Past Forward- A Serial Novel: Volume 5
Page 32
He’d never seen her like this—so moved by something that it overflowed in such a physically artistic way. She usually photographed, painted, sketched, or wrote. She turned flat pieces of fabric into art that moved and flowed, but never had he seen her dance with such utter abandon.
The beauty of it produced an ache in his throat that threatened to choke him. Would he ever know this woman that he called wife? Could he? Something about the carefree dance before him reminded him of a little girl—the one she had been once, he supposed. Would Kari be like her? Was it possible without the genetic code that had linked the Finley women? Would growing up on the farm with Willow as her mother be enough to give their daughter that joy for life and love for beauty?
“God, please make it so,” he choked.
When his heart could take no more, when his lungs seemed incapable of cooperating any longer, Chad called to her. “Lass?”
Willow turned. She didn’t hesitate. The moment she spied him near the edge of the pasture, she ran to him, laughing. “Chad!”
He caught her as she flung herself into his arms, swinging her in an arc and kissing her. “Having fun?”
“Mmm hmm…”
They walked back to the house, hand in hand, not speaking for some time. At last, Willow leaned against him and murmured, “I missed Mother today—more than I have since those first days. I came out here, talked with the Lord, cried—”
“Oh, Willow…”
“I’m not sorry. I haven’t danced in the pastures since Mother died. We did that sometimes, you know. We’d go out in the grass at sunset and dance and spin… Today I did that by myself and you know what?”
Chad’s voice cracked twice before he managed to choke out, “What?”
“It was good. Someday, I’ll bring Kari out here and we’ll dance together, but tonight it was just me and the Lord, and I’m good with that.”
“It was beautiful.”
She smiled up at him, kissing his cheek as she did. “Yes it was.”
Chapter 178
The leaves had already begun to change. As she walked the highway to Fairbury, Willow noted the golden splotches in some of the trees and smiled. Autumn would arrive soon in all its glory. At the turnoff, she waited for cars to pass before jogging across the highway and making her way to the convenience store. In the restroom, she struggled to change her shoes. With her hat off, she brushed her hair, washed her hands and face, and stared at herself in the mirror. “Better,” she whispered, adjusting the fabric wrapped around her.
In the store, she grabbed a bottle of water and pulled out her wallet. The attendant smiled. “Have a nice day, Willow.”
“Thank you, you too.”
Each step toward the center of town brought a different feeling—one she couldn’t identify. She passed the street to the police station—the street that had led her to Chad only three years earlier. Her eyes scanned the little building, trying to remember the person she had been as she stepped into that unfamiliar room. Even now, she could feel the blast of cool air and hear Judith’s jokes as she called to Chad.
Her hand curled around sleeping Kari’s head. The long wrap that tied the baby snugly to Willow’s chest made pushing the jogging stroller easier. A glance through the cover showed the lads leaning forward, curious about all they saw. Residents waved, calling her by name. Alexa Hartfield saw them and paused, kneeling to ask the boys about the trip to town. “Your daughter is so beautiful,” the woman said as she continued on her way.
Willow nodded. “She is, isn’t she?”
A couple of blocks ahead, Chad wrote a ticket and tucked it under a windshield wiper. “See there? Daddy’s working. Someone forgot to pay the meter, so he has to give them a ticket. Aiden Cox is in school now, so Daddy says he’s writing a lot more tickets these days.”
Chad saw them and waved, hurrying down the street to meet them. Another expired meter—or possibly one near expiration—made him pause and he dumped a quarter in it. She suspected he did it simply to avoid having to stop to write another ticket. As he reached them, he kissed her, his hand sliding over Kari’s head. “How’re my girls?”
“Happy to see you!”
“Daddy!” The boys called to Chad in unison, each straining at the straps that kept them from climbing from the stroller whenever something interested them.
As Chad knelt to talk to his sons, a lump filled Willow’s throat. A sense of awe washed over her seeing all that her life had become. Friends waved, some calling them by name. Her husband—husband!—lifted their sons—their sons!—from the stroller, holding one in each arm. How had life ever become so different? How had she ever resisted such a rich and beautiful existence?
“Lass?”
Chad’s voice broke through her reverie. “Hmm?”
“Are you okay?”
She smiled up at him, her heart dancing at the love and concern she saw in his face. “I think I can truly say I’ve never been better.” Her lips dropped to Kari’s head. “I love you.” She shook her head at the unexpected tears the filled her eyes. “I love my life.”
To be continued in mid-2013…
Alone without friends or family to comfort her after the death of her mother, Willow Finley’s idyllic life is over—and just beginning.
Follow Willow as she learns to blend her old life with the new, experiences things she’s only read about, and makes the first friends she’s ever had. Living as if in the past, her life is moving forward.
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