Walking in the Shadows (13 page)

“I didn’t mean to pry,
” George said
as he took in
my expression
.
“Well,
now we can all enjoy each other, a
nd I don’t have to deal with Cathy.”

“It’
s a win, win, a
nd I haven’t had a turk
ey dinner in a really long time,
”
I
commente
d as I
felt T
ad’s hand find mine and squeeze
.
“Thank
you, both of you. I really needed
this.”

George smil
ed
.
“Tad has
said a lot of good things
about you…ever
since you met in that coffee shop
—reading Chaucer was it?”

“He told you about that?”
I asked.

“I think he told every
one
of his friends too,” George answered
with a wink
.
“Guys night became talk about
Vera
night.”

I choked on my drink
.
“Seriously?”

“That’s a little bit of an overstate
ment,” Tad
interjected
,
and
I saw his Dad knew
how to embarrass him.

“Okay, okay it’s an overstatement, but he never told m
e any of that kind of stuff until he met you, b
ut I guess that’
s because he’s never been in l—”
George didn’t finished because Tad coughed.

“
This turkey is great. How
did you convince them to give it to you?”
Tad added as he shook
his head at his father.

“It didn’t take much, I mean wit
h these good looks,
” George replied
and turned to me
.
“See this is one thing you have to look forward to—the Knightley men age well.”

I wasn’t quite sure what to say
.
“I can tell.”

Tad was
laughing, “You,” h
e began
, “t
hink,
” h
e
was choking now, “m
y dad is hot!”

“What?” I stuttered
.
“No, I mean…that’s not what I meant!”

“That’s basical
ly what you just said,” Tad reiterated
,
calming down.

I pouted looking down at my plate
.
“You,” I said lifting my fork fil
led with mashed potatoes
.
“Suck
.
” I flung the potato at him and hit him right on the cheek.

In an instant I was on the floor with Tad on
to
p
of me smothering me with stuffing. Tad thought he had gotten me good
,
but I could see
his d
ad standing behind him with the bowl of cranberry sauce.

“I take
Vera
’s side,
” George said as he dumped the co
ntents of the bowl
.

“Huh?” Tad asked
,
turning to get a face full of sauce.

“Oh
,
man!” I gasped
getting up
.
“He got you—
“
I started to lose my footing on the food covered hardwood.

“
Vera
!” Tad yelled
rushing to catch me, but instead he tumbled for
ward and we both hit the ground in each other’s arms.

“
Ouch
,
my butt
!
” I gasped
for
air.

George was about to fall over with laughter
.
“That was classic
!
”

Tad shook his head
,
giving me a hand
so I could
stand
.
“She does stuff like that all the time…you should have seen what she did to the poor produce guy—grapes everywhere!”

“That—that was yo
ur fault, you scared me,
” I defended myself as I pulled
pieces of stuffing out of my hair.

“Nice one. I think
it’s
your fault
Tad—
she’s a victim,
” George responded
,
going to the kitchen and getting some paper towels.

“Finally,
someone to take my
side,” I huffe
d
as I pick
ed up the plates from the table
.
“You two clean that up
,
and I’ll do some dishes.”

I went into the kitchen and began to fill the sink with water
. When
I turned I could hear Tad and his Dad whispering to one another.  I stopped by the door frame.

“I can see why you love her—
you two a
re a perfect match,
” George commented
.

“Yeah, the whole situation sucks.”

“Are you still broken up?” George
asked
,
and Tad must have nodded because he continued, “Even so, it’s obvious how you feel about each other…until she graduates you need to be careful. You won’t be a teacher for long if anyone finds out.”

“It’s different when we’
re at
school,
” Tad retorted.

“All I’m saying
son, is you
’
r
e
still her teacher until May—you can’t forget that even if you love her. It’s going to have to wait. This who
le move was stupid,” George chastised,
and I h
eard Tad begin to refute him,
and George interrupted with
,
“b
ut it was the right thing to do
…it’s just risky, but you
’
r
e
both
grown
ups
,
so I trust you two are going about this the right way.”

