Page 57 of Her Wicker Guardian

He considers that for a moment. “Must be strange.”

I look at him. “What?”

“Knowing how to do something you’ve never done.”

My hands stop on the willow. No one has said it that way.

Rachel asks how I know things. Shannon watches me learn. Blair asks questions that create more questions.

Tom has found the part that feels strange.

“Yes,” I say.

He nods as though that is enough.

We unload the willow. Tom does not tell me how to build the bear. He asks where I want the heavier pieces and carries them there. When I need something held, he holds it. When I ask about a tool, he tells me what it does and hands it over. We work easily together.

After a while, I stop explaining every small thing I need. I point, and Tom hands me the right piece. When I hold out my hand without looking, a tool appears in it.

The third time it happens, I look at him.

Tom shrugs. “Getting the hang of you.”

I think about that while I turn back to the bear.

I am getting the hang of him too.

Shannon lasts almost twenty minutes before she says, “You two are alarmingly quiet.”

Tom is holding one side of the first support while I fasten the other. “We’re working,” he says.

“You two can work and talk.”

Tom glances at her. “Why?”

I look at Tom, he looks at me, and Shannon makes an exasperated sound before I realize I’m in on the joke now.

By the time we stop for water, the bear can stand on its own.

It is only a frame so far, two strong legs, the beginning of a body, and enough across the shoulders to show what it will become. The details will take longer, but the hard part is right.

Shannon circles it. “This is offensive.”

Tom drinks from his bottle. “What is?”

“It already looks better than ours.”

Tom glances at the frame. “You had four weeks.”

Shannon turns on him. “That is not helping.”

His mouth twitches. “Wasn’t trying to.”

She gives him a look, but there is no anger in it. A moment later, she shakes her head and reaches for her water.

I understand enough now to recognize this too. They enjoy irritating each other. I finish the first bottle of water and reach for the second one.

When the break is over, we go back to work.