Past Forward Volume 1 (50 page)

While in the kitchen, Chad made a sandwich
with lettuce leaves for bread and made a mental note to buy a loaf
or two. The last thing she needed was to start baking on that leg.
The sandwich would keep him going until he could get into town and
get bread. And a burger. Definitely
not
in that order. At
his usual place, a salad sat waiting for him.

“So I got a call from Rockland yesterday,”
Willow began.

“How
is
Bill?”

“Fine—but that’s not who I was talking
about.”

“Oh?” Chad picked at his salad trying to
remember how good for him the green piles of vegetation were.

“That store I went to? You know the one
where I bought a few things?”

“Yeah.”

She swallowed. For reasons she couldn’t
fathom, Willow wanted Chad’s approval. “They want me to design a
children’s line similar to the women’s clothes and help manage the
children’s store.”

“Is that something you want to do?”

Though she saw that he tried to hide it,
Chad sounded unsure. Willow jumped on that. “I don’t know. Bill
seems to think it’d be good. He mentioned that I’d be closer to the
physical therapists at the hospital, and I do like the idea of
designing the clothes, but—”

“But what?”

She shrugged. “It seems like a lot of change
just so I can make a few cute outfits and some fabric
decisions.”

“Why don’t you counter-offer?”

“Huh?”

Chad stood and carried his plate to the
sink. He pulled his gloves back on and turned to face her. “I just
meant that I don’t see why you can’t design the children’s clothes,
pick the fabrics and stuff, but not manage the store. J.C. Penney
buyers don’t have to manage their stores.” With a wink and what he
knew was a weak smile, he jerked his thumb at the door and told her
he’d better get back to the hay.

Sickened by her news, Chad left the house in
a rush. He’d grown to like working around her place. Even undoing
his work from Saturday was satisfying. If she left, what would
happen to her farm? Would she give away the animals? Would she stop
growing the vegetables and quit processing the fruit? Would she
sell out?

Maybe she’d let him rent it. He had a better
understanding of her financial situation, now. Living in Rockland
would be expensive, but she’d have a salary—Bill wouldn’t let
anyone take advantage of her. Maybe she’d marry him.

That idea grew a hard stone in his gut. He
felt horrible. He had no right to an opinion, but something about
Bill didn’t fit. Something about Bill just was not right.
Hypocrite. You’ve practically been begging God for this and now
that it’s here, you think he’s wrong.

Seated on the couch, a pillow behind her
propped knee, Willow painstakingly stitched her fabric pieces
together. Autumn would knock on her door sooner than she expected,
and she felt like bringing a little bit indoors. If she couldn’t
wander through her flowerbeds and pick pumpkins, she’d create fall
from the inside out.

Once her quilt blocks were finished, Willow
grabbed her cell phone and called Chad. “Can you help me?”

He was inside before she could tell him what
she needed. “You ok?”

“I’m fine, you goof. I just didn’t feel like
climbing those stairs. I spent twenty minutes after lunch stepping
onto that first step with this bum leg, and I’m tired.”

Shaking his head, Chad frowned. “You don’t
have to do all your therapy at once. It’s ok to rest too.”

“I just don’t want to get yelled at for not
going to the therapist.” She pointed to the stairs. “Ion the bottom
shelf in the craft room, there’s a pile of wool sweaters. Can you
get them?”

He was upstairs and back before she could
shift into a more comfortable position.“What are you doing with
them?”

“Potholders. I’ll hang them in the kitchen
and bring a little fall indoors.” She paused, thinking. “Oh, wait.
In the closet, by the door, top shelf, there is a box marked
red-orange. Can you bring that too? I’m going to make a few
pumpkins.”

“Why don’t I just bring in a couple of them
from the garden?”

“That too.”

As she sewed, Willow dreamed up charming
clothing designs for children. She didn’t know what kind of
clothing options the store had in mind, but occasionally she
sketched an idea on a notepad. Several she wadded and tossed at the
wastebasket in the corner, but occasionally she had one that she
knew was perfect.

Under her skillful fingers, potholders and
pumpkins grew. Aware of every minute that passed, she forced
herself to relax and enjoy the chance to do some of the things she
rarely had time for in summer. When she needed green for pumpkin
leaves, Willow decided to get it herself. Her leg wasn’t throbbing,
her pain medication was working, and she needed all the exercise
she could get.

When he returned from town, Chad found
Willow feeding the chickens. “What are you doing?”

“You know, what I always do? I’m feeding the
chickens. I can’t milk Willie, but I can at least give them a snack
and roll them in.”

“Roll them in?”

Willow grinned. “Well, when the weather
turns bad quickly, we don’t have time to chase them in, so we just
push the yard back.”

Chad watched amazed as she clicked locks off
wheels he’d never noticed and slowly pushed the yard back. The
chickens were forced to climb into their coop or be squashed. “How
did you ever—”

“Mother hated chasing chickens when I was
little, so she created this for nighttime closing. I like shooing
them in.”

