Where are you?
On the grounds. All is well.
Where on the grounds?
Gus ignored the request for his location. He’d risk Hemstead’s wrath to keep the condition of the chair a secret.
“Where were we?”
“Fixing the chair. We need to fortify the legs.”
“I think you were about to tell me how you know so much about my ancestors.”
“Let’s just say I’m an old man.”
Gus started to protest then laughed low. Why press the man? “It’s a reason but not a good one.”
“Time will reveal all, Gus. Time will reveal all. Now, we’re going to use this drill…”
Gus listened and followed the carpenter’s instruction, drilling into the first old leg so a dowel rod could be inserted for fortification. Then did the same with the second one.
When the task was completed, Emmanuel set them aside and walked Gus through mending the cracked seat. More putty and clamps.
“Can I ask you something, Emmanuel?” Gus straightened, gripping the putty knife, eyeing where he’d worked the bonding agent into the wood.
“Go.”
“Do you think love is free? That one can choose to love, even if it’s not returned? Did my grandfather the first King Titus, love freely? You seem to know so much. Tell me.”
“Can I ask you something?”
Gus grinned. The old man was quick to turn the tables. “Go.”
“Why do you ask?”
“A friend suggested I could love Coral, my ex-fiancée, even though she broke my heart. I assume you know her, at least of her.”
“She ran out on you.” Emmanuel’s gaze was kind.
“Would you love her, forgive her, if you were me?” Gus stared at his putty knife, then applied more of the compound to the seat rail.
“Do you love her?”
“Not like before. I’ve had a whale of a time moving on, but I’ve gotten there. I think. I love what we were supposed to be.” Gus rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand. “I just don’t want to be anchored any longer to her past actions. Don’t want to be clamped down the rest of my life.” Gus shot a glance at the clamp that once held the chair legs together. Looked positively painful.
“So you’re asking if the bonding agent of love can repair the crack in your heart?”
Gus sighed with a low laugh. “That’s one metaphor for it.”
“Choosing a love that keeps no record of wrong is highly admirable. A better option than love that keeps a tally. You’ll always come out short on that road. While you’re keeping a record of someone’s wrongs, another body is keeping a record of yours. Love as a bonding agent is love as a healing agent.”
“Then I should love her. As a friend. Forgive her? Even if she doesn’t love me?” Gus applied another scoop of putty. “That will work?”
“Every time.” Emmanuel declared Gus had puttied enough and pointed to the clamp. “Gently… Tighten the screw. We’ll let it dry a couple of days. We’ll have this chair in royal order by the first of next week.”
“Just in time for the ball.” Gus worked the clamp until the putty and chair bonded, then wiped away the excess. “Have you ever been hurt by someone you loved, Carpenter, but loved that person anyway?”
“Indeed, I have.”
