Page 58 of Pictures in Blue
She doesn’t say anything else and I think I’ve finally won our banter match.
Hudson - 1. Avery - 0.
“You know, you’re the first one to ever put that together.”
“Well, I love Christmas movies too. I used to watch them with my mom sometimes. Christmas was the only time she was nice to me. Or made an effort to be nice and have a relationship with me, that is.” Sadness creeps into her features and I reach for her leg inches from mine. I give her knee a squeeze, hoping it brings her some form of comfort. I wait for her to move away, but she doesn’t, so I rest my hand there until we finish eating.
My thumb starts moving back and forth, a mind of its own, but neither of us make any move to stop it.
After we are done eating, I collect the wrappers and food bags and toss them in the trash can near the door. According to my watch, we have about an hour before the meeting starts which is plenty of time to walk there. It’s only about two miles away.
“I’ll go grab your equipment, feed the dogs real quick, and we can head to the meeting.”
“Okay, thanks.”
I start walking toward the house before I realize something and spin back around to face Avery. “Wait, did you walk here?”
“Yes?” she answers with a questioning look.
“What the hell are you thinking, Avery? Your ankle was swollen this morning!” My voice is louder than I intend, but the idea of her injuring herself further stirs something in me.
“I iced it, it’s fine,” she says, trying, and failing to hide her wince as she shifts to her injured foot. “I can walk on it, it’s fine.”
I rub the back of my neck. This woman. “No, it’s not. You need to take care of yourself. You need rest.”
“I haven’t had time to rest with everything that happened since this morning,” she says and her words from earlier come back to me.
“What happened this morning?”
“The roof in my room is leaking and there’s no other rooms apparently. That's why I’m going to the meeting tonight. Cordie called Fran and they said they’d figure out what to do at the meeting. I guess they’re sure there’s someone with a room available. I just wanted to walk to clear my head since I didn’t have my gear to do that.”
I suddenly feel guilty for not taking her stuff to her earlier and making her come get it. I was selfish in wanting to get lost in my work for a few hours when all she wanted to do was the same thing.
“Shit, I’m sorry,” I say, sheepishly.
“It’s okay. You didn’t know. But we should get going.”
“I can drive my truck so you don’t have to walk—ah shit, nevermind. Axel has it. He’s doing some work for me. Let me go grab your stuff and we’ll figure it out.”
After I come back outside, camera bag slung over my shoulder, I stop a few feet away from Avery. “It’s about two miles to town and you shouldn’t walk on your ankle any more than you already did, so hop on.” I turn my back toward her and motion for her to hop on my back like I did this morning.
“You’re joking,” she says.
“Nope, I’m not letting you walk. So, hop on or you’re staying here with the elves.”
“I think I’d rather take the elves over this.”
“Don’t kid yourself, Sunshine. You’ve been dying to ride me again since this morning.”
The forehead wrinkle makes its appearance along with a look of dejection. I don’t think I’m the only one who has been thinking of nothing else but her skin coming into contact with mine.
We said we’d stay away from each other. It’s what she wants.I remind myself. Then why did my heart sink into my stomach and turn at the idea of not being near her? I don’t wait for her to respond and turn around, motioning her to get on my back. My heart beats with anticipation at the thought of carrying her again, and even though my legs and back are feeling sore from earlier this morning and working this afternoon, the soreness seems to lessen greatly at the idea of touching her again. And my mind wanders to what it would be like to touch her in other places. Places a bit higher than her legs.
I come back to the present at the feeling of her hands on my shoulders as she carefully hops up and wraps her legs around me. I place my hands under her knees like I did this morning and even with her weight on me I feel lighter.
I start walking and search for something to say to lessen the growing tension between us.
“Favorite movie? Go.”
