Chad drove toward Brunswick lost in thought.  The sight of Willow in the company of someone else, having fun, and clearly not wanting to ride home with him was both a relief and a bit concerning.  Had he offended her?  Was she aware of his resistance to the obligation he felt regarding her?

He punched Luke’s phone number into his cell phone, turned it on speaker, and slapped it in the holder on the dashboard.  “Hey Luke I need advice.”

“About Willow?”

Unsure how to respond when he’d obviously been too transparent already, Chad mumbled something about “that girl needing more friends and less dependence on him for help and support.”  Even as Chad spoke, he knew he didn’t sound very convincing.

Luke’s gentle voice responded with the last thing Chad expected to hear.  “Chad, when you’re ready to be honest with both of us, call me back.  Until then, take it up with the Lord.”

The phone clicked.  Chad punched the off button angrily.  “Who does he think he is anyway?  I ask for help and get a ‘deal with it yourself.’  What kind of Christ-”

Shame welled up in Chad’s heart.  He’d called Luke to complain about someone needing help and his desire to tell her to “deal with it yourself,” and leave him out of her life.  He knew the right thing to do but he only wanted it to be sin if someone else didn’t do it.

Sighing deeply, he punched the redial button and prepared for a healthy feast of fried crow.  “Hey Luke.”

“You beat your record.  I’ll take a slice of that crow pie from you and feed it to the pups.”

“I was angling for fried but ok.  Pie it is and you can have it.”

Luke’s laughter was followed by his characteristic silence.  While he waited for whatever nugget of suppressed wisdom Luke would eventually share, Chad thanked the Lord for night minutes and long drives to Brunswick.  At least this counseling session was free.  The last one had sent him over his monthly minute plan and cost him an extra twenty dollars.

“You’re protective of her.”

“Not because I want to be!” he protested vehemently.

Luke tried again.  “That’s not what I said.  I didn’t say you wanted to protect her but that you do if Sunday was any indication.  What sparked this call tonight?”

Chad described seeing Willow in town and the realization that it was almost dark.  He told of the meeting in the coffee shop and how Lee had shooed him away.  “So I left.”

“And called me complaining that she needed more friends?  Chad, she was making a new friend, didn’t ask you for anything, and apparently has managed to survive twenty years or so without you holding her hand through them.  I think you’re still deceiving yourself.”

After a couple of stammering false starts, Chad blurted, “But that’s just the point!  It was so nice to be able to drive away knowing I didn’t have to worry about her walking along that highway in the dark.  I need more of that and less of her in my life.”

“Has she decided that she needs you or did you decide that?”

Chad blustered trying to backpedal without being too obvious about it and succeeded in making himself look and feel like a fool.  “She doesn’t know what she needs Luke!  She walked home from the bus station.”

“Horrors!”

A quick reply was the last thing Chad had expected.  He was accustomed to having time to prepare a rebuttal to Luke’s insightful comments.  “What?”  The question was a ploy for time.

“You heard me.”

“Luke, maybe you didn’t understand her situation.  Willow lives five-”

“I understand.  I understand that for twenty some odd-”

“Twenty-two” Chad interrupted irritably.

“Twenty-two years,” Luke continued unruffled, “Willow has managed to walk back and forth to town without your help or permission.  She’s managed to run a farm, keep a house, and-”

“And with the help of her mother who happens to be dead at the moment.”

“I assume she plans to stay dead Chad so what does that have to do with anything?”

Speaking slowly and carefully as though talking to a child, Chad tried again.  “But Willow had help all those twenty-two years.  Actually, she probably didn’t help much herself until about five or ten years ago.”

“You seriously underestimate the abilities of children.  Aggie’s kids have stripped wallpaper, cleared the entire property of weeds and scrub brush, painted trim, sanded woodwork, scraped tile and I can’t remember what else.  Willow has been a significant help for at least fifteen to eighteen years.”

“Well-”

Luke interrupted uncharacteristically, “And before Willow did any of it, her mother did it all alone.”

The statement hovered over the conversation like a thundercloud.  If Chad responded at all, it’d burst.  Taking a deep breath, Chad let the cloud burst.

“That’s just the problem Luke.  She was so very alone.  Terrified.  She gave birth in a thunderstorm, all alone in that house, too scared to leave it, terrified to stay.  They froze when she didn’t get enough wood chopped, she ate canned food until I got sick of it just reading about it.”

