A Minute to Smile Read Online Free PDF Page A

you practice?”
    “Several, actually. Mr. Kobayashi is tutoring me in
Shotokan
at the moment, while I’m sharing my knowledge of tai chi and
hsing-i
.”
    “Isn’t that sort of unusual, to practice more than one discipline?”
    “No, not really. We all choose a particular form that suits us, I think. But there are things to be learned from others.” He looked at Daniel. “How long have you been studying with
sensei?
”
    Shyly, Daniel shrugged. “Not very long.” He raised his enormous robin’s-egg eyes to the man beside him. “It takes a long time to be as good as you are, doesn’t it?”
    “Well, what you’ve seen me doing is not the same as what you do with Mr. Kobayashi. It’s easier, I think.” He touched his shoulder. “Would you like me to teach you a few things the next time you’re there?”
    A blaze of brightness flared in Daniel’s eyes for an instant, and then his lids swept down and he licked his cone. “If you want.”
    Jeremy grabbed Esther’s hand, nearly tugging it out of the socket in his exuberance. “I want to!” he cried.
    “Take it easy, honey.” She gave Alexander a smile, raising her eyebrows.
    “Never, ever still or quiet,” Alexander said and amusement lightened the planes of his face. Esther found herself noticing his mouth for the first time. It was mobile and sensual, his lips firm and full. She didn’t know how she’d missed that before. Ice cream dripped on her thumb, and glad of the distraction, she licked it away.
    Their walk had carried them into a residential neighborhood of older clapboard homes. The sidewalks were made up of tiny cement squares. Old-fashioned lilac bushes, feathery white spirea and enormous stands of purple, yellow and white irises filled the grassy yards. Alexander paused before one freshly painted Victorian. “This is my stop,” he said.
    “This is yours?” Esther asked with delight. “I’ve always loved this place.” It had a wide wooden porch that circled around the side, and windows in odd nooks and crannies. She grinned. “You know what I’ve always noticed about it?”
    He smiled, inclining his big lion head. “Tell me.”
    Esther pointed to the second story, at a window open to the breeze. Set before it was a heavy ceramic pitcher and basin for washing. “That’s the most serene window I’ve ever seen.”
    A network of lines creased the skin below his eyes as he smiled. He looked first at Esther and then at the window. “I’ve never noticed before.” He chuckled. “Luckily you’ve never seen the inside—your picture would be quite transformed.”
    “Why?”
    “It’s a junk room, I’m afraid.” Comfortably, he gestured toward the house. “Can I persuade you to come in for a glass of tea or something?”
    She wasn’t really quite ready to leave behind his easy company. “All right. Thank you.” Then she looked at Jeremy and back at the neatly painted house. “Please tell me you don’t have rooms full of priceless antiques.”
    To her surprise, Alexander laughed. “It’s just a house, Esther. He won’t injure anything.”
    Again, she found herself smiling at him in gratitude, and for an instant she was caught in the gentle admiration she saw on his face. Shyly she turned to call for Jeremy as Daniel followed Alexander up the steps.
    Inside, she was relieved to find that his statement was true. There were no spindly chairs or brocaded sofas. The rooms were large and scattered with comfortable groupings of chairs, ottomans and tables. Braided rugs covered the floors.
    “You see?” Alexander said, gesturing broadly. “Nothing to worry about.”
    She nodded and her attention was caught by a series of framed prints on the long west wall. “Oh,” she sighed, going forward to examine them. “Maxfield Parrish. They’re beautiful!”
    On a second wall were scenes from the King Arthur legend, done in the same Victorian mode. “Look, Daniel,” she said. “Guinevere, King Arthur and Lancelot. And