Past Forward- A Serial Novel: Episode 11 (3 page)

“
Birthday pictures?
”
Marianne’s voice perked up at the mention of
pictures
.

Without a word, Willow crossed the living room to the bookcase and returned with her birthday album.
“
Wes took these for my birthday.
Aren
’
t they beautiful?
”

“Oh!
Look…”

Chad winked.
“Yep.
Without a doubt,
Mom approves.”

“Can you imagine what a photographic genius like this man will do with the beauty Willow will create here?”

Eager to divert the subject, Willow turned to Chad and asked, “Are you sure you don’t mind if we go to Rockland tomorrow?
Do you want to come?”

“Nah,
I
’
ll stay here.
That
way
,
you girls can
go
, have fun, and not have to rush back.
I
’ll
take care of the animals,
”
Chad insisted.

Near dinnertime, Marianne changed clothes, grabbed her purse, and
left for
Brandt
’
s Corners
, planning to have
dinner with Libby.
Chad watched her go with a
n
air of relief that Willow found comical.
“
If I didn
’
t know you better, Chadwick Tesdall, I
’
d say that you were happy to see her go
.”

“
Is it bad to admit that your mother talks too much sometimes?
”

“
I
’
m sorry.
I shouldn
’
t have encouraged her with
the
wedding things.
She just seemed so excited
…
”

“
Grab your plate, let
’
s eat on the couch, and watch that movie mom gave you for Christmas.
She
’
s been bugging me about it
.”

Chad set up his laptop on the coffee table, plugged it into the socket, and then went to switch on the power.
“
Hey, did you know the circuit breaker was on
?
”
he
asked
as he returned to the living room.

It took Willow a few seconds to answer.
“
I turned it on for the phone charger.
I must have forgotten to turn it off again
.”

“
Mom using a candle when she could have used a light switch… how funny
.”

“
Well,
”
Willow hedged.
“
I
’
m not sure we have bulbs in most of the light fixtures so it probably wouldn
’
t have helped anyway
.”

“
Good point
.”

Half way through the movie, Marianne called to say she
’
d be back in the morning.
“
We
’
re watching a movie and by the time it
’
s over
…
”

“
We
’
re watching
North and South
.
It
’
s not bad for one of those
period
things
,
”
Chad admitted.

Marianne laughed.
“
There
’
s no way I
’
m coming back then.
I wouldn
’
t ruin that for anything.
Behave yourself
,
son
.”

Chad stared at the phone confused and then snapped it shut.
“
Mom
’
s coming back in the morning.
They
’
re watching a movie too
.”

From the strike, to the attack on Margaret, to Bessie Higgins
’
death, the story captivated them.
However, a
fter three hours, Willow was half-asleep
,
leanin
g against Chad
and
his arm
draped
around her.
Suddenly, in the last minutes of the film, Willow sat up abruptly.

“
Make it go back
.”

Surprised that Willow wanted to rewind a very intimate kiss, he slid the
progress
bar back on the screen and hit play again.
She watched
intently
, although with some obvious embarrassment
,
and when Margaret walked away from John Thornton again, Willow insisted he rewind the scene again.

After the third time, Chad paused the movie and crossed his arms
,
trying to gauge her reaction.
“
What is it?
”

“
Nothing.
You can play it
.”

“
That
’
s not true.
Something made you watch it again
.”

“I—well, I—” She shook her head.
“
Just play it.
I
’
ll explain when the movie
’
s over
.”

She settled once more against Chad
’
s side, although somewhat
less comfortably
, and watched the remaining seconds of the movie before the credits rolled.
“
You were right I guess
.”

“
Right about what?
”

“
You once told me that kissing a man isn
’
t the same as kissing your mother or a friend.
Now I see what you mean
.
I cannot imagine my mother kissing me anything like that
—”
she pointed at the screen.
“
And if that is what you think Bill wanted that night, well I
’
m glad I told him to go away
.”

Chad didn
’
t speak for several minutes.
The kiss had moved her, yes, but it had moved him as well
,
yet in a very different way.
Affection for Willow came naturally.
He
’
d rarely even thought about it.
His
family was an affectionate one
,
and until
the fiasco with
Linnea Burrell, he
’
d been affectionate with almost everyone in his life.

Of course, he
’
d kissed her forehead or the top of her head
,
just as he
’
d kissed his sister or his aunt.
He
’
d seen hundreds of on-screen kisses over the years and at best, they bored him
. Too often,
he often found them a little repulsive.
This one, however
—
H
e sighed.

“
I
’
m sorry
.”

Chad pulled her back to him as Willow tried to pull away.
“
For what?
”

“
You sighed.
I thought maybe I annoyed you or something
.”

“
The kiss moved me too Willow.
I think
—”
Chad
cut himself off
.
“
I think I
’
ll say goodnight
.”

Fifteen minutes later
, just
as he started to drift to sleep, the music from the end of the movie drifted
up
to his room.
Chad
crept
down the stairs to the landing and smiled as he watched Willow, head in her hands, elbows on her knees, re-watching the final scene of the movie just once more.