“But it wasn’t nothing!” she said with shocking force and determination. “You ran into the night. You stayed out in the forest. You even got sick because of me.”
He shook his head. “That isn’t true. I only got sick because of the river. Besides, it’s hardly what I would call sick, just a simple cold. It will pass by tomorrow.”
“Perhaps it will, but you said it yourself, you got it from the river. As I said, you were in the river because of me.”
“It doesn’t matter why I was in the river.”
“It does to me. I don’t know what would have happened to me if it weren’t for you.”
“We’re both safe now.”
“But we almost weren’t. If we had gotten caught in that current-”
“But we didn’t, did we?”
“Well, no, but we could have. Or if it had been colder or taken us too long to get to the lodge.”
“But none of that happened. It all worked out all right and you are safe now, aren’t you? We both are?”
“Yes.”
“Then there’s no point in dwelling on it, is there?”
Veronica smiled, looking away. Suddenly it felt like they were talking about a lot more than the cabin. “No, I suppose not. I must admit, it means a lot to hear you say that.”
He nodded in agreement. “I am glad we are on the same page with this.”
“As am I. if I’m honest, I wasn’t sure if we ever would be.”
“Yes, well, I can’t promise it will stay this way forever, but I will try to stay on it.”
“I appreciate that. It means a lot to hear you say that.”
“It’s the least I can do.”
“Would you like to sit?” Veronica asked suddenly.
“What?”
“Well, if you would like to stay and talk, wouldn’t it be better if we were comfortable?”
“And you’re sure you want me to stay?”
“Of course, besides we have already been talking for a while. You might as well make yourself comfortable.”
“Very well, if you’re sure.”
“Yes, I’m quite sure.”
“Then thank you,” he sat down on one of the seats, but Veronica hesitated.
For a moment she considered sitting right next to him, but it felt too close, too familiar.
But also sitting too far away also felt wrong. They were supposed to be getting to know one another, so she didn’t want to seem too distant either.
After a moment, she chose one of the seats a short distance from him, close, but still giving her her own space. It wasn’t too familiar nor distant, and the spot she chose made it easy for her to chose if she wanted to move closer or further away.
Christopher tried not to let it bother him, but he still couldn’t help the small kernel of disappointment that grew inside of him at the distance between them. If he was honest with himself, he had hoped she would chose the seat beside him, but she didn’t, keeping to herself instead.
