Nathan Jones - First Winter

The answer to that was mostly no, but at the same time he couldn’t refuse. If Aunt Clair and Uncle George had done their “intervention” with Trev, and Deb wasn’t currently glued to his side, that probably meant his cousin had convinced her to make some sort of change. That was something to encourage. Hopefully.

“Sure.” Lewis motioned to the small stack of crudely cut and baled fodder they’d already gathered. “I was just about to move those into the loft. Want to climb up there and I’ll hand them up to you?”

She nodded and started for the ladder. As she went Lewis grabbed the top bale and brought it over, starting up after her. But when he raised the burden overhead to hand to her she didn’t take it.

He looked up to see the brown-haired woman staring down at him, an odd expression on her face. “Everyone in your family got together and decided Trev’s mom and dad needed to convince him to stay away from me,” she said.

Lewis sighed and, with a quick heave, tossed the bale up beside her so he wouldn’t have to keep holding it. Then he leaned against the ladder. “They just wanted to voice their concern to Trev,” he explained. She didn’t answer. “So he already talked to you about it?”

Deb shook her head, more miserable than angry. “Linda did, right after their parents pulled him in to have their talk. She told me everything.”

Lewis shifted uncomfortably, wondering exactly what Linda had said. He was fond of his cousin, but he also knew what she was like. Had the girl said something that might hinder Trev’s chances of helping Deb, and maybe even hurt her? If the poor woman thought the entire family was against her where exactly did she go from there?

On the plus side, at least she was willing to approach him, so maybe it wasn’t so bad. “We’re worried for both of you,” he tried.

“I get it.” Deb smiled a bit bitterly. “The alarm bells start ringing when you see someone you care about getting followed around by a damaged girl who’s emotionally demanding and shuns physical intimacy.”

Lewis winced. It was great for her that she was willing to approach him, but it was awkward to be put on the spot like this. “That’s not how it is,” he said gently. “We all want things to work out for you. But you know things can’t keep going like they are.”

“I know.” She abruptly turned and grabbed the bale, hauling it farther back into the loft. “That’s why I’m here right now instead of trailing after him like a lost puppy. When he finally hunts me down and tells me we should take a break for our own good, I’ll go along and make it easy on him.”

Lewis felt a moment of helpless frustration. He didn’t want Deb felling like he thought she was baggage. He cared about and respected her. They all did. The problem was that Trev had gone overboard while trying to help her, in ways that weren’t good for either of them.

Still, one of the oldest bits of advice in existence was to not interfere in the romantic relationship of a loved one. Even if you were right, which wasn’t always the case, and even if you gave good advice to the couple, it rarely helped and usually just ended up with both people mad at you.

But whatever frustration he felt was at the situation, not at Trev or Deb. He just wanted to help them however he could. So he’d keep his mouth shut and let Deb vent if that was what she needed, or more preferably work comfortably beside her to show that being away from his cousin for a while might not be too bad after all.

Together they moved most of the bales up into the loft. Deb didn’t say anything after that, and either she was catching allergies from the crudely cut and baled meadow grass or she was crying, but Lewis gave her some space. He wasn’t sure if it was a relief or not when Trev finally showed up.

On the other hand his cousin looked seriously relieved to find Deb, and it was obvious he’d been looking for her. Lewis made a graceful exit from the barn to give them room to talk, hoping they could sort things through.

Since Lewis had given him a good excuse with finishing the work moving bales, Trev was more than happy to take it and postpone the inevitable for a few more minutes.

He could immediately tell something was wrong with Deb, though. Had she listened in to his conversation with his parents, or heard some other way? If so what would she think of people talking about her like she was a problem behind her back?

Finally, though, the last bale was arranged neatly in one corner of the large loft. Deb turned to look at him, and Trev had to remind himself not to brush a stray wisp of drying grass from her hair. Why did everything have to be so complicated when his feelings were so simple? “We need to talk.”

She gave him a resigned smile. “About the fact that I’m super clingy?”

So he’d guessed right and she already knew. He sighed. “I wanted a chance to talk things over with you without any jumping to conclusions.”

The brown-haired woman’s smile turned sad. “Too late, cat’s out of the bag. I don’t know if you knew this, but Linda’s already seeing wedding bells in our future. She’s a sweet girl, excited at the thought of having a sister. When she found out they were going to spring an intervention on you she let me know what was going on, and why everyone was worried for me.”

“Oh.” Linda had been very friendly with Deb, which was pretty noticeable since his sister… wasn’t always the easiest person to get along with. “What, um, do you think?”

Deb looked away. “I think it couldn’t hurt if I found other ways to be useful around town. Ways that let me connect with other people.” She shook her head, almost angrily. “And I should start letting you get a good night’s sleep. You need it with all the work you do.”

Trev was relieved that she was willing to take that step, but also a bit disappointed. He did enjoy having her around, and he didn’t want that to completely end. “We don’t have to cut off contact completely.”

Deb gave him a relieved look. Had she been thinking the same thing? “I’m glad that-I mean…” She took a deep breath and continued in a rush. “If we do want some hope of a normal future, it’s better if I step away for a while. I don’t want to be a burden, constantly weighing on you and using you to shield me from my issues. It doesn’t work and it’s not fair to either of us. I want to be more like Jane, a real partner where we strengthen and can depend on each other. I want you to be able to lean on me sometimes so you don’t have to be strong all the time.”

Trev felt heat rising in his cheeks, and Deb blushed furiously as she blurted out the words. Even with all the time they’d spent together they’d both carefully danced around the romantic side of things. It was good to know he wasn’t the only one who’d been thinking that way. “Maybe we can turn movie night into proper dates,” he said with a lopsided grin. “I can pick you up before dinner and have you home before midnight.”

She laughed, although it sounded like an excuse to relieve some tension. “Thanks for being patient with me,” she said quietly. “But I have to warn you that my problems aren’t going to go away overnight. Spending some time apart to correct unhealthy dependencies is a good start, but none of this is going to be easy for me. That’s not really fair to you.”

“You’re talking like being around you has been nothing but negatives,” Trev said. “I like being with you. I want you to do what you need to in order to heal from your experiences, but never think you’re just a burden.”

Deb looked away, tears in her eyes. “That means more than you think,” she whispered. She abruptly leaned in to put a hand on his shoulder and kiss him on the cheek, then started for the ladder. “Let’s give it a few weeks and go from there.”