She laughed quietly. “And then you got sick?”
“Yep, any attraction he felt for me was likely gone when he watched me expel demons from both ends into a bowl in our medieval bedroom.”
She winced. “Oh dear, that’s not good.”
“Yep. There was a woman from the inn who stayed in the room with us. She helped with a lot of my disgusting needs. I was crawling to the bowl, crawling back to bed, missing the bowl, just trying to survive. Torin was witness to all of it. It was totally foul. He’s probably never going to come back.”
“I’m sorry.” She pouted. “What did he do while you were sick?”
“He held me, he offered me drinks, he held my cup for me, he was shaking, he seemed really worried, he prayed over me, he even went to the church one day. I don’t know if anyone has ever gone to a church to pray over me before.”
“A medieval church, too.”
“Yeah. That gives it some weight, I think.”
“He really likes you, huh?”
I was quiet for a moment then I said, “I thought he did.”
“And you really really like him too.”
My chin trembled.
“Ah, honey.”
I said, “That’s how you started this conversation.”
“Yeah, I know, not sure what to say. Do you love him?”
“I don’t know how to answer that. My idea of love has always been to find a nice guy, to want to sleep with him, to sharethings, to cook together, to build a life. Start a family. You know?”
She nodded.
“But with Torin it’s trying to survive, and having him be heroic, and almost dying, while he makes oaths, and swears his fealty.”
“And his voice, so deep.”
“Yeah, exactly, it’s impossible to keep my wits about me. It’s my heart more than my head, way more. It’s like I surrendered.”
She said, “Yeah, but what would it look like if you had a relationship with that man? Where would you live? Would you have a family, kids? Would he get a job or would you move back there and live in a world that’s pre-antibiotics?”
I said, simply, “Exactly.”
She chuckled. “You’re right, you’re not keeping your head straight. This is crazy talk.”
I said, “Yeah, Coop tells me that he’s never coming back.”
“Likely not.”
“And if he does, it will cause more trouble than it solves. Torin said, ‘This is goin’ tae cause trouble for ye.’ He’s right.”
She nodded, slowly.
Then said, “Yeah, but hisknees.”
“Exactly. Again. It’s like you get me.”
“That’s why we’re besties.” She frowned again. “So you’ve broken it off with Coop and he’s just going to live out there in your back-shack?”
