15. Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Fifteen
Carrie Woodhouse waved from the open door of The Stash as I wheeled from the hotel to her shop.
Lizbeth was behind me, picking her way around the snow, but I was happy with how easy it was for me to navigate between the hotel and store.
Even though I had skis for my wheels, I hadn’t needed to do anything special to make sure my chair could navigate through the piles of snow.
There weren’t many cars out to watch for either.
“I think you’re going to love the space. We did this huge renovation a few years ago and this was the exact thing I hoped to use it for,” Carrie said as she led us through the warm and inviting shop.
I loved looking at all the yarn on display but resisted the urge to reach out and touch it.
I could see how knitters and crocheters got sucked into buying so much of it.
The inviting smell of toasting bread and bacon made it even harder to resist curling up with a blanket we passed as Carrie led us to an elevator in the back of the shop.
“I appreciate you opening so early on a Sunday,” Lizbeth said. “I can’t believe I didn’t think about the basement space when Mason and I brainstormed emergency plans when we were getting organized.”
Carrie waved her hand to dismiss her. “I’m glad Mason asked me about this last night before the storm started.
Zach and I live right upstairs! It’s our pleasure.
He was here already to make food for the cafe.
Now he isn’t going to waste any of it. By the way, he decided to do waffles for breakfast. He’s got a few vegan and gluten free mixes he wanted to try.
He and Humberto have been making breakfast sandwiches for the few people who have come in so there may be extras of those for anyone who wants something with protein. ”
“That’s fantastic. I’m so glad you were able to help us out,” I said as we got on the elevator.
“I was ready to go as soon as we woke up and saw all the snow,” Carrie said. “I hope the delay and location change doesn’t create too much chaos.”
The doors of the elevator opened into a large open room in the basement.
“Wow,” I said, my eyes wide as I looked around.
As Carrie had mentioned, the demo kitchen dominated the space outside the elevator. That made sense. It would make it easier to carry food up and down for events with the elevator right there. Even now, food was set up for those of us who needed it.
“Thank you!” Carrie said, standing straighter with pride.
“A lot of different people gave us input into building this space a few years ago. We’ll keep the food in the kitchen area.
There’s the big collaborative space in the center of the room but there are also smaller rooms. The walls are glass but pretty soundproof. ”
I moved through the room, looking at the spaces we would work in. There were bins of yarn stored in bookcases in every room, but for the most part, the tables were clear and seating was abundant.
“Oh, we can also adjust the height of the tables,” Carrie said as she went to a table in the middle of the room and pressed a button on the side.
“It’s great to transition between kid and adult classes.
Mason teaches people to edit Wikipedia and likes to have them at standing height so people can move around. ”
The elevator opened again and Mason entered with Zach, who I recognized from the other meals he had catered this weekend.
He was lean with blond hair. They were both carrying trays of food and they placed them on the island in the kitchen.
My stomach clenched as Mason and I made eye contact.
It was clear that he had built a life here and was happy even if he was about to lose his job.
Seeing him utilize his position in the community to help even more people was a sign that the man I had loved wasn’t gone.
If Lois hadn’t moved the goal post for tenure, he would still be happy here.
“This is my partner, Zach,” Carrie said as the man walked over to her and kissed her on the cheek. “I don’t know if you got to meet him this weekend.”
“It’s nice to meet you. I feel like we’ve circled each other for years,” he said, reaching out to shake my hand.
I laughed. “More people in my life keep coming to Lacock.”
I didn’t add a line about how I often encouraged them to skip this city. It was too rude to say that to the people not only welcoming us to their space and accommodating us, but these were the people working to make Lacock more accessible. I wished they had been doing this when I was here.
“We’ve got a few different waffle mixes ready for people. I’m going to get the waffle makers so people can make their own when they want,” Zach explained as he set up. “Plus, I’m going to bring the extra bacon and eggs down here for those interested.”
I nodded but was more focused on what Mason was doing.
He took half the waffle mixes, all in different color pitchers, and put them on the cart.
It so happened that the cart was low enough for me to reach.
Next, he pulled out plates and other utensils, putting half on the cart and the other half on the kitchen island.
Carrie beamed with pride about her space and awareness of people’s various needs.
I was sure she might come off as self-congratulatory and a bit narcissistic, but I liked Carrie’s energy.
She seemed to want to make her community better.
I couldn’t blame her for taking pride in her success.
I didn’t forget it was Heather who had warned me about Carrie.
There were too many signs that it was Heather I should mistrust, so her assessment of anyone was suspicious.
Carrie went over to Mason once everything was set up. “If you need anything else, I’ll be upstairs and I’ll be back to deliver lunch with Zach.”
Mason gave her a hug. “You’ve been so flexible. Thank you.”
I found a quiet spot where I could think and work.
I watched Mason move around the room. Sure, he managed his anxiety by creating back up plans, but it also made him great at anticipating needs and building relationships to solve problems. He had accused me, when we broke up, of staying with him because I needed him.
I had been angry at the accusation, but I had thought he loved me because he assumed I needed him.
Time and distance allowed me to see things differently.
I could see how his strengths made it easy for him to help me, but I hoped that wasn’t why he had stayed with me.
Plenty of people needed Mason and we were a good couple because we took care of each other.
It fell apart when we stopped listening to each other.
He listened to Lois Fairfax, and I only listened to myself.
I thought I knew better about what he needed.
Lois convinced him that I would force him to live the life I wanted without any consideration of what he wanted.
In the end, I proved Lois right, rather than staying to show Mason how wrong she was.
Even what Heather mentioned last night, about Lois thinking I would sabotage Mason’s chances of getting the WikiAcademia job, weren’t off base.
He knew how much anger and spite could motivate me.
If I had been on the search committee without coming to the conference this weekend, I might still be so rooted in my anger that I would have done just that.
Mason never asked for anything in return for his help.
He did it because he was generous and could see what was needed.
That was exactly what the team at WikiAcademia needed in a new director.
I knew what I needed to do. I couldn’t force Mason to do anything, but I could show him how he belonged in this world, not stuck in academia.
If others like Denise or Grace could convince him to submit his resume for the job, I could open opportunities to keep him connected to this work.
He could present his session at WorldWikiMania in London this summer.
I could ask the planning team to include him, using his help with this conference as my logic.
I would join Cooper’s search committee in hopes that all of this would work and I could make sure Mason got the job.
My anger and spite could motivate me to prove someone wrong, but helping people I cared about was a stronger drive for me.
Why do all of this for the man who broke my heart?
Because I still loved him. I had the maturity to move past my anger and see how I had been wrong about what Mason had needed.
All that was left was the deep love I had tried to bury when we broke up.
Even if it was too late for us, he deserved a life he could enjoy.
There might not be any hope to share a life with him, but if he wanted to be the world’s best teacher, then I was going to make sure he had the chance to do it.