“And you don’t want that for Willow.”

Chad sighed in relief.  Finally, Luke understood.  “No.  I don’t.”

Unaware that he’d opened himself up for the kill, Chad waited for Luke to tell him it was ok to be worried but that he didn’t need to invest himself in this friendship.  The Lord would take care of Willow without using his hands to do it.  A deceptive peace stole over him as he waited for the words that would return his life to normal.

“My question to you then is, ‘Why do you think you have a right to decide what you want for her if you don’t want to invest in her?’”

***

“I really appreciate the ride home.  I can’t imagine walking all that way like this.  Would you like to come in?”

Lee’s laughter brought a faint bark from Othello out in the field and a series of yaps and whimpers from the puppy in the barn.  “If I hadn’t insisted on giving you a ride, you wouldn’t have ripped it.”

Willow called to Othello assuring him all was well and let the pup scamper from the barn.  “It’s dark out here so I’m going to put up the chickens and let the pup run around before I go in and change.  Feel free to go on in if you prefer.”

“Can I watch?  I’ve never seen chickens up close.”

“You’ve never seen chickens?”

Lee shook her head.  “Not in real life.  I’ve seen them in movies and books but the only other ones I’ve seen were plucked, skinned, and sometimes de-boned.”

While Willow shooed the birds into their coop, Lee watched from the other side of the coop fence.  She was surprised when Willow returned with an egg in hand.  “I’ve got one in there who is either really late or really early with her eggs.  They’re all double yolk and they all show up around seven o’clock like clockwork.”

Willow cracked the egg into a bowl by the back porch and waited for the puppy to eat his late night treat.  Lee stifled a gag at the sight of the puppy she’d just been petting inhaling the raw egg.  What other gross things had the dog eaten recently?

“Ok girl, it’s time for bed.”  Willow smiled at Lee.  “I’ll be right in.  I just have to lock her in the barn or she’ll drive me crazy all night.”

Willow entered the kitchen and smiled at the sight of Lee washing her hands.  “Farm animals are dirty.  They don’t get brushed and washed as often as pets.”

In an attempt to redirect the conversation, Lee looked around the kitchen.  “This is a really cool kitchen.  It’s so big!  Is that an actual wood stove as in to cook on?”

“Yes.  It’s nice in winter.”

“I bet it’s horrible while you’re cooking in summer though.”  Lee was too polite to mention the stifling heat in Willow’s house but she felt it keenly.

Willow slipped into the pantry and flipped the circuit breaker box.  She brought out an oscillating fan and plugged it into the kitchen and in the living room, uncovered another and plugged it in.  “We have fans for when it gets warm.  I’ll be right back.  I really need to change shirts.’

Lee wandered around the living room noticing how carefully planned the effect was.  A room to her right was open and she glanced inside on her way past and then stopped.  Magnetized by the sheer volume of books in the room, Lee flipped on the light and stepped inside.  She ran her fingertips along the spines as she skimmed the titles.  From classics to children’s books and books on how to do almost everything, the shelves held a wealth of information and enjoyment.

Hearing Willow step in behind her, Lee said, “Wow.  I’ve never seen more books in one room in my life.  I don’t know if Bookends has as many books as you do.”

“Oh, I’m glad you mentioned that place.  Chad recommended that I buy one of Miss Hartfield’s novels.  He thinks I’d like them.  He also mentioned talking to her about my clothes.”

This comment piqued Lee’s interest and a little ire.  “What about your clothes?”

Willow brought Lee a glass of ice water unaware that the broken chips of ice in her drink fascinated Lee.  “Well, I asked him about my dress on Sunday because I noticed my clothes are kind of different than- well, take yours.  My skirt and top are very different than yours.”

“But they suit you.”

“That’s what Chad said.  He said if I wasn’t happy with what I have that I should talk to Miss Hartfield because she has a unique style.  I think he was trying to make me feel confident in my choices.”

“How very sensitively unlike him.”

Willow’s eyes met Lee’s.  “What do you mean?”

“Chad’s a bit arrogant and from what I can see, he’s also meddling in your life.  That kind of sensitivity doesn’t fit his persona.”

“You don’t like Chad very much, do you?”

A sigh escaped.  “He’s young but he’s ok.  He just hasn’t fit into the group very well and it makes things awkward sometimes.”

