8 Library #2
Theo cleared his throat. “Hey, Doc, why don’t I come back to your house and look at those beams now?” he offered, then looked away briefly. Was he embarrassed about being kind?
I appreciated his thoughtfulness, even though it was complicated with Pop.
I would make it work, and this was a good way to rip the Band-Aid off about introducing Theo.
“Are you serious? That would be amazing. Like so helpful. I mean, I haven’t spoken to Pop since I stormed out on him, but this might be kind of an olive branch? ”
Pop was exactly where he’d been the last time I’d seen him. On top of a chair, examining the beams.
“Hi,” I said, smiling, aware that we both needed to apologize.
“Oh, Willa, hi. And who is this?” Pop seemed confused as he got off the chair and looked at Theo.
“This is Theo Carmichael. He’s staying with his brother, Alfie, for a while,” I said, and they shook hands.
“Oh, of course. Jo mentioned that. And Patty, and old Joe, come to think of it …” He grinned cheekily. “How is Alfie? I haven’t seen him around in a while.”
“He’s fine. Just busy with work and kids.”
Pop laughed. “Those two will keep him busy. I have a terrible feeling that those kids might be the reason Sylvia keeps getting stuck in all those awkward places …”
“Sylvia? Is that their friend who lives next door?” Theo asked. “She keeps getting stuck? They’re always playing hide-and-seek with her.” His face was horrified, but Pop and I grinned at each other, tension fading.
Pop put his hand on Theo’s shoulder. “Sylvia? No, she’s Agnes Burrows’s cat, and Elsie and Cohen, well … I’m not saying it’s their fault exactly, but they do like to chase her …”
“Oh, thank God it’s not some little kid they’ve been torturing. But I’ll speak to them—even a cat doesn’t deserve unwanted twin attention.” Theo seemed relaxed in a way I had never seen before. As if he and Pop had known each other for years.
Then Theo got down to business. “So … Willa was telling me you had a problem with your beams? I was wondering if I could help at all. I spent a lot of time on my uncle’s building sites and I’m hoping to be an architect so I’m really interested in all that stuff, and can always offer another pair of hands … ”
Pop looked at me, then back at Theo. I nodded, but Pop shook his head.
“That’s a very nice offer, Theo, but don’t worry yourself, money’s a bit tight at the minute.
” He cleared his throat, the way he did when he felt uncomfortable.
I knew how embarrassed he must be, and now I wished I hadn’t put him in this position.
“Oh no, Mr. Taylor, it would be for my experience. I don’t want any payment for it. You’d actually be doing me a favor.”
Theo’s eyes were bright and he looked so enthusiastic that I saw Pop visibly relax.
“He fixed that drafty window at the library for Jo, for free,” I added.
“Well, thank you so much, Theo, that would be a great help. The beams are water-damaged, from an old roof leak. Problem is, we can’t get them all replaced right now, so I’ve been trying to think of how I could patch things up for a while.”
Theo stared intently at the beams, then burst into conversation. “We could sand them down, add wood filler, paint to seal, and maybe even put in temporary supports?” he offered.
“Where did you come from?” Pop looked delighted.
“Why don’t I heat up the pizza we got?” I asked.
But Pop and Theo started talking and just didn’t seem to stop.
I slipped into the kitchen, put the pizza in the oven anyway, and watched them over my shoulder.
Pop was smiling like he’d won some kind of prize, and Theo was gesturing with his hands a lot (when he wasn’t holding the ladder).
Then Pop came into the kitchen to look for something in his toolbox.
“Pop,” I said quietly. “I’m so sorry … about storming off, and about everything.” I looked up from the oven and Pop’s eyes were soft. I stood up to face him.
“Willa—”
“And I’m sorry I quit the coffee shop, I know that money helped with …” I gestured vaguely at the ceiling and the whole crumbling house. “I know it made things harder.”
“Willa, sweetheart, that’s not what I meant. You shouldn’t have to worry about things like that. I was just stressed. It’s not your responsibility to keep this house standing.”
“I want to help.”
“You are helping. By focusing on your future.” He reached over and hugged me and everything was better.
When Pop headed back to the beams, I put the warm pizza on plates and Theo took a break to join me in front of the fire.
He sat beside me, leg against mine, his hand in his dark hair. “It’s weird. I just love all this practical stuff.” He leaned back, no tension, no snark, just genuine happiness.
