Past Forward- A Serial Novel: Episode 11 (16 page)

“
Unless sameness is a sin, I
’
m not doing it.
” He squeezed her hand.
“
I promised
,
Willow.
If this is about children or intimacy in marriage, I made a promise
,
and I
’
m going to keep
it
.
I have my room.
You have yours.
How that works out down the road is up to you.
I
’
m not going back on my word
.”

As he turned into her driveway, Willow asked one more question.
“
So what happens if I change my mind
,
but you don
’
t change yours?
”

“
About what?
”

“
Um
—
children or sleeping arrangements, or whatever
.
”

Chad hurried to open her door for her and hustled her inside the house.
Her ruana, warm as it was, didn
’
t cover the rest of her enough to protect her from the icy air.
He built a fire, before grabbing
the thick quilt that lay over the back of the couch
and
tucking it in around both of them tightly.

“
It
’
s so cold!
”

“
You
’
re not usually gone so long that the fire goes out at night
.”

“
Makes me feel like a failure in the Proverbs thirty-one department.
My
‘
lamp
’
went out at night
.”

“
That,
”
Chad protested,
“
Is the most ridiculous thing I
’
ve ever heard
.”

The room warmed slowly and their teeth
eventually ceased their staccato dance
.
They talked about the evening
,
and Chad admitted that aside from the Solari invasion, he
’
d had more fun than he
’
d expected.
“
I suspect that has something to do with the company
.”

“
I had a wonderful time.
I like dancing
,
but I don
’
t like this stuff on my face and pins in my hair,
”
she complained
,
pulling a small mountain of pins from the coils of hair around her head.
The tumbling curls bounced around her shoulders.
“
I can
’
t believe my hair still has curl.
It never holds a curl.
Mother and I tried everything
,
but these things your sister used seem to have worked
.”

“
That and the stuff she uses before she puts them in, and the layers of hairspray she
—”

“
No hairspray.
I put my foot down on that.
It was awful just in the front.
Feel that!
”

Chad tried to run his fingers through the front of her hair but they refused to budge without a tug.
“
Ick
.”

“
See, the back isn
’
t like that
.”
She turned the back of her head for his inspection and sighed deeply as his hand massaged her head.
“
That feels wonderful
.”

“
Cheri always had someone rubbing her head after it was up.
She said it felt like sore muscles
.”

“
Mmm hmm…
”
Willow agreed.

“
You
’
re going to fall asleep on me.
I
’
d better go home
.”

“
But then you
’
d have to stop rubbing my head
.”

He nudged her gently.
“
Goodnight
,
Willow.
I
’
ll go start a fire upstairs for you
.”

“
I
’
ll sleep right here
.”

“
Get up
.”
He insisted pulling the blanket with him as he rose from the couch.

“
Oooh you
’
re mean!
”

“
You
’
ll thank me in the morning.

Halfway home, Chad remembered Willow
’
s question and smiled.
She couldn
’
t be asleep yet.
She answered his call on the second ring.
“
What now?
I was almost asleep and already dreaming of dancing and beautiful dresses
.”

“
You asked me a question that I didn
’
t answer
.”

“
Oh
.”
She wasn
’
t sure she wanted an answer anymore.
For the
p
ast five minutes, she
’
d been thankful for the interruption that seemed to have made him forget the question.

“
Willow, you need to know something
.”

“
Do I really?
”

He chuckled.
“
I
’
m not going to say anything horrifying.
Breathe.
You need to know that our marriage is going to be different from most marriages
,
not because I
’
m not interested but because I know you
’
re not ready for one.
I could have waited until you were
,
but I didn
’
t want to.
I
’
d rather wait while I am married than wait to
be
married
.”

“
What does that mean?
You lost me
.”

Chad swallowed hard and rephrased in the simplest way he knew how.
“
Willow, I
’
m a man.
I
’
m not going to turn down an invitation
.”

Willow stood in the doorway of Chad’s little bathroom, watching as he tied his tie.
“That looks very uncomfortable.”

Chad stared at his reflection, before jerking it off again.
“It is.
I don’t know what I’m trying to prove.”

“Prove?”

“A man like Solari knows I’m not a tie kind of guy.” He draped it over the towel rack and
washed his hands again.
“Well, how do I look?”

Her smile didn’t quite meet her eyes, and she knew it.
“Like
fish
bait.
He’s going to be so mad when you show up without me.”

“It’ll show his true colors, and we can stop the song and dance.”
Chad wrapped his arms around her, murmuring into her hair, “It’s going to be ok—really.”

“I shouldn’t have asked to come.
You’ll get home so late…”

“I’ll probably just bring my uniform and change at your house.” He gave her one last squeeze before he said, “It was kind of nice
to hang out here for a bit.
I prefer your place, but this was—”

She frowned as he cut himself off abruptly. “What is it?”

“I just realized what I really liked about it.”

“And that is?” Stepping around her, Chad went to his room and grabbed his shoes.
Willow followed, confused.
“What?”

Seated on his bed, he leaned forward, his head cradled in his hands, and whispered, “You wanted to be here with me.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

His eyes rose to meet hers.
“Nothing. It’s just—great.”

“You’re weird.”

Five minutes after Chad strolled out the door to go to the restaurant, he burst into the apartment.
Willow jumped up, demanding to know what was wrong, but he didn’t answer.
He grabbed his uniform and disappeared into the bathroom, barely shutting the door behind him.

“Chad!
I’m serious.
What is wrong?”

“Accident—Joe’s hurt.
I have to work now.
You’ll have to stay here until I get off or get a break if I do.
Sorry.”