“As a matter of fact, I had a doctor’s appointment in the city.”
“And when was that?”
“Last year.”
Her look is pointed. “Sweetie, you’re the hobbit who refused to step foot out of the Shire.”
Is Charlie right about me? Do I keep my life in a holding pattern fifty weeks of the year? “What’s the difference between a hobbit who got to stay in the Shire and Samwise Gamgee?”
“Courage. To be afraid and jump off that cliff anyway, despite your fears, instead of slinking off to comfort and safety and forever wondering ‘what if?’” She pokes my arm. “Patrick was the worst kind of coward, but you, my darling, have courage in spades.”
I’m not convinced. “What makes you say that?”
“Do you really not see yourself? You were a baby when your father died and left you this place, yet you rose to the occasion and made it something better than it was.”
“I wasn’t a baby. I was in my twenties.”
She pinches my cheek. “Still a baby, and we both know you were the one who kept this place going even before your father passed. You could’ve crumbled in the face of all that adversity.”
“But I didn’t.”
“No, you did not.”
“And what about Charlie?” My face ignites at the mere mention of his name. “Do you think he has courage?”
“I’d have to know him better. What do you think?”
“I’m really not sure.”
She clasps her hands in front of her. “When I met Bob, my second husband, I was terrified that he wouldn’t be interested in a woman like me. I mean, I thought he saw me as a good-time girl, but not necessarily a long-time one. His first wife had been Betty Crocker. She loved to play caretaker, and we both know that isn’t my vibe. I was convinced he’d ditch me when a Martha Stewart came along.”
“He obviously didn’t.”
“Let me finish my story, darling. One night we’d gone back to his house after a night of dancing. I looked at Bob standing in the kitchen and thought, This is home.”
“His kitchen was that nice?”
“Oh yes, but that’s not the point. The point is that Bob was home for me, wherever that was, and so I decided to speak up right then and there and tell him how I felt. We were married the very next month.”
“You move fast, Angela.”
“I’m glad I did. He died a year later. Imagine if I had waited. We would’ve lost that precious time together.” She shakes her head. “I could’ve asked and gotten a different answer, of course, one I didn’t like, but it still would’ve been worth asking because I would’ve known to stop wasting my time on someone who wasn’t willing to commit.”
“Thanks for sharing that with me. It helps.” I smile at her. “Any prospects for your next husband?”
“No, but I’m having a grand old time anyway.”
I lean my head on her shoulder. “I’m glad you’re here. Every year I think you might not come back.”
In a rare display of affection, she drops a kiss on the top of my head. “Only Robert Redford himself could keep me away.” She pauses. “Unless it’s the Robert Redford from the Marvel movies. I didn’t care for him.”
“He was playing Alexander Pierce, not himself.” I straighten. “I should go. People will wonder where I am.”
As I reach the door, Angela says, “At the very least, I hope you get to test drive him. If he can make you blush like that when he isn’t even in the room, imagine what he’s capable of when he is.”
I flee the cabin before she starts rattling off a list of descriptive suggestions.
The cabin floor is disappointingly damp. I can’t manage another night in Cricket’s bed. I feel like I was offered the One Ring and was strong enough to refuse its call.
