Past Forward- A Serial Novel: Episode 15 (13 page)

Late that night, after they
’
d been sleeping for hours, Willow crept from the covers and padded downstairs.
Chad heard the creak of the screen door and sighed.
He tossed the blankets from him and followed.
Everything had seemed fine, why was she now so unsettled?

“
Willow?
”

She turned and smiled.
“
Hmm?
”

Chad pushed the door open letting it bang gently behind him.
“
You ok?
”
He sank to the step beside her and pulled her to him.
“
I
’
m worried about you
.”

“
I was just thinking
.”

“
Have you always come out here in the middle of the night?
”
Chad didn
’
t remember her wandering last year.

“
Usually.
Mother said she found me in the porch swing as often as she didn
’
t when I was little
.”

“
Didn
’
t she worry about you wandering off somewhere?
”

Willow shrugged.
“
Not that I can remember
.”

“
What do you think about when you come out here in the middle of the night?
”

“
It
’
s when I feel closest to God.
It
’
s when that
‘
still small voice
’
seems to pierce my thick skull.
I love praying in the dark and the stillness
.”

“
Want me to go?
”
Chad
’
s voice was little more than a whisper in her ear.

“
Never
.”

Becca Jacobs tentatively exited her car and glanced around her.
It hadn
’
t seemed to
o
intimidating when the farm was crawling with other guests
,
but now
,
here alone, she felt awkward and uncertain.
Was she truly welcome?
She must be
,
but then…

“
Becca!
Back here.
I
’
m just hanging the last of the laundry
.”
Willow
’
s voice called to her from behind the house.

“
Hey.
I hoped you still meant it
—”

“
Of course!
I
’
m glad to have you here.
Have you ever made candles?
”

Becca’s eyes widened.
“
Make
candles?
”

“
Well, you will now.
I gave away most of my candles during the power outage this winter.
I
’
ll need more before long
.”

As Willow led her to the summer kitchen, curiosity filled her.
“
So why
…
”
Becca hesitated.
It was none of her business.

“
What?
”

“
Well,
”
with a sigh, Becca plunged forward.
“
I just wondered why you don
’
t use electricity instead?
It
’
s a lot less work but
—”
she winked.
“
I admit probably not as much fun
.”

“
You
’
re one of the first people who has even hinted that there might be an advantage to making candles
.”
She grabbed the candle wicking, tying
it to her dipping sticks as she spoke.
“
We like having the simplicity that comes without having easy access to electricity.
I mean, it
’
s easy access
—
I just have to flip the breaker
—
but we aren
’
t tempted to stay up too late, watch too many movies, or even
stay up too late
because they aren
’
t available.
Why buy a TV if you don
’
t want to watch it very often?
Why stay up late doing more things that you don’t need?”

“
Why not?
”

“
Well,
”
Willow agreed,
“
You have a point.
There
’
s nothing wrong with doing any of that.
We just never wanted to,
so we took away the temptation.
Well, Mother did.
She did it at first because she knew she needed to make it hard to do what she was used to doing in order to retrain her palate.
Then it was just our life
.”

“
It sounds beautiful.
Like Laura Ingalls without the hardships
.”

Willow handed Becca dipping sticks.
“
Just dip slowly and raise.
Dip in the water to cool, raise.
Repeat
.”
She demonstrated as she explained.
“
You
’
re right.
We are like Laura Ingalls but without the hardships.
I had a wonderful childhood.
Honestly, I like to tease Chad he married me for my childhood
.”

“
He
’
s so in love with you
.”

Uncertain eyes glanced at Becca.
“
What?
”

“
Chad.
I could see how much he loves you at the wedding.
It was a hard day for him, wasn
’
t it?
”

“
Why do you say that?
”

“
I don
’
t know.
I
’
m crazy I guess but it seemed like he was nervous about something
.”

“He was—I’m a scary prospect,” Willow teased.

“
How did you meet Chad?
”

With a rueful smile, Willow answered as simply as she could.
“
He was the officer on duty when I reported Mother
’
s death
.”

“Oh I am so sorry.”

“
No, it
’
s ok.
It
’
s a natural question.
Who meets their husband over a police counter?
”

Becca held up her candles.
“
How are these?
”

“
Excellent!
I think you have a knack for it
.”

“
So tell me more about you and Chad,
”
Becca persisted.

“
Like what?
”

With a mental list of dozens of questions, Becca launched into the first ones that came to mind.
“
When did you fall in love with him?
What is his best quality?
Are you planning to have many children?
What was your favorite date?
”

“
Well, you don
’
t ask much, do you?
”

“
I just got started!
”
Becca laughed nervously.

“
Well, which first?
”

“
When did you knew you were in love with him?
”

Willow smiled apologetically.
“
I
’
m afraid my answer is going to be less than satisfactory.
You see, I
’
m not in love with him.
I love him of course,
”
she hastened to add.
“
But from what I read and what several people have told me, I
’
m not
‘
in love
.’ Y
et
.”

“
How could you marry
—”

“
He
’
s my best friend.
How could I not?
”