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“I’m shy,” I said. “You don’t know me.”
He leaned forward to start the car, shaking his head. “I’m sorry. No couth, obviously.”
“It’s okay,” I replied. “I’d probably say yes.”
He glanced at me as he pulled out onto the street. “Don’t tempt me.”
“So, where are we going?”
“Remember, I make an appearance at the family home on the weekend. We’ll do that after we have breakfast. I don’t feel like it would be fair to have you face a slew of relatives today, so if we get there early enough, we’ll be safe. My sister and brother and their families come for dinner with their many offspring. It can be chaotic.”
“My mother asked me to come tonight for the annual installation of the Christmas tree, but I refused.”
“Oh. Why? Because you don’t like Christmas. It’s coming back to me now. Our chess game took so much brain power…”
“Ha! That was so much fun.”
The drive to Ann Arbor gave us a chance to share more about our lives, our histories. I kept mine as light as I could, but the gray skies were getting to me.
I looked out the window at the gloomy landscape zooming by. Living in the city had its drawbacks, but miles of leafless trees wasn’t one of them.
“I’d forgotten how desolate it looks here without the green leaves.”
“It really does. Miles of fallow fields. It’s worse when they’re covered with snow.”
I looked over at Flynn. “So you feel the same way.”
“I do. I enjoy leaving the country for expeditions when I’ve had enough snow. It’s a good excuse.”
“How are you feeling?” I asked. “Any side effects from your head wound?”
He looked over at me with what I’d discovered was as much of a frown as he was capable of, and nodded. “I have a constant headache. Not a bad one, but enough that I’m aware of it. That’s something new for me. I don’t have aches and pains.”
“How are you dealing with it?”
He took my hand. “It just happened two days ago, so I’m hoping it will go away. There’s nothing wrong with me. Time heals everything eventually, or it kills you.”
“Ugh, that’s pretty grim,” I said, snickering.
When we got to his family’s farm, we didn’t go to the house right away. He drove past it and down a gravel road to a huge stone barn.
“We’ll see my horse first,” he said. “Her name is Critter. I got her when I was eleven.”
“She’s over twenty years old!”
“She’s in her prime. We have horses here that are thirty years old. That’s about their lifespan.”
“Oh. I don’t have pets for that reason. It’s too hard to say goodbye.”
Three men were on ladders, stringing pine roping around the enormous barn. Flynn said nothing, but it was obvious Christmas decorating was in full swing. Workers were also decorating a twenty-foot pine tree that stood in the middle of a field.
As unreasonable as I knew it to be, the sight propelled me into a momentary state of despair. Fortunately, it had the opposite effect on Flynn, and he talked nonstop about the sleigh they’d hook to a team of horses, the bonfire in the middle of the field where friends and family would gather, singing carols, eating delicious seasonal foods, and enjoying the holiday.
The festivities would repeat every weekend. Suddenly, the thought of being obligated to partake doused the excitement of being with Flynn. I knew I wouldn’t be able to participate in even one evening of their Christmas season celebration.
At last, we arrived at the barn. In his excitement, Flynn didn’t notice that I had effectively dropped out. It was a red flag for sure, but I didn’t care. It would make it easier in the long run. If we weren’t seeing each other after this day spent together, I wouldn’t have to decline his invitations.
“I can’t wait to show you my horse. Do you ride? I should have asked.”
