Free American Pie by Maggie Osborne Page B

observing the parade of summer fashion strolling along the boulevard while the city band tuned their instruments and arranged their music. Men in white muslin and jaunty boaters spread checkered cloths over the grass for ladies wearing straw hats, gaily colored ribbons and shirtwaists. The scent of peanuts and hot popcorn drifted on the breeze floating from the harbor. Young mothers called to darting children, and blushing young men performed feats of derring-do on their bicycles before rosy cheeked young ladies who pretended not to see.
    The holiday atmosphere was enhanced by the band's first selection, an enthusiastic rendition of "Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay," which brought cheers from those seated on the grass beneath the trees and smiles to every face.
    It was during the performance of a new song called "Hello Ma Baby" that Lucie spotted Jamie Kelly leaning against a tree. He was watching her as if there were no one in the leafy park but Lucie Kolska, no one inhabiting his world but her. His countenance expressed a longing that stopped her heart in her breast. He looked at her with naked yearning as if his survival depended upon a smile from her lips.
    For one heartaching moment their eyes met and held and Lucie knew her yearning was as painfully exposed as his. How glorious the day would have been if she could have sat next to him as Greta sat next to Stefan. If she could know the joy of being near him, of hearing his melodious voice whisper in her ear.
    Looking at him, meeting his dark eyes in secret communion, the day no longer seemed too hot. It was perfect. A splendid summer afternoon adrift with bright sails on the water and music in the air. Knowing her eyes sparkled with guilty pleasure, Lucie self-consciously turned to stare at the bandstand. And her heart soared when she turned again to peek at him and discovered he had not looked away from her. Not another man in Battery Park could hold a candle to him, he was that handsome. And joy of joys, it was she who had captivated his interest. The knowledge made her dizzy with happiness.
     
    Jamie watched the color rise in Lucie's cheeks and would have given a day's pay to know what she was thinking. She was so lovely today he could not look away from her. The striped shirtwaist with the high starched collar and pretty dark bow was not expensive but it fit her well, molding a figure that caused his stomach to tighten.
    Her silky mass of chestnut hair was wrapped high beneath her straw hat; her lips were cherry red from the flavored ice. He knew his stare made her nervous, but he could not turn his gaze away. He longed to hold her in his arms and gently pull the pins from her glorious hair and feel its glossy weight in his hands.
    Too soon the concert ended. As the music faded he watched with regret as Stefan, Lucie and the beautiful blond lass rose to their feet. The temptation to follow, to prolong his nearness to her, was great. But he understood he had pushed his luck as it was. Under no circumstances did he wish to provoke Stefan Kolska into another fight. To do so would injure his cause.
    After Jamie watched them board a horse car, he caught the next. Exiting at the Bowery, the poor man's Broadway, he strolled along the wide street dodging the cinders that floated down from the elevated trains whizzing past on the tracks above.
    Because today was a special occasion, his first approach to Kolska, Jamie treated himself to an expensive fifteen cent glass of wine in an oyster bar. And because wine elicited the philosopher within each man, and because today he felt the loneliness of being in a strange country, a strange city, and not having anyone with whom to share the experience, his thoughts turned to the mysterious force that drew one man to one woman.
    His life would be much simpler if he could only put Lucie Kolska out of his mind. There were thousands of good Irish colleens in New York City; surely there was one among them with whom he could be compatible.
    But would