“Thanks, Arlene.Don’t worry about it.I get why they’re behaving this way.I also have a sister.”
She smiled.“I’m so relieved, they can be a bit much.So, what have your parents said about your engagement?”
Hunter was still frantically thinking what he could say, when Willow walked in, all smiles.“Hi, babe.”She took his arm.“I knew you’d give my fiancé the third degree, I’m here to rescue him.We’re going home.Thanks for a lovely meal, Mom.”
Before her mother could say another word, Willow was dragging him toward the front door.
“Sorry about that, I’ve tried to warn you,” she whispered as they closed the door behind them.“Can we go home?I’ll make coffee.”
As they drove away, he picked up Willow’s hand and laced his fingers with hers.The only times his heart settled down was when he could touch her, feel her warm skin underneath his, and could forget about the fact he was leaving soon.
When he dropped her off, he wouldn’t stay.The more time he spent with her, the more he became aware what an extraordinary human being she was.Not only was she so beautiful, he lost his breath every time he looked at her, but she was also talented, nice, funny, warm, and so obviously adored her family.She made time for her friends, even though she was working long hours to finish paintings for her exhibition.
He loved watching her with Luke, Hayden’s son.It was clear the two of them were very close.It was going to be difficult enough to end this fake engagement as it was, if he were to make love with her, he’d never be able to walk away.
As he parked in front of her house, she quickly opened her door and jumped out.“Goodbye, Hunter.You’re nearly on your way back to Colorado.You just have to survive one more event with me next week!”
He slowly got out and escorted her to the front door.“No, there are two more events, remember?The Garden of Lights on Friday evening and the dance on Saturday evening.”
“We don’t have to do the Friday evening thing, really.I’ll have to pack anyway, so we have a good excuse not to go.We’ll show our faces at the dance Saturday evening—we don’t even have to stay long.I’m leaving early Sunday morning for the airport.Just hang in there, you’ll be rid of me very soon.”
She unlocked the front door and opened it.“Goodbye, Hunter.Thanks for the ride.”
With his last bit of self-control, he turned on his heel and walked away.With every step toward his truck, the hole inside him opened up wider.He wasn’t sure if he would ever survive never being able to see Willow again.
Chapter Eight
“I’m so gladwe’ve finally managed to get together again,” Ellie said on Tuesday night at the book club.“Everyone has been so busy, we haven’t met since Rose and Cooper’s wedding.Have you all had time to read Jane Austen’sPersuasion?”
“Sorry, I haven’t, but I’m nearly there,” Willow confessed.
“Don’t worry about it,” Ellie said.“You’ve been painting.I can’t wait to see what you’ve come up with.Have you finished?”
Willow shrugged.“I’m not sure.The last two paintings are different.They don’t fit in with the theme, I’ll have to think about them.”
“Different how?”asked her mom.
“The style.And the subject matter.”
Her mom’s eyebrows rose.“Oh?So…”
“We’re here to talk aboutPersuasion, Mom,” Willow interrupted quickly.Her mom was way too sharp.She didn’t ask questions, she interrogated.
“I’d love to know what everyone else thinks of the book,” Vivan said, following Willow’s cue.“I’ve seen a film adaptation recently, but you have to actually read the book to appreciate Jane Austen’s keen observations about the society of her times.So much of what we find in her stories, is still true today.The question of whether it is wise to let the ideas and council of others influence our decisions, is interesting.I would hope, though, these days most women make up their own minds, what do you think?”
Annie lifted her copy.“The introduction in my copy mentioned that Jane Austen who was forty that Jane Austen was forty at the time she wrote a letter to her niece Fanny Knight, at the end of 1814, dissuading Fanny from getting engaged to her suitor, telling her to avoid committing if she wasn’t really in love.The question asked is whether Austen was wrong to do this and whether she wrote this story to defend her letter to Fanny or to apologize for it.Or was it just an idea for a story?”
“Nowadays, the family in Western society probably doesn’t have as much influence in deciding who marries who,” Rose said, “but after my experience with social media, I can tell you it is way too easy to be influenced and persuaded by what others do and think.”
“On a different note, and probably not as academic,” Willow’s mother said, “the timing of the events interests me.Anne Eliot and Captain Wentworth love each other but initially he is poor and she is influenced by Lady Russell that he’s not good enough for her.Only when Wentworth has received fortune and rank in the Navy and notices Louisa Musgrove’s disregard for the advice of others, he changes his mind and doesn’t…”
Her mom’s voice faded as Willow turned her head and stared at the merry Christmas lights on Main Street.Timing.Even if she were to throw all her preconceived ideas about getting married out of the window, Hunter wasn’t going to be around for much longer.
Maybe if she hadn’t been so embarrassed by the events of the previous year, she wouldn’t have tried so hard not to be around him when he’d moved to the Weston ranch.And who knew, maybe he’d have kissed her sooner, she’d have discovered her feelings sooner, they could’ve been together for longer.
Why had she decided not ever to get married again?Oh, yes.She hadn’t wanted the burden of experiencing anyone else’s feelings.The irony was of course that for whatever reason, she couldn’t read Hunter, she didn’t know if he had any feelings for her.
However, nothing had changed.He was still going back to a Colorado, another state about seven hundred miles from here.She’d checked the distance.
