Past Forward Volume 1 (38 page)

Willow watched the baby crawl to Libby
before he caught her eye. With a toothy grin, the little tyke
crawled across the porch, making Willow wince at the thought of
splinters in his chubby little knees. At her feet, he tried to pull
up on her legs but his own wobbled. She caught him before he
fell.

“May I pick him up?”

“Sure.”

As Willow tried to lift him, she fumbled
trying to hold his head at the same time. “I can’t seem to support
his head—”

“He’s fine. He can support it without
help.”

The baby played with her buttons, her
sleeve, her eyes, chin, and everything else he could touch. She
lost all interest in the conversation around her as she tried to
follow the movements of the child. “What is his name?”

“Ian,” Aggie said. She watched for a moment
before adding, “He likes you. You seem very good with
children.”

“I’ve never been around children before that
Sunday I got the pup.”

“She was a natural then too, wasn’t she
Luke? She handled Cari like—”

Aggie’s head whipped up and her eyes sought
Luke. “What? You didn’t tell me she was a problem.”

Willow interrupted quickly. “Oh, she wasn’t
a problem. She was tempted to do wrong, and I encouraged her to
reconsider. It wasn’t anything serious, was it Luke?”

“Not at all. You were great though. Not
everyone—” Luke paused and gave Chad a meaningful look. “Not
everyone knows how to handle a child like Cari.”

Libby brought the twins onto the porch to
model their new outfits. Willow beamed as she saw them and
immediately asked to take a picture. “I’d love to have one for my
scrapbook.”

At Aggie’s agreement, Willow pulled her
simple 35mm camera from her purse and spent several minutes trying
to capture the perfect picture without wasting film. Chad, groaning
in exasperation, turned to Luke. “Is your camera in your glove
compartment?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Can I use it?” Chad jumped up and jogged
down the steps, pausing only until Luke answered.

“I guess—”

Chad returned quickly, carrying a digital
camera and handed it to Willow. “Here snap a dozen; snap three
dozen. We’ll delete any that are junk.”

Though she didn’t understand why or how
they’d delete pictures, Willow tried to take a few, assuming Aggie
must want a copy as well. “I can’t find a viewfinder.”

“Look at the screen.” Chad showed her the
back of the camera. “It works like your phone.”

“My phone?”

“You read the instructions. I saw you.”

“I read the phone instructions. I didn’t
bother with anything about a camera.”

Chad laughed. “Your phone takes pictures
too. I’ll show you later. Meanwhile, hold the camera away from you
so you can see the screen. Look.”

By that time, the twins had lost all
interest in modeling the jumpers and were jumping over porch boards
trying to skip every other one. Aggie started to send them back to
the steps for a more formal picture, but Willow shook her head. “I
can wait. They’ve been patient.”

Chad removed the memory card and returned
the camera to the truck. “I’ll bring the card back Tuesday when I
come work on—” He stopped short. “Ok?”

They spent the afternoon on the porch,
talking in between interruptions by the children begging for them
to play this game or that. At around six o’clock, Aggie invited
them in for dinner, but Willow gave Chad a panicked look. Relief
washed over her as Chad explained that they needed to get back to
milk the goat.

Libby followed them to the truck and gave
Willow a quick hug. “I’m so glad I met you, and I hope I see you
again soon. If Chad doesn’t bring you to see me I may just show up
on your doorstep.”

He stayed to help with the chores. While
Willow fixed grilled sandwiches and large salads, Chad milked the
goat and watered and fed the other animals. They played Chinese
checkers, and he almost won. It had been a good day—everything
going exactly as he would have wished. Well, he would have
preferred to help catch fish—almost exactly anyway. He waved as he
bade her goodnight and strolled to his truck.

Before he could climb in, Chad shut the
truck door and returned to the porch where Willow still stood. “I
just remembered. Next Saturday is the Midsummer’s Night Faire.”

“But Midsummer’s Eve is in June—”

“Well, Fairbury already has a street fair in
June so they decided to find the actual middle of summer and have
it then.”

“What is ‘it?’”

“Well, it started off as an outdoor play
about twelve years ago, but now it’s a whole street fair. It starts
around four and goes until midnight. There’s food, games—”

“I don’t know… that’s kind of late to walk
home and—”

Chad tried to stuff back his impatience.
“Who said anything about walking home? I was inviting you to go
with me—”

“I didn’t hear any invitation,” she snapped
back.

“I—” Chad began before he realized that she
was right. He hadn’t asked. Furthermore, she wasn’t accustomed to
reading between lines. “You’re right. I didn’t. I hoped you’d come.
I think you’ll have fun, and of course, I’d bring you home but—” He
realized mid-sentence that she’d miss the beginning if he came to
get her.

“But what?”

Chad sighed. “But you’d have to walk or ride
into town if you wanted to be there at the beginning. I don’t get
off the beat until six.”

Willow nodded. Chad started to tell her how
much she’d enjoy it when she said, “No, I don’t think so. I’ll have
to be up early to walk to church the next day, and you probably
have to be at work by ten don’t you?”

“Oh you don’t want to miss this, Willow.
Honestly. The cakewalk has some of the best cakes ever and there’s
usually music. Alexa Hartfield is always there, wearing one of her
crazy dresses, and she’ll win the Shakespeare bee, of course.”

Willow’s head stopped shaking. “Shakespeare
bee?”

“It’s like a spelling bee only with
Shakespearean quotes.”