“He told me he’s shy and uncomfortable around people he doesn’t know.  As for meddling, he knows a lot about my mother’s past and as the officer who was on duty when I had to ask for help when I found Mother dead-”

Lee shook her head violently.  “Wow.  Say no more.  I was wrong about him.  I get it.”

“Now if he would just quit feeling obligated to save me from my situation, life would be perfect.”

Suddenly, Lee didn’t understand.  She’d assumed that Willow had come to Chad’s defense due to Willow’s own interest in him but the tone of exasperation clearly indicated that Willow was anything but emotionally attached to Fairbury’s favorite new officer.  The complicated twists and turns of Willow’s relationships was fascinating in a warped sort of way.  Uncertain of how to respond, she returned the conversation to the topic of clothing.

“So were you looking for a new look or what?”

“Well, I think Chad was right.  My clothes do look like me.  I like my clothes but I also liked some of what I see on others and since I obviously need a few new things, I just wondered if I should consider a change of style for those.  Sounds silly doesn’t it?”

Lee smiled and took a sip of her water praying for the right words.  “I don’t think it sounds silly at all.  Few people have Alexa Hartfield’s ability to be comfortable while standing out in a crowd.  Even fewer people can do it and still be modest and humble.  Alexa can.”  Her fingers fidgeted as she worked to phrase her words carefully.  “I just think that if you want something new, it should reflect you as a person and not just be a reflection of those around you or you won’t be comfortable in it and then you will stand out like a sore thumb.”

Willow felt like one of the teenagers in novels she’d read as a child.  She pulled Lee upstairs eagerly and spread out her clothing.  “See, I wear a lot of jeans and cut-offs.  But I try to make my blouses be pretty and comfortable.  I’m all about beauty.  I like things to be pretty even if they have to be functional.”

For the next hour they discussed what Willow wore every day, how often she changed clothes, and how many nicer items she’d need.  After a few minutes pouring through her fabric catalogs and seeing the fabrics Willow gravitated toward, Lee clapped her hands excitedly and squealed, “I’ve got it!  The Boho-tique in Rockland!”

“The what?”

By the time Lee left, Willow had a plan for Saturday and hoped Bill would be up to it.  She only hesitated for a few minutes before she grabbed the phone and dialed Chad’s number.  He answered on the third ring sounding worried.

“Are you alright?  Did you get home ok?”

“I’m fine.  I just wondered-” Suddenly, Willow’s confidence wavered.  It was too much to ask.  She was taking advantage of a friendship because it was convenient.

“Wondered what?”

A new thought occurred to her.  “Well, I was wondering what you were doing Saturday evening.”  Completely unaware that her words sounded like the opening to an invitation for a date, Willow waited expectantly for Chad’s answer.

Honesty forced Chad to admit he got off work at ten in the morning and was free until Sunday morning at ten o’clock.  “Why?”

“Well, Saturday Bill is coming to take me to Rockland…”

“Sheesh she’s getting around a lot!” he mused to himself.

“… He wanted me to see some of the museums and the zoo other things like that so he’s taking me to the Presidential museum.  He wanted to take me out to dinner but I told him I needed to be home by dinner to milk Wilhelmina.”

“And?”  Chad knew what was coming.  He went from near panic at the idea of turning Willow down for a date to disappointment that he was the patsy used to make her date with Bill happen.

“Well Lee was just here and she…”

“Oh no!  Now she’s playing matchmaker…” he groaned inwardly.

“… said that there is a store there that makes skirts and tops to order with the fabrics you like and she thought their fabrics and styles are perfect for me.  She called it ‘Euro Boho’.  Whatever that is.”

“Ok, I’m not following you.  What does Lee and fabric have to do with going to Rockland?”

Willow giggled nervously at her incomprehensibility.  “I want to talk Bill into taking me to a store but if I do that I think I should make sure we still get to have sushi so I thought if you would let me pay you to milk Wilhelmina, it might not be so bad.  If we don’t get to eat there for lunch, we could do dinner-”

“I’ll milk the goat.  You stay and have fun.  But you’re not paying me for anything.”

Willow chewed her lip for a moment and then protested.  “I can’t keep taking advantage of you.”

Chad’s smile came over the line almost audibly.  “It’s what friends do Willow.  It’s what we do.”