Chapter 18

July 1^st, 2023

Marcia watched as her brother and friend eyed each other. She wasn't sure how the meeting was going to go after the occurrences of three years previous, but she hoped both could reign in their feelings.

There was an uneasy silence that was finally broken by Chet. "Hi, Trish. Nice to see you." He stepped up to her and put one arm around her in a friendship embrace.

It was as if there was a collective sigh of relief as they embraced. Darryl glanced at his sister, and saw a small bit of stiffness that quickly evaporated. It was as if Mage consciously made the decision to be friendly.

For her part, Mage knew what Triah had done, and rather than being mad at her, she was happy that Trish had been rather childish. Her abandoning Chet allowed her to show him what had been right before him all their teenage years.

Her main fear was that Chet wouldn't be able to accept her presence, but when she saw his welcome, she relaxed. There was no fear in Mage of Trish taking him from her.

Marcia turned her attention to Sammy who had stared fixedly at his aunt when she appeared in the wheelchair. The two had developed a close relationship and he was very concerned about her.

As soon as he saw she was looking at him, he came close and climbed into her lap. Marcia made sure he couldn't hurt her in any tender spot, and the little boy gave her a hug. "Hurt?" he asked.

"I'm okay," she told him. "Don't worry."

As they collected their luggage, Darryl started to take his nephew off of Marcia's lap, but she shook her head.

"You're sure?" He asked.

"Take care of Marcia!" Sammy said insistently.

Mage knelt beside the little boy and told him, "You be careful. If Marcia says 'ouch,' you listen, okay?"

"Okay," Sammy said carefully. He usually didn't speak in full sentences, but the words he spoke were very carefully said. Allie was a teacher at heart, and made sure he said them properly.

Sammy sat contentedly on Marcia's lap till they reached the exit of the terminal, and she gave up the wheelchair.

They made their way to the parking lot and came upon Chet's latest project. It was an older fifteen passenger van, although it was new enough that the center of gravity was farther back, and so it wouldn't sway like the very old ones.

Marcia looked at it dubiously. It had running boards, making a step, but she still wasn't fond of steps.

Chet opened the barn doors in the back and pulled out a piece of plywood and a crate. As he set up a ramp, she realized he had built this to do double duty. The plywood was more than a simple piece. It had a 2x4 screwed on each long side, and another in the middle. Metal handles on one side could be used to lift it, and were the perfect size to fit posts for a handrail. He set the crate in front of the side door, and a couple of brackets on the front of the ramp slipped into some slots in the crate. It made a perfect ramp for anyone with a bit of mobility problems to get into the van.

-=#=-

On the way to Palmer, Marcia was concerned at the thought of the stairs to get to her room. She tried to tell her brother of her fears, suggesting it would be better for her to hole up on one of the couches, but Chet simply wouldn't hear of it. "Besides," he said; "Darryl is stepping up to care for you, so i'm certain he can get you up the stairs."

"I'll carry you up," Darryl said.

"Lift!" Sammy exclaimed.

"And carry," Darryl confirmed.

"No!" Sammy almost shouted. "Stair! Lift!"

"Yeah," Darryl said. "Up the stairs."

"No!" Sammy exclaimed again. "Chair! Lift!"

Suddenly, Marcia got what her nephew was saying. "Is there a chair lift going up the stairs?" she asked.

"Well," said Chet. "I was gonna surprise you, Sammy didn't want you worrying. Dad and I found a used one a few weeks ago, and while you were gone, Dad Johnson and I installed it. Had to get some new track, as it came out of a split level house, so it wasn't long enough. We went through the motor. Even comes with it's own remote control."

"Fun!" Sammy enthused.

-=#=-

In the business office of the farm sat Chet, behind his desk. In a chair, facing him, was Trish. In front of others, they had been cordial, but now, the girl wasn't sure what to say.

Chet sat, starting at a sheet of paper in front of him. It was a report of the sales of milk from the dairy, but he didn't even see it. He wasn't in the office for anything but to talk to Trish. But what could he say? The last conversation they had was when she told him she was seeing a guy in DC. Now, she was back in Alaska, and he wasn't sure what to think.

For her part, Trish was considering this man sitting in front of her. He had become incredibly successful doing what he enjoyed doing, and now he had a large farm as well. He had married his best friend, and she was happy for him and Mage.

Was she? Yeah. The more she thought about it, the more she realized she was. The two deserved to be together. They had two beautiful kids, and it was obvious the children adored their parents.

She looked back at Chet for a moment, then curious to see if he’d even pay attention to her, she said, “Awkward, isn’t it?”

He didn’t answer for a while, but finally said, “I’m really not sure what to say.”

She nodded.

“Why’d you come back to Alaska?” he asked after a bit.

She sighed. “The guy I was seeing in DC? He was a real jerk, Chet.”

“But he was there, right?”

“That was a different jerk.”

That finally got Chet to look at her. “More than one?”

She gave a bitter laugh. “I was an idiot, Chet. If I had it to do again, I’d have found a way to stay at Eileson.” After a pause, she said, “Of course, if I knew what I know now, I wouldn’t.”

“Why’s that?” Chet asked, cocking his head in interest.

“Look around you, Dummy. Look at the life you have! The family! There’s no way we ever would have been like this as a couple!”

“Why?”

“Oh, come on!” she exclaimed. “Margot… Mage, is someone I can never hope to be! I just wish I was even half… no… a quarter the woman she is!”

“You’re more than…”

“That’s not what I’m talking about!” She almost shouted.

“What!?” he was confused, then realized what she might have thought he was going to say. He was instantly furious that anyone, especially Trish, would think he would say such a thing, and he brought his hand down on his desktop for emphasis of his exclamation. “No!!! That’s not what I was gonna say.” They both heard an ominous crack as the desktop reacted to his emphasis.

“Still in good shape, I see,” Trish commented, then she saw the look on his face. “What did you mean?”

He took several deep breaths to calm down, then said, “I was going to point out that you are more than what you thinking. You can be whatever you want to be.” As he set his arms down to lean forward, he felt the desk give a bit, and he decided to lean back.

Trish tried to keep a straight face, but a snerk finally slipped out. She tried to hold the rest in, but they kept slipping through. Turning her head, she hoped she could at least keep some sense of decorum, but a moment later she lost it completely as Chet stood, pulled his shirt straight much as the captain of the Starship Enterprise D would do, and moved around his desk to a chair. Trish watched as he sat down, and she could see he was trying to hide his own embarrassment.

They both laughed, clearing the awkwardness out of the room, then she said. “I’m sure I’ll find my own soulmate. It’s just not you. You’re just not really my type.”

“You can say that again,” Chet agreed.

“Don’t push it,” Trish said, grinning.