” I thought you were taking Will and Alexa out on your boat Jack?” queried the Crone of Lake Cowichan to her neighbour.
” I was but I decided to do a friend a favour instead. Will and Alexa are taking the boat out alone instead.”
“Jack…, what are you and Layla up to? What has she wrangled you into?”
Jack’s cheeky grin told Corrie that he was guilty, but put her on the defensive when he turned it around, ” Now what would you know about what Layla is up to, hmmm?”
Lightly blushing, Corrie confessed, ” Well I may have taught her how to tell people’s emotions by reading their auras and she may have noticed that her parents are still in love with each other and she may be trying to get then back together.”
“You can tell what people are feeling by reading their aura?”, Jack asked with surprise.
Corrie, now realizing that Jack understood that she could read his emotions and, as a result, how he felt about her, went completely red with embarrassment.
“Well it’s not a precise science”, she back tracked.
Jack held Corrie’s gaze for what seemed eternity and as if he was making up his mind, nodded slightly in confirmation and grabbed her firmly by the shoulders and said, “Well in that case”, then kissed her soundly on the mouth.
Shock, then tingling excitement washed over Corrie as her arms reached up to wrap around Jack’s neck as he deepened the kiss. When he finally let go and stepped back, Corrie legs nearly gave out.
” I’ve wanted to do that for a while now”, Jack confessed in a sultry, all male voice then turned to walk back to his place leaving Corrie standing there, her brain short circuiting. He went about twenty feet but turned back to her and said, ” Oh and Corrie, Layla says your auras says you feel the same way about me too”, then grinned a mega watt smile and continued up the path.
Well damn, I totally didn’t see that coming, she thought when her brain finally rebooted itself. Corrie never imagined that she would ever feel that kind of heat from another man ever again after her husband David had died. She had really believed that romance was now in her past. Up until this very moment, she also never realized how relieved she was to find out that that belief was not longer true.
Now that her senses had returned back to normal, she realized something else, chuckling to herself she thought about her granddaughter Layla, her gifted apprentice, Oh my God, I think I’ve created a matchmaking monster!
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David nudged his wife Liz and nodded in the direction of his brother and his old flame Alexa who were trolling in Jack Fortin’s boat a hundred or so feet away from his own lake boat. The weather had been so perfect and the lake so calm that the brothers had decided to spend the day on the water fishing and picnicking with the ladies. Layla had eagerly volunteered to watch her younger cousins when the idea came about. Originally, Jack was going to come along but at the last minute, suddenly had something more pressing to do, so he offered his boat to Will and Lexi.
Will and Alexa were heads down, knees to knees in deep discussion and completely oblivious to anyone or anything else around them.
“Why don’t we take this boat for a run and see what she can do and give those two some privacy”, said David winking at his wife of a dozen years, “Besides, we could use a little alone time ourselves.” He started up the 70 horse outboard motor, put the throttle down and the boat quickly rose up out of the water a planed off.
Will and Alexa never even noticed them leaving.
It was almost dinner time when David and Liz finally motored up to his mother’s simple boat dock. As they started up the lawn to Crone Cottage, their two sons, Dillon and Bryce came running towards them.
“Did you catch any fish?”
David and Liz gave each other a knowing look, “No luck today boys.”
“Did Uncle Will and Auntie Lexi catch any?” asked their younger son, Dillon.
“You’d have to ask them yourself, buddy”, his dad returned.
“I thought you guys went fishing together”, his ten year old, Bryce said, ” How come they’re not with you?”
Once again David and Liz looked at each other but this time to make an unspoken consensus. Then their mother provided, ” They decided to check out different fishing spots than we did so we would have more chances to catch some fish.” Well the explanation seemed to work at any rate. “I’m sure they will be arriving any moment with a boat load of fish!” Let them explain there own lack of fish she thought, might be fun to watch them squirm out a story for the boys.
—————————————
Will was scared shitless. Being this close to Lexi, breathing in her scent again after so many years, it still messed him up so he was unable to think straight. God, he still wanted her so much and that was what was really freaking him out. There was more than just her and him now, he wasn’t so stupid that he couldn’t figure out what it would do to Layla if things didn’t work out.
Yet some how, this time round, it just felt right. Was it because he was more mature now, more responsible. He now had something to offer her and Layla and could provide a really decent lifestyle for his family other than his monthly child support. His family. Could he be the man they both needed, deserved?
Alexa looked deeply into Will’s eyes. Was he any different now than when they were nineteen and about to become parents? Would he let her down once again if she opened herself to him and trusted him with her heart. Does he understand how much Layla would be devastated if he can’t handle being in their lives again as a family?
She was willing, this was Will, and she had loved him since the day he took her out on their first date to the movies and then pizza when she was sixteen years old and she has never loved anyone else the same way ever since.
Sure there have been other men over the years, she wasn’t a nun after all. A few were long term relationships that could have lead to marriage but when push came to shove, deep down she had always known who had her heart and that’s why she waited…. and hoped.
Alexa made the silent decision right then and there, if there was even the slightest chance that they would be together again. He would have to take the initiative. She was going to play it cool, take it slow and most certainly not beg him to come back to her.
If you truly want me William Taylor, prove it.
They had talked, they had touched, they had kissed, and now here they were back at Jack’s boat dock. Would the spell be broken?
Alexa was leaving in the morning back to Victoria, back to work and back to her life. Would Will follow her or would he just chock the weekend up as a momentary diversion in his life, and nice interlude with his family. Would her heart survive if he stayed away?
To read all the excerpts in order, click on the “Crone of Lake Cowichan” under topics on the sidebar.