Page 94 of Always Knew It Was You

Micah isn’t necessarily in the church itself. Rather, he’s in the church parking lot, surrounded by rose bushes and wearing sweatpants, an eighties bright pink top and a matching headband.

He’s also practicing yoga along with a dozen other elderly people, who are all separated by mats as they face off against Tate who is leading the class.

“Alright, guys, now I want you to get into the downward dog, and just inhale,” Tate says.

“What on earth?” I look behind me and see Declan approaching also with a puzzled look on his face. He looks at me in question. I shrug.

“I have no idea. I just got here.”

Declan turns back to Micah. “We’re supposed to meet for a late lunch. He told me to pick him up here, but I had no idea this was why.”

And Micah clearly enjoys surprising us, because, in the middle of his downward dog, he turns and gives us both a wave and a wink.

And Micah really seems into it too, executing the stretch perfectly and then turning to tell Mrs. Henderson beside him, “No, my love, you have to extend your back a little more. Just a little. Engage your core.”

“I’m gonna pop a hip if I do that.”

“No, you won’t. Let me show you.” He stands and then goes to her, his hand hovering over his body. “May I?”

“Please,” she sends him a flirtatious smile, which he returns with a wink of his own.

Micah then gently positions her body into a better pose that takes the weight off her lower body. He also puts his hand on her stomach and asks her to inhale and hold the strength there so she can find her balance. He then makes micro-adjustments to her posture so she neither overextends nor rounds out her back. It takes Mrs. Henderson a few tries but she finally gets it. Micah’s so gentle and patient in his guidance that even Poppy looks impressed. Her eyes meet mine over their heads, and she gives me a little nod and a thumbs up.

And then, when Mrs. Henderson is more stable, Micah gets back into his pose, closes his eyes, and transitions into a child’s pose.

“That’s right,” he says to the class. “Feel the stretch.”

“I’m feeling something alright. And it’s ‘embarrassed.’” Old Man Shoreton snarls, his hands shaking in an attempt to hold the pose.

“Embarrassment is just shame leaving your body,” Micah says, which makes the old man snort and half the class laugh.

It continues like that for another few minutes until Tate finally calls out, “And that’s the last move guys. Good job. You guys really did great today.”

“Yeah, that’s thanks to your pansy assistant over there,” Shoreton responds with a theatrical whisper, jabbing his head in Micah’s direction though everyone already knows who he’s talking about.

Micah doesn’t take offense. “I resemble that remark,” he says as he bounces to his feet, jogging over to meet me and Declan bright-eyed.

“Hey, guys. What do you think?”

Declan looks too discombobulated to even speak.

I shake my head and snort at his clothes. “What’s with the getup?”

He glances down at himself. “Oh, this old thing? It was all they had in the church lost and found. Mrs. Peach wouldn’t let me go home and change before yoga. She seemed to think that I wouldn’t come back.”

“Right.

“And how did you end up getting dragged into the yoga session anyway?” Declan asks.

“It’s a long story,” Micah sighs dramatically. “But basically, what happened is that during bible study, Mrs. Peach was telling me about her waist problem, and then I go, ‘You know what would help with that? Yoga.’ She tells me that Tate will be having a yoga session in the afternoon, but she’s too embarrassed to go because she’ll be the oldest one there. And I told her that it was nonsense and that she should go and rock her stuff, and in between trying to encourage her, I somehow got wrapped in it. She was saying that she wouldn’t go unless I did and well... I ended up here.”

Declan sends that puzzled look to me as though to say, “What do you even see in this dweeb?”

I, on the other hand, am trying my best not to laugh. And that’s when I get that warm tingling feeling in my chest.

That feeling gives me pause and wipes the smile right off my face.

Oh no.

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