Page 40 of Lonely Heart
My mom and I made our way back to my office to sort out some details for the upcoming event, but I had a difficult time focusing.
Why did I get the distinct feeling that Marco wanted to hide what was happening between us?
I’d been soout of sorts for the remainder of the workday, working myself into a frenzy about the way Marco responded to my mom, that I had myself convinced he’d never show up to pick me up like we had originally planned.
But promptly at six-thirty, a knock came at my front door, and Marco was on the other side.
He didn’t look upset or uncomfortable. He didn’t even seem to feel guilty, either. “Ready?”
Maybe I’d read too much into what happened with my mom earlier. “I am.”
I grabbed my things and locked up the house before stepping out and walking with Marco to his truck. Once we were on our way, headed back toward downtown Landing, any of theconcerns I’d had about Marco’s reaction vanished. Because my thoughts began to drift toward the one thing that I’d avoided thinking about for days now.
The attack.
I didn’t know if I was wearing my nerves on my face or if it was just instinct on Marco’s part, but he quickly broke the tension-filled silence in the vehicle. “Nervous?” he asked.
My eyes had been focused on the road, but the second he spoke, I turned my attention toward him. “Maybe a little bit. This is… It’s the first I’m going to be in the downtown area since… since it happened.”
Marco tore his attention from the road, glanced over at me, and his features softened. When he returned his focus out the windshield, his right hand reached across the center console for mine. “You’re going to be okay. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
His touch was comforting, his words reassuring. My fingers tightened around his. “I know. It means a lot to me that you’re willing to do this with me.”
I felt the pad of his thumb stroke along my knuckles, his hold on my hand just a touch firmer. “You shouldn’t be alone.”
If he only knew.
Not only had I been physically alone that night, but it was that sense of solitude that had pushed me to be there in the first place. If I hadn’t felt so lonely for so long, that attack never would have happened.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t bring myself to respond, so I squeezed his fingers instead. And a few minutes later, we made it to the area where the classes were being held. On the bright side, Marco managed to find parking much closer to the building we needed to go to, and we were on the opposite end of the block from where I’d been attacked. At least I wouldn’t have to walk past that side street again.
After he parked and released my hand, he looked over at me and said, “Wait right there.”
I chewed on my lip nervously and nodded. Seemingly convinced I wasn’t going to have a total meltdown, Marco exited the truck and came around to my side. And once he opened the door for me, he took me by the hand again, held it firmly in his grasp, and didn’t let go until we had made it inside.
I looked up at him and rasped, “Thank you.”
There was such a softness in his stare, I could have cried at how sweet it was. “It’s my pleasure.”
For the next little while, Marco and I sat beside one another on a pair of stools at our own table, listening to the instructor provide details on the tools in front of us. There were several others doing the same at the remaining tables around the room.
The introduction to the tools was followed by a demonstration on making different relief cuts into the wood and the method for holding the tools to accomplish different types of cuts.
We were then given the opportunity to practice on our own. I glanced over at Marco and found him looking at me with such excitement in his expression. “What’s that look for?”
“I think this is going to be fun. I work with my hands all day long, and I didn’t think there was any chance I’d learn something, but I’ve already been proven wrong.”
“Well, at least we’ve both been humbled now,” I reasoned. “I experienced it with you eating the chicken I made, and now it’s your turn.”
He laughed. “Fair point.” Marco jerked his chin toward the tools splayed on the table. “Alright, which do you want to start with?”
It didn’t matter to me, so I selected one at random. “I’ll use this.”
“Okay. And I guess I’ll use this one.”
Admittedly, I was a bit nervous and unsure about my ability to do this, so I waited and watched as Marco made his first cut. It seemed easy enough, so I took a stab at it, surprising myself when the wood shaving curled away from the block. “Wow,” I marveled.
“Pretty cool, huh?”