A small smile played around Willow’s mouth.
“I’ll come. I want to see a Shakespeare bee.”

Wood shavings curled, flew through the air,
and fell to the floor as Chad scraped the headstone, slowly
rounding the corner. Every thrust of his arms sent a new shower of
wood curls all over the workroom. While he awkwardly manipulated
the plane, Luke sanded the roof of a dollhouse.

“Hey, Luke?”

“Hmm?” Luke didn’t raise his eyes from his
project.

“Do you think I’ll have trouble getting on
the Rockland force?”

Luke grabbed the tack cloth and wiped down
the roof carefully. “If they’re hiring, and you have a
recommendation from your chief, I don’t see why.”

Something in Luke’s voice caught Chad’s
attention. “What?”

Seconds ticked by before Luke answered. “I
didn’t say anything.”

Grabbing the nearby sanding block, Chad
started sanding the corners. “It’s what you didn’t say that speaks
loudest.”

“I just never understood your deep desire
for the RPD. What brought it up, anyway?”

“Willow.” A knowing look on Luke’s face
irritated him. “It’s not what you’re thinking, Luke. She was at my
apartment Sunday, and we were talking about my plans and why I
haven’t furnished it and stuff.”

“and.. and… and…”

“Grammarian.”

“Run-on-again. My mama would make you
rephrase that ten different ways and you know it,” Luke teased.
“She’s right, you know. There is nothing in your apartment to make
you want to be there.”

“I’m there all the time,” Chad protested. “I
do have to sleep, you know.”

“But are you there when you’re not
sleeping?”

Chad thought for a moment. “Well, sure. I
eat there sometimes. Other times I do stuff with the church. I also
like to go to the lake or play video games with Martinez when we’re
both off.”

“In other words, you aren’t there unless you
have to be.”

Chad picked up the plane and worked on a
squared edge of the corner, carefully shaving off thin layers until
it looked better. “I am just busy with work, church, and now I’m at
Willow’s more than I’d like—”

“Sure you are.”

“Luke!”

“Chad,” Luke began, that infernally annoying
serious tone acting almost as a rebuke. “I really think you need to
consider that Willow has a valid point. Who wants to come home to
an empty apartment, a lumpy couch, and nothing that inspires you to
want to be there?”

“Who wants to be alone no matter how
comfortable the surroundings?” Chad muttered under his breath.

“Do you have any idea what it is like in a
big city?”

Animated, Chad talked about high-speed car
chases, armed robbery, stalkers, and no walking a beat on the
streets of the city. “I’ll be in the crunch of things. I can make a
real difference. Here, I just put out sparks. In Rockland I can
fight the raging fires.”

Luke crossed the shop and leaned against the
workbench. “Chad, do you have any idea of what it is really like?
In Fairbury, you are respected. No one questions your authority. In
Rockland, you’re going to be the enemy. You’ll deal with gangs who
would rather shoot you than see you.” He lowered his voice, clearly
pained at his next thought. “Chad, you’ll be in danger not because
of the situations you confront but because of the badge on your
chest.”

“So everyone should just abandon the
city?”

“That’s not what I said. You know me better
than that. I just know you. You’re not as hardened as you like to
let yourself think. I don’t want to see your heart seared because
of a misplaced dream.”

His eyes smoldered as he considered Luke’s
words. His cousin didn’t think he could hack it. “I never knew you
thought I was such a wuss.”

“I don’t. Let me ask you a question. What
will you do the first time you are propositioned—”

“You think I haven’t been?” Chad
protested.

“—
by a man,” Luke
continued.

“Luke…”

“What about a family,” he continued. “You’ve
always wanted one.”

“I can’t have a family now?” Chad knew he
sounded belligerent but he didn’t care.

“I didn’t say that. What I was going to ask
is if you wanted to rear a family in the city? Do you want your
kids in the Rockland schools? What about your wife? Will she want
to send her husband off to work each day, knowing that his chances
of coming home alive are significantly lower than the officers in
the rest of the greater Rockland area?”

A sinking feeling slowly spread through his
gut as Luke asked question after question. Some of them weren’t
new. His mother, grandfather, and even Joe had all asked them.
Others he’d thought of and stuffed aside as less important than the
mission. Some he’d never considered.

“So the answer is to bail on the cities? If
Christian men don’t fill the jobs in the city, who will? We
need—”

“I agree.”

Now Chad was thoroughly confused. “Then I
don’t get it.”

“My only question is if you, Chad Ezekiel
Tesdall, are the one called by the Lord to fill this particular
spot? Will you take the place of someone who knows city life but
can’t get in because your application got there first?”

“But Fairbury,” Chad groaned. “I don’t want
to spend the rest of my life in Fairbury.” He paused. “Actually,
that’s not true. I wouldn’t mind living there, but I don’t want the
FPD as my career. I’m not Joe. I hate walking a beat. I don’t like
getting cats out from under houses and searching for truants
because there isn’t anything else to do.”

“I always saw you as a sheriff. There’s more
to that than writing tickets and breaking up bar fights.”

“Yeah, we discussed it in the academy...
It’s something to consider.”

After picking up his plane once more, Chad
asked his last question. “What is the main thing that made you
doubt my plans for the RPD?”

“You’re a country boy. You love people, and
you come out of your shell when you’re on the job. I’ve seen it and
it shows that law enforcement is your calling, but you love the
woods, the streams, and the open fields of the country. I think
you’d smother in the city.”