“We’
re broken up—for now,
”
Tad explained.

“Until the end of the school year?”

“I can’t promise anything Dad. It’s hard enough now.”

The tension was beginning to build in the air
.
“W
hat’s taking so long?” I asked
,
peaking around the door frame at them.

Tad could tell from the expression on my face
that
I had heard.
His d
ad’s face was
red
,
and
I felt that he might be able to read me just as well as Tad. He looked down at his watch
.

“Look at that! The game should be on now? Do you mind?”
George asked
,
nodding to the TV.

I shook my head
.
“Of course not, the remote is on the coffee table.”

“Sweet flat screen! Good taste in
TV’s;
yup
, this one’
s a keeper Tad,
”
George commented
.

“I’ll help you with t
he rest of the dishes,
” Tad suggested
,
picking up the last plates and following me into the kitchen.

We washe
d them without speaking,
but
I knew we needed to talk
.
“He’s right
,
Tad.”

“You’re a keeper? I kno
w that,
” Tad teased
.

“That we should keep this teacher
—
student until the end of the year
and then if you feel the same—”

“If I feel the same? I can guarantee I’ll feel the same
.
”

“I will too.”

“I don’t know if I can wait.”

“This goes both w
ays—I’ll make you,
”
I said
,
looking over at him.

“It’s that easy for you?”
He asked
,
stepping back from the sink.

“That’s not what—”

“I love you
Vera
,
and
I know you don’t want me to say
it and
maybe you don’t feel the same—”

“Are you k
idding me?” I cut him off
and
pain shot though my h
and. I looked down to red water
.
“Crap
!
” I lifted my hand out of the sink to fi
nd a good size g
ouge from a knife
.

Tad dragged me to the bathroom
.
“She cut herself!”

“She okay?” George asked
from the couch as Tad shut the bathroom door behind him.

“Yeah,”
Tad yelled
,
sitting me on the toilet
while
tears stream
ed
down my face. He rummaged through the medicine cabinet
,
causin
g bottles to fall into the sink
.
“
Here it is
.
”
H
e wrapped my hand
in gauze bandages
and
then
looked up at me
.
“
I
t
'
s
okay
;
not too deep
.
”

I tur
ned my face away as he tried
to wipe away th
e tears. “Are you okay?” h
e asked
as he used his hand to turn
my face to his own.

I swallowed
.
“How could you think,” I
choked
as I
sho
ok my head trying to calm down
, “t
hat I
don’t love you? I love you
,
Tad
!
F
rom the moment I saw you I knew there was no one else in the world besides you.”

“That’s why
you’re
crying?” h
e asked
,
pulling me into his arms
.
“
I’
m
sorry
,
Vera
. I just…
it’s
just so hard.”

“Am I really worth it?”

“Don’t be silly, you are and my Dad knows it.
That’s why he said what he said,
”
Tad replied
,
brushing my hair out of my eyes.

“We
should
probably watch the game with him; let him know I didn
’t cut my hand off or something,
”
I suggested
with a weak smile.

“Geez, you are a
ccident prone, huh?” George asked
as I showed him my bandaged hand.

“Yup, Tad keeps saving me
,
though.”

He nodded
towards a photo on the TV stand
.
“Are those your parents?”

“Yeah
.
”

“They look very familiar,”
George observed
with a frown.

“We’
re from Norfolk
County—Tad didn’t tell you?”

“I didn’t feel it
was my place to tell,
” Tad said as
we sat on the couch.

“Norfolk
County, i
sn’t that where…oh…” George stopped before carefully saying
, “The Martins?”

“Abigail Martin,” I nodded
as Tad wrapped his arm around me.

“I see…wow…that’s…I’m sorry
Vera
—I mean Abigail,
” George responded
in confusion.

“Don’t worry about
it and
you can just call me
Vera
…no o
ne knows except Tad,
my friend
Kirsten
and her
family and
now you…”