in the bid on Kirkland?”
Keller shook his head. “Someone got there ahead of us.”
Lara was thoughtful. “Oh. Howard, see if you can find out who’s jumping the gun on us.”