Past Forward- A Serial Novel: Episode 15 (21 page)

“
You
’
re not helping
.”

“
So what
’
s the real question?
”

Her shoulders slumped.
“
What would you think about a woman who invests herself in one man for a month and is ready to turn her back on all that work
she put
in
to
a relationship after just a few hours with someone else?
”

“
What kind of commitment did you make?
”

“
To come, get to know him, and decide if I want to continue talking to him after I leave.
If he asks, I say yes or no
.”

A grin split Josh
’
s face.
“
So, in other words, this is like a really long blind date with no expectations, just hopes
.”

“
That
’
s one way to put it
.”
She waited impatiently for him to answer and then urged again,
“
So what would you think if you were a guy who spent a month with a woman and she turned you down at the end because she thinks another guy is interesting
.”

“
Well, now that I know there is no real commitment, I hope I
’
d be happy for her
.”

“
But once she walked, that
’
d be the end of it,
”
she said for him.
“
You wouldn
’
t take a chance on her if something went wrong later with the other guy
.”

“
Depends on how much I liked her.
I
’
d rather her find out just how interested you are in him before you invested more in me and then realized after a long time that you were still into someone else
.”

“
This went from she to me awfully quickly,
”
Becca joked.
“
So, am I being way premature?
”

Josh studied his hands.
When she started to speak, he stopped her.
“
I asked you out already, if you remember
.”

“
That
’
s no answer
.”
A
bite to her words
made her blush
.
“
Sorry.
I didn
’
t mean to snap
.
This is just really hard.
”

“
I don
’
t want to interfere in your
—”
Josh searched for a word,
“
thing but…
”

“
But what?
”
Her face lit up.
“Oh, you mean you’re not ready
?
I mean, I totally understand
—”

“
I wasn
’
t until yesterday.
If you had asked me, I would have been adamant
—
no romantic entanglements. Period
.”
A smile grew slowly across his features.
“
But I was wrong
.”

“
Were you?
”
A grin grew until her eyes fairly sparkled.

“
What is this guy like?
”

“
Everything I ever thought I wanted in a husband and more
.”

“
But you are willing to risk throwing it away on someone you have only spent an afternoon with?
”

“
I
’
m not
willing to risk
throwing away
what I
’
ve been hoping for on the wrong man
.”

Chad arrived at two o
’
clock and found his wife and guests laughing at her attempts to
use
the spinning wheel.
Her hands worked to hold the wool, pull, and still work the treadle.
She had managed to create
thick yarn with occasional clumps.
Splicing the yarn was trickier.
Becca and Josh spent half of their carding time giggling over the quirky way Willow stuck her tongue out of the corner of her mouth as she tried to twist the fibers back into the broken yarn
,
as yet another piece broke.

So concentrated was Willow on her work,
that
she didn
’
t hear Portia yapping happily, the screen door slam against the doorjamb, or the titters of Josh and Becca at the look of amazement on Chad
’
s face.

He bent low near her ear and murmured,
“
How are you doing
,
lass?
”

Willow jumped, her hand flying into the air and whacking Chad
’
s chin as she did.
“
You scared me!
”

“
Well, I made enough noise coming in…
”

She put down her wool, stood, and
walked to the kitchen
to make him a sandwich and reheat a bowl of soup.
Chad
’
s face furrowed in concern as he noticed a slight limp in her step.
He pointed at the wheel.
“
How long has she been using that thing?
”

“
Only since around eleven or so.
Is there a problem?
”
Chad
’
s face left Becca feeling concerned as well.

“
She over did it
—
repetitive motion.
Her muscles and nerves are probably killing her
.”

“
Why
—”

“
Accident last summer.
She spent a lot of time in therapy
,
and I
’
m guessing that motion isn
’
t one she practiced
.”

He left them staring slack jawed at him and went to bully his wife into a chair while he fixed his own sandwich.
“
Lass, I
’
ve got it.
Sit
.”

“
I
’
m fi
—”

“
You are not.
Your leg is killing you, I can see it
.”

Willow shook her head protesting.
“
It
’
s just unused muscles.
I
’
m fine
.”

“I can see pain in your eyes
.
Rest.
I
’
ll rub that calf as soon as I get some food in me
.”

The front screen creaked and then banged shut.
Willow retrieved the oil
can from the pantry and walked to the living room before Chad could stop her.
Within seconds, the screen no longer squeaked.
He tried not to let his frustration show.
He relied on that squeak to let him know where she was and what she was doing.

“
How are things going with those two?
”

She gave him a smile he usually only saw in the most intimate of moments.
“
Do you think she
’
ll let me make her dress?
I
’
d love t
o try to make a wedding dress.”

“
Seriously?
You think
—”

“
They remind me of us
—
but different.
There
’
s this electricity in the room whenever they
’
re there.
I don
’
t know how else to describe it
.”
She paused trying to find words she couldn
’
t imagine.
“
Like
—
like
—
you know, when you shuffle across the house in your socks in winter and then touch the doorknob.
That.”