“I’m glad our dilapidated house could be of some service.” I laughed, looking around at Mom’s worn quilts draped lazily over chairs, photo frames filled with pictures of Mom that definitely weren’t straight, random tools. Our messy collection of mismatched things was somehow exactly right.
“Where’s this?” Theo picked up a framed photo of me and Mom at the carnival.
“Where’s this?” I pretended to be outraged. “Don’t you recognize that square? That’s right here in Oak Falls, at the carnival that comes by every summer. Me and Mom, we were teacup veterans.”
It was nice to see through someone else’s eyes. When I was alone, I just felt sad.
“She’s really pretty, your mom. You look just like her.” Theo stared at the photo like he was committing it to memory.
“Yeah, Pop tells me that.” I looked at the photo. At Mom’s smile, and the way her eyes crinkled at the corners. “I can see it in the pictures, I just wish I had more memories of what she was really like …”
“Well, she looks like she could light up a whole room too.” Theo gave me a smile. “When did she … Sorry, I shouldn’t ask. Hadley was telling me your mom passed away?”
“Oh, it’s been a really long time. I was only three.”
Theo put the photo down and took my hand in his, bringing it to his lips and kissing my knuckles.
“That must have been tough. And I was going on about my mom and dad getting divorced …”
“We managed.” I smiled as Pop sat down with a groan.
“Anything else I can help with?” Theo asked.
“I think probably Willa’s had as much as she can take of beam chat for tonight.” Pop smiled. “She tells me you’re helping her with her application?”
“Well, I’m not much help really. They’ll be lucky to have her in London.”
My face flushed.
“They sure will.” Pop smiled again. “And this London, do you think it’s somewhere that a middle-aged man from Oak Falls might like to visit, if his daughter happened to be living there?” My stomach flipped, just hearing Pop say it out loud. Like it could be real.
“Oh, for sure. I could write up full itineraries of all the things such a man should see.” Theo played along.
Pop looked up as a sudden rain battered the roof. “Oh, for goodness’ sake, that rain. I hope we’ve sealed those beams properly,” he muttered.
“I know we have,” said Theo. “We’re a good team.
But listen—I’d better get going, Hadley will be wondering where I am.
She seems to have taken over as my mom since I got here.
” He rolled his eyes. “Even though I’m almost twenty-one, and even though she already has her hands full with two people who need a lot more attention than I do. ”
“I’ll drive you, Theo, I can’t have you walking home in this,” Pop said, standing up.
“No, don’t worry, really. I like being out in the rain.”
“Just like Willa,” Pop said quietly. “You always loved a downpour too.”
It felt like Pop had just exposed this invisible thread between me and Theo.
“Another reason I want to go to London.” I laughed. “I’ll walk you out.”
Pop took Theo’s number so they could talk about what else needed to be done with the beams, and Theo and I walked out to the porch.
He was still smiling.
“You’re different here,” I told him. “I don’t know what it is, it’s like you’re more open. Like you’re letting me see who you really are.” I had to speak loudly to be heard over the rain. “And I love it. Seeing the real you.”
Theo smiled and brushed his hand through his hair. “I don’t get it either,” he admitted. “But you’re right, it’s like all this tension left my body as soon as I walked through the door.”
He walked down a couple of steps so that he was standing in the pouring rain.
Water immediately soaked his dark hair and ran down his face, under and over his glasses.
Then he offered me his hand. I didn’t even hesitate.
I took it and the tingle was back, all the way up my arm, through my spine, the back of my neck.
I let him pull me out into the street, the two of us getting drenched together.
And I don’t know who moved first. Whose face tilted one way and whose chin tilted the other, but then we were kissing, warm tongues and soaking faces, right there, in the middle of the street.
He pulled me closer, one hand on my face, one hand reaching under my jacket, under my soaking shirt to the frozen, wet skin of my waist. He pulled me even closer, kissed me harder, as my fingers twisted in his hair.
A car horn sent us jumping apart, and I sheltered in his arms as it sped past.
“Do you know what they say about fall rain?” Theo asked, his breath warm against my cheek.
“No, but I’m sure you’re going to tell me.” I grinned.
“It’s unpredictable. Comes out of nowhere. Changes … everything. Kind of like someone I know …”
And this time, the kiss on the sidewalk was gentle, soft, perfect. And as I stood on the porch watching him walk away, I touched my lips, still tasting him.