look on her face before she had dropped that tray had planted
the notion in his mind. The blood had drained from her face, and she looked as
if she had seen a ghost. Backing up this theory was the way she had acted
through the rest of the meeting, pale and shaky, as if the ground beneath her
feet was not quite solid. She had kept sneaking unbelieving glances at him, as
if wanting to reaffirm that he was, in fact, there, in the room, and real.
In short, she did not behave
like someone who had been adjusting to the idea of seeing a long-lost-somebody
for an entire week. She behaved like someone who had been completely
blindsided. Gobsmacked, even.
Hmmm. That was an
interesting development. He wondered why Henry would decide to keep something
as significant as Amanda losing 20% of her anticipated inheritance from her
until the official reading of the will. You would think that would be something
he would want to allow her to brace herself for, to begin dealing with as soon
as possible.
Although, when Justin
thought about it, she had barely batted an eye at the financial arrangement.
The money didn't seem like it meant that much to her at all. It was seeing his
face that had seemed to punch her in the gut.
He mulled all of this over
during the course of the day as he swept out and scrubbed down the bunkhouse,
unpacked his meager belongings, collected clean linens and fitted them onto the
cot, and generally made the bunkhouse livable. When, late in the afternoon, he
stood in the middle of the room and surveyed the results of his day's labor, he
was pleased with what he saw. In fact, he realized, it looked almost exactly as
it had during the years when he had lived here as a young man. The best years
of his life.
His stomach rumbled as
delectable smells drifted out to the bunkhouse from the main house, and he
realized that he had gotten so wrapped up in both his physical labors and his
rumination that he had actually forgotten to eat all day.
He started to grab his
wallet and head into town for a quick dinner at Sue Ann's cafe, but then
reconsidered. He needed to find out the details of the memorial service
tomorrow anyway, so he was going to have to make an appearance at the main
house at some point. No time like the present.
Besides, he smiled slyly to
himself, if he knew Lauren, Sam, and Karina at all, he was sure that he had
been a main topic of conversation all day today. May as well insert himself
into that conversation.
--- ~ ---
As Amanda moved the
bite-size chicken pieces and chopped vegetables around the sauté pan in front
of her, her head swam with conflicted emotions. Was it always going to be this
way? If Justin did decide to stay and run the adventure resort with her, was
her consciousness going to forever exist in such a state of unbalance?
Karina, Sam, and Lauren had
gone to visit Karina's grandmother, albeit reluctantly. They hadn't wanted to
leave Amanda alone, but Amanda had insisted, coming just short of physically
shoving them out the door.
“I need to get my head on
straight!” she had told them, “The only way I am going to accomplish that is
with some serious soul searching and contemplation. And, barring that, a little
'come to Jesus' meeting with myself. Trust me! An hour alone will do me a world
of good. I'll make dinner, and be a whole new woman by the time you get back.”
So, the rest of the Fabulous
Four had departed amidst skeptical expressions and admonitions to call if she
needed anything.
And now Amanda was by
herself, cooking and contemplating, and not a whole lot seemed to be moving
forward. She had started out feeling confused and vulnerable, and that was
squarely where she still found herself. It didn't help that she had had ZERO
hours of sleep the night before! Maybe it was time to try the 'come to Jesus'
meeting.
She heard a knock at the
back door which led into the kitchen, and turned around to see the very source
of her confusion and angst standing there, his handsome face
the notion in his mind. The blood had drained from her face, and she looked as
if she had seen a ghost. Backing up this theory was the way she had acted
through the rest of the meeting, pale and shaky, as if the ground beneath her
feet was not quite solid. She had kept sneaking unbelieving glances at him, as
if wanting to reaffirm that he was, in fact, there, in the room, and real.
In short, she did not behave
like someone who had been adjusting to the idea of seeing a long-lost-somebody
for an entire week. She behaved like someone who had been completely
blindsided. Gobsmacked, even.
Hmmm. That was an
interesting development. He wondered why Henry would decide to keep something
as significant as Amanda losing 20% of her anticipated inheritance from her
until the official reading of the will. You would think that would be something
he would want to allow her to brace herself for, to begin dealing with as soon
as possible.
Although, when Justin
thought about it, she had barely batted an eye at the financial arrangement.
The money didn't seem like it meant that much to her at all. It was seeing his
face that had seemed to punch her in the gut.
He mulled all of this over
during the course of the day as he swept out and scrubbed down the bunkhouse,
unpacked his meager belongings, collected clean linens and fitted them onto the
cot, and generally made the bunkhouse livable. When, late in the afternoon, he
stood in the middle of the room and surveyed the results of his day's labor, he
was pleased with what he saw. In fact, he realized, it looked almost exactly as
it had during the years when he had lived here as a young man. The best years
of his life.
His stomach rumbled as
delectable smells drifted out to the bunkhouse from the main house, and he
realized that he had gotten so wrapped up in both his physical labors and his
rumination that he had actually forgotten to eat all day.
He started to grab his
wallet and head into town for a quick dinner at Sue Ann's cafe, but then
reconsidered. He needed to find out the details of the memorial service
tomorrow anyway, so he was going to have to make an appearance at the main
house at some point. No time like the present.
Besides, he smiled slyly to
himself, if he knew Lauren, Sam, and Karina at all, he was sure that he had
been a main topic of conversation all day today. May as well insert himself
into that conversation.
--- ~ ---
As Amanda moved the
bite-size chicken pieces and chopped vegetables around the sauté pan in front
of her, her head swam with conflicted emotions. Was it always going to be this
way? If Justin did decide to stay and run the adventure resort with her, was
her consciousness going to forever exist in such a state of unbalance?
Karina, Sam, and Lauren had
gone to visit Karina's grandmother, albeit reluctantly. They hadn't wanted to
leave Amanda alone, but Amanda had insisted, coming just short of physically
shoving them out the door.
“I need to get my head on
straight!” she had told them, “The only way I am going to accomplish that is
with some serious soul searching and contemplation. And, barring that, a little
'come to Jesus' meeting with myself. Trust me! An hour alone will do me a world
of good. I'll make dinner, and be a whole new woman by the time you get back.”
So, the rest of the Fabulous
Four had departed amidst skeptical expressions and admonitions to call if she
needed anything.
And now Amanda was by
herself, cooking and contemplating, and not a whole lot seemed to be moving
forward. She had started out feeling confused and vulnerable, and that was
squarely where she still found herself. It didn't help that she had had ZERO
hours of sleep the night before! Maybe it was time to try the 'come to Jesus'
meeting.
She heard a knock at the
back door which led into the kitchen, and turned around to see the very source
of her confusion and angst standing there, his handsome face
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