Chapter 13 #3
She nodded. “Excellent. I’d hoped he’d sign up for Ernest’s committee. We need more young people involved in local politics. Just a few more months until you’re old enough to get involved, Emma.” Her gaze swung to me. “What about you, Mr. Williams? You seem caring and intelligent.”
“See?” Marco said pointedly. “Told you. You’d be good on the mayor’s committee.”
“Oh, I… don’t think so. I’m not much of a political person,” I demurred. “I teach and take care of my sheep. That’s plenty.”
“Your sheep.” Her eyes narrowed. “Do you raise them for wool?”
I nodded. “It’s just a small flock, and this spring will be my first shearing. But I hope to have enough wool for a few crochet projects next winter.”
A slow smile spread across her face. “You need to become a Hooker!”
I blinked. “A… pardon?”
“The Little Pippin Hookers. That’s our fiber arts group. I can’t believe no one’s told you about us yet! We meet the second and fourth Tuesday of the month out at the Apple of My Eye—that’s my bed-and-breakfast. You should stop by. We’ve got a great artisan community in this town, Luke.”
“I… I definitely will.” My excitement was probably all out of proportion to the event, but I felt like I’d been waiting months for this invitation, even though I hadn’t known the group existed until now.
It felt like acceptance. Like an arena where I knew I had something to contribute. And with the taste of Webb’s kiss on my lips, it was hard not to feel hopeful.
I beamed at her. “Thank you so much.”
And I felt my emotional roller coaster cresting another rise.
“Hey, Mr. Williams? Your phone’s vibrating.” Aiden tugged on my sleeve. “It says Mom: FaceTime.”
“Thanks, bud. I’ll get it in a minute. So, what kinds of crafts—?” I began asking Ms. Fortnum.
“Or I could get it now,” Aiden interrupted with a grin. “So I can meet your mom.”
“Aiden,” Webb warned, but I snorted and waved him off.
“It’s fine, Webb. My mom will love it. Go ahead, Aiden.”
“Luke, honey, I only have a minute, but I— Oh, hello. Who’s this handsome devil?”
“I’m Aiden Sunday,” Aiden said proudly.
“No,” my mom argued. “Not possible. Luke said Aiden was only seven. You look much too mature to be seven.”
Aiden sat up straighter. “Well, I am going to be eight in August.”
“Ah, that must be it,” she agreed. “Sweetheart, is my Lukey there?”
“I’m here,” I said, taking the phone. I turned the camera around and showed her everyone at the table. “Mom, these are my friends. That’s Drew Sunday, and Marco, and Emma, and Knox, and Gage—” They all waved obediently. “—and this is Ms. Fortnum. Oh, and you already met Aiden and—”
“Well, hey, there, Webb!”
“Hi, Ms. Williams,” Webb said, smiling and waving at the phone. My heart let out a little sigh.
“I can’t wait to meet all of your friends in person.”
“Aw.” I turned the camera back around to face me. I wanted that, too. Especially now that I actually had friends for her to meet. “One of these days,” I agreed. “Maybe next year. When you’re stronger.”
“Sooner than that!” Her face was flushed with excitement. “That’s why I’m calling. We got the all-clear from my doctor on Friday, and Susie just got the time off work. We’re heading up there in three weeks!”
I blinked. Then I blinked some more.
Aaaannd the roller coaster dipped again.
“Lukey? Lukey, did your FaceTime freeze?”
I wheezed out a breath. “I… you… I have school,” I said desperately. This couldn’t be happening. Not that I wanted her to be too sick to travel, it was just… no. No. It was too soon. There was too much left undone at the house, and she’d be so worried.
My chest felt so tight, I could hardly pull in enough breath to fake a bright smile. “And is your doctor really sure it’s safe for you to travel? Do we believe her?”
“I’m fine! And don’t you worry about us. Susie and I can amuse ourselves while you’re at work. Strolling the fields and exploring the attics and whatnot.”
“Oh.” I was pretty sure the noise came out more like a cross between a gasp and a whimper. “About the attics…” I looked at Webb in panic.
He nodded encouragingly… but I had no idea what he was encouraging me to do.
“I can’t wait to meet you,” Aiden said. “We can eat chocolate pancakes!”
“It’s a date, babydoll! Okay. Off to the movies with Sue. Love to all of you! Talk to you soon, Lukey.”
She hung up.
I stared at the phone.
Gage’s voice seemed to be coming at me through a tunnel. “Does she know about the handfasting? Because she seems like the kind of person to get a kick out of that.”
Knox looked at me with furrowed brows, but his words were for Gage. “Hush, baby. Can’t you see he’s—”
I shoved back my chair, making a painful screeching noise on the floor that seemed to draw all the eyes in the entire place onto me.
My face flamed, and my skin prickled. It was too much.
All of this was too much. The townspeople being nice to me and including me in their thoughts and plans, the mayor bringing up the handfasting and trying to interview Aiden, the Sunday family including me in breakfast, my mom springing an unexpected visit on me when I was living in a tangled web of my own lies…
and Webb… Webb kissing me full on the lips in front of the entire town as if… as if…
As if we meant something to each other.
I stumbled through the cafe, dodging chairs, nosy stares, Katey’s glare, and God knew what other stuff in my desperate attempt to escape.
When the frigid cold air of Vermont took what little breath I had away, I braced my hands against the metal siding.
Mistake. The cold burned my palms and left me shivering.
Real Vermonsters probably knew better than to touch freezing metal with warm bare skin. Yet another way I wasn’t cut out to live here in the Hollow.
So I did what my people have done for centuries when faced with an insurmountable challenge.
I closed my eyes and let the tears come.