Past Forward- A Serial Novel: Episode 16 by Chautona Havig Read Free Book Online Page A

bucket, and lunch, and took off to her favorite fishing spot.
    She glanced at her cell phone. Nine forty-five. Court was in session. Willow tried to remember how to send a text message but her unsettled mind made her fumble until she gave up in disgust. Lynne Solari faced the death penalty , and Chad ’ s testimony would likely be several nails in that coffin. She had always thought she believed in capital punishment , but the idea of putting someone to death and ending th e chance for salvation was repugnant to her.
    The look on Chad ’ s face when she ’ d said it still hovered in her memory. “ Willow, she has had forty or fifty years of opportunities. It isn ’ t like we killed her before she had a chance to consider her actions. We don ’ t deserve a chance at salvation ; we ’ re given one , and most of us throw it away .” His words made sense, she understood them, but her heart constricted at the idea that man killed to avenge murder , and in the process, stripped who knew how many years of opportunities to yield .
    The fish weren ’ t biting — to her immense relief. Willow didn ’ t really want to catch any , but at least the possibility absolved some of the guilt of a wasted day. She slid open the phone and forced herself to concentrate on how to send a message. Finally, she sent two short sentences. PRAYING FOR YOU. MISS YOU.
    The sun was too far on the side of the west before she realized she ’ d forgotten to eat. She munched on her sandwich and stared at the cell phone. He hadn ’ t called. Court recessed for lunch over two hours earlier , but he hadn ’ t returned her call. She tried again but no answer. The phone said it was after four in the afternoon. He should be home in an hour or two , unless they wanted him for tomorrow and at that point, he would get a hotel room.
    She stood, put away her gear, gathered her things, and trudged back toward home. Illogically, e very step seemed to go nowhere, but eventually she stashed her things in the barn and put a pan of water on the stove to boil. It was early , but she just felt like getting the work done and out of the way.
    Every minute that she raked, milked, fed, and watered, she prayed and felt lonelier than she ’ d felt since those horrible days after her mother ’ s death. Chad had accustomed her to companionship again , and not hearing from him hurt. As she finished, she wandered with Portia out to the tree by her mother ’ s grave and sat curled there, her phone open in the grass and waited to hear.
    “ He ’ s testifying against that family , Mother. We have an advocate. Well, I know we ’ ve always had the Advocate , but we have a nice human one too. He ’ s very good to us — works so hard to help make everything here run smoothly .” Willow dropped her head to her knees. “ He loves me , Mother. Not just cares about me like he does about his sister. Not anymore. He loves me. Sometimes I feel like I ’ m failing him that way , but he doesn ’ t seem to be upset .”
    Cars whizzed by, Portia chased the sticks she threw, and the sun sank slowly toward the horizon. Still Willow sat , thought, prayed, and rambled to her mother about everything from the state of the garden to the progress she was making on spinning. She jumped to her feet and called Portia to her side.
    “ Girl, I ’ m being immature. I don ’ t care if he ’ s gone all day working and then helping someone or off to see his mom — or Todd — but he gets stuck in Rockland with that trial , and I act like it ’ s the end of the world. I ’ m going to make some dinner, play that movie on the laptop, bring in the charger since I ’ ve run this battery down, and spin until I ’ m exhausted. There ’ s a storm coming. It sounds cozy .”
    Suddenly, she felt energized. She heated soup, made a salad and another sandwich, flipped on the house electricity, and set up her movie. Eagerly she raced to the barn for the phone charger and carefully plugged it into the