Chad moseyed into the barn with her words
ringing in his ear.
“…I like shooing them in.”

Grinning, he murmured, “She likes shooing
them in. She’s not going to get the same satisfaction corralling
kids into dressing rooms.”

He watched as she climbed the back steps.
Each step seemed to weaken her just a little. The temptation to
carry her into the house and dump her on the couch with orders not
to budge hit him hard—again. It seemed as if it happened every time
she tried to do something.

When he opened the screen door, Chad found
her pulling containers from the bags he had left there. “Do you
like enchiladas?”

Willow’s eyes met Chad’s over the bag of
food. “I don’t—yes.”

“What?”

“I’ve never had them but they smell too good
not to love it.”

“You’ve never had enchiladas?”

She shrugged. “I’ve had sushi!”

He shooed her into the living room and
brought her a plate and a glass of milk. “Just sit and eat so I can
enjoy my meal guilt-free.”

“What?”

Chad shook his head and took a bite. “Man,
Rosita’s makes the best enchiladas ever.”

“They are delicious. I might have to learn
to make these tortillas. Mother often talked about learning how,
but she never did.”

While they ate, Chad marked down his current
work schedule on a notepad. Working around his need for sleep, and
what she thought she could do, they sketched out a plan to ensure
that they harvested and processed all the fruit and the produce
from the fall garden. It would be tight, and they might need help
if they got behind, but by the time Chad rose to carry their plates
to the sink, they both felt confident that their plan would
work.

Chad’s phone rang. Seconds later, he
grinned. “Just in time. Lee Wu is coming in a while. She has
tomorrow off at the salon so she’ll stay tonight and tomorrow
night.”

“We can start on peaches then!”

Chad glanced at his watch. “I’ve got an hour
before dark. I’ll go get what I can. I have to be at work by ten
tomorrow morning but I can pick quite a few before then. Lee can
pick too.”

A huge grin lit up her face. “This is going
to work, isn’t it?”

“It’s going to work just perfectly.”

Willow struggled out of the couch and waved
him off. “Go pick peaches. I’ll change my sheets.”

“Why?”

“Well, Lee would probably prefer sleeping on
fresh sheets.”

He didn’t like the sound of where this would
lead. “Where are you going to sleep?”

“The couch.”

Chad whipped out his phone. “I’ll tell her
to bring an air mattress, and she can have the other bed. I’ll
sleep down here.”

“Perfectly,” she agreed. “This is going to
work just perfectly.”

Lee ground her teeth as she peeled peaches
and fought to keep her mouth shut. Bill Franklin, good-looking man
that he was, was driving her to a different kind of distraction.
He’d been “making an argument” eloquent enough for the toughest
courtroom in the nation. It was brilliant. Fascinating even.
However, Willow was obviously torn—ready to crack under the
pressure.

Three times, she’d picked up her phone to
call Chad, and three times, she’d snapped it shut. It wasn’t any of
her business. The minor fact that it wasn’t any of Bill’s business
didn’t change anything. She had to do the right thing.

Raised voices, however, were more than Lee
could stomach. She hated conflict. It took twenty minutes to bring
herself to do it, but eventually she strolled into the living room
with a pitcher of water and Willow’s only two glasses on a tray. “A
glass of cool water anyone?”

“Thanks.” Bill’s face and voice were
strained. Maybe he wasn’t the creep he seemed.

“We were discussing a business proposition
I’ve been given,” Willow said as she took the glass from her.

“Oh really? What is it?”

“That store you suggested in Rockland? Boho?
They want me to design children’s pieces and run a sister
store.”

Lee was floored. It was any woman’s dream
job, but she had little doubt that Willow would wither in the city.
“I think you were born for design. That dress you wore to the faire
was out of this world.”

Willow’s head snapped up surprised.
“Really?”

“Yes.” Lee took a deep breath and smiled at
Bill. “Do you worry about her in the city?”

“What do you mean?” His confusion was more
than evident.

“Well, she’s so active here. Outdoors, in
the fresh air and sunshine… Do you think she’d be happy in a store
all day?”

Lee saw Bill’s answer in his eyes even
before he said, “I think she’d have a lot of opportunities that she
doesn’t have here. There are gyms and walking trails at City
Park.”

“So what you suggest is that she moves from
here to create an artificial here in the city? Why?”

Willow jumped into the conversation. “So
Lee, why don’t you like the city option?”

Lee shrugged. “I’d love it if I had that
opportunity. But then, I love the city.”

“So why did you open a shop in Fairbury?

“I’m hoping to open a salon there someday,
but I wanted to get my feet under me on a smaller scale first.”

“But—” Bill and Willow spoke
simultaneously.

“But Willow doesn’t love the city like I do.
Have you seen this incredible life she has here? Why should she all
of it up for just one thing that she enjoys—something she could do
from here?”