Page 76 of Always to Remember
Her eyes lit up as she walked to the corner and examined the stone, running her fingers along the edge. “I’m probably not strong enough.”
“Won’t know unless you try.”
She wiped her hands on her skirt. “All right.” She started to draw the bandanna over her face.
“You don’t have to wear that. I don’t think you’ll create enough dust to bother us.” He handed her the tools.
“Oh, they’re heavier than I thought,” she said as she moved her hands up and down, testing their weight.
He placed his finger on the stone. “Hold the chisel in your left hand and put the blunt tip right here.” She did as he said. “Now you want to have a firm grip on the chisel because you don’t want it to go flying when you hit it.”
She nodded.
“Relax the arm holding the hammer. You want the hammer to do the work. And never take your eyes off the chisel.”
She slid her gaze to him. “Never?”
He didn’t realize how close he was standing to her until she turned her head. A man could drown in the blue pool of her eyes. He’d spent most of the night thinking about how soft and smooth her cheek felt. Her lips looked even softer.
“Never,” he said in a raspy voice. “You’ll get distracted and start thinking about things you shouldn’t.”
“Like what?” she asked.
It had been a mistake to tell her not to cover her face. Her face was a perfect oval, her eyes a perfect blue. Her lower lip was so full it gave the appearance she was pouting when she wasn’t. The tip of her tongue moistened her lips, and he wondered what it would feel like to have those glistening drops touch his own lips.
“You’ll wonder …"—he lowered his head slightly—"wonder if …” He brushed his lips lightly over hers.
She jerked her head back.
Clay straightened and swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. “I’m sorry. I’ll stand still if you want to slap me.”
“I don’t want to slap you, but I think I need to leave.”
He felt the trembling in her hands as she gave him the tools. “I don’t think my carving is such a good idea.”
She untied the bandanna from around her neck and dropped it on the chair before walking out of the shed. Clay fought against picking it up and tying it around his neck so he’d still have the scent of honeysuckle with him.
“What’d you do to make Miz Meg cry?” Josh asked.
Clay looked around the stone at the twins’ concerned faces. “Was she crying?”
“Not like she did that day when we had to comfort her, but her eyes was full of tears.”
“God damn it!” Clay slapped his hand against the granite and banged his forehead against the stone. The pain bellowing in his head wasn’t loud enough to drown out the pain cutting into his heart.
“What’d you do?”
“Kissed her.”
“Why the heck did you do a fool thing like that?”
Clay moved his head from side to side and felt the abrasive rock chafe his skin.
“You reckon she’ll come back?” Joe asked.
Clay heaved a deep sigh. “No.”
“Then who’s gonna make us smile?”
