Page 14 of Her Wicker Guardian

“There ought to be a third choice,” I say.

Shannon tips her cup toward the wicker bear. “Cryptid.”

“No.”

“Come on. He has advantages. Quiet. Outdoorsy. Doesn’t mansplain hiking.”

“Questionable posture,” Laura adds.

“Unemployed,” Blair says.

Janet studies him. “On the bright side, he’s probably low maintenance.”

Blair turns toward her. “Janet, you’re specifically forbidden from choosing anyone based on maintenance requirements.”

“I wasn’t choosing him.”

“You were considering it.”

“I was assessing.”

“That’s how it starts.”

The others move on, but the idea stays with me. A third choice. Not a bear, and not some unknown man I’m supposed to gamble on because he smiles and seems harmless. Something else.

I’ve had versions of the thought before, usually so late at night that I can pretend I didn’t mean them by morning. A man I wouldn’t have to manage or placate. Someone with his own mind, his own wants, his own choices, who could stand beside me without making me smaller just because he was bigger. The wanting is almost embarrassing. After thirteen years of learning to make myself smaller, trusting again shouldn’t come easily. Apparently two glasses of wine is where I start redesigning humanity.

“What?” Shannon asks me.

“Nothing.”

“That was a face.”

“I was thinking about the third choice.”

Blair leans forward. “Please tell me it isn’t the cryptid.”

“It is absolutely not the cryptid.”

The wind shifts, or at least I think it does. The fire tips briefly toward the wicker bear, every flame leaning in the same direction before straightening again.

Laura rubs her bare forearm. “Did anybody else feel that?”

“Feel what?” Shannon asks.

Laura looks toward the fire. “Nothing. Never mind.”

His ear is still crooked, his shoulder is still bad, and his stomach still bulges. He looks exactly the same.

Janet checks the time and groans. “I really should leave before Mom decides being alone for three hours means I’ve emigrated.”

Blair opens her mouth, but Janet points at her. “Don’t.” Blair raises both hands.

“I need the bathroom first,” I say as I get out of my chair. “Anybody need anything from inside?”

“More napkins,” Shannon says.

“Water,” Laura adds.