He looked so depressed kneeling by the bell frame. I felt my heart aching for him. When I had first met him, he had been so rude to me that I was afraid of him. I knew now why he acted that way. His fear for his farm, his livelihood, and his empty shell of a marriage had taken a toll on the poor man. His wife Ruth was overbearing and unyielding. She was a selfish person who blamed him for the farm's deterioration, when in fact it was because of the dying Goddess tree. After jumping through some hoops for Ruth, she finally pointed out the path to the bell frame. I had not expected to see him here kneeling before the bell, praying to the Harvest Goddess. He suddenly turned and saw me standing there.
"What do you want?" He snarled, he looked at me angrily. I felt none of the anger back as I had first felt when I first met him. Instead of backing away, I sat down next to him. I could see his startled expression.
"I'm here to help you," I said. "I'm here to help the whole island." HIs expression softened only slightly, but enough to convince me to stay where I was.
My attraction to him was wrong for so many reasons. He was married, and I was engaged. My fiance was definitely the jealous possessive type too. I knew Ruth did not care, she was already having a well known about affair with Ozzie at the Fishery. His daughter Anissa was one of my best friends and she was four years older than I was. But at that moment, I did not care about all the reasons why I should leave, I just cared about the man that was in front of me.
"Do you think it'll work?" He asked with hope in his gruff voice.
"Yes," I answered with confidence. I placed my hand on his forearm. He jumped slightly, and looked up into my eyes. His eyes were a dark brown, almost black. The color of his eyes seemed to intensify the emotions reflected in them. I noticed he had taken his cap off, a show of respect in prayer. This man had so many layers to him it fascinated me. I had never seen him without it on before. His sandy colored hair was tousled, and it made him look younger. Before I realized what I was doing, I lifted my hand up to smooth out some of his wild tresses. The look in his eyes betrayed the fact that it had been a while since he had been treated with such tenderness. My hand slid down and rested against his neck; my thumb softly caressing his cheek. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.
"You..." He started to say, then stopped. he opened his eyes and looked at me. I could see the conflict in them. I knew exactly how he was feeling, I was feeling the same hesitation. All of my reasoning told me to run as far away and as I could. I could not move, it was as if some hidden force was keeping me there. He stood frozen is place as well. My heart felt as if any moment it would leap out of the confines of my chest it was beating so hard. I had never felt this way with Owen. Owen had been a safe choice for me. Everyone had always commented on how perfect we were together. When Owen had proposed to me just a few days earlier, I had accepted. I had not wanted to accept at first, and after I had said yes, I had felt as if a chain had been placed around my neck. I knew that I didn't want to marry Owen, my heart belonged to someone else. I think it had always belonged to the man in front of me. "Molly we shouldn't..." He trailed off.
"I know," I whispered. I looked at his callused hands that he was wringing together. The hand not on his cheek came down to calm his hands. He once again looked up at me. "It's unfair, I've waited so long to feel this way about someone. The way I feel when I'm with you!" I threw my arms around him and buried my face into his shoulder. His hand gently stroked my hair. After a few moments, I started to pull away, but stopped. Our faces were so close, I could feel the heat of his skin against mine. My heart rate quickened, if that was possible.
Then suddenly as if the dam holding back his emotions broke, his hands were tangled in my hair and his lips were on mine. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to settle into the kiss. I had spent many nights imagining what this would be like. My imagination did not even come close to the reality of it. I could smell his musky earthy scent, and there was faint taste of coffee. I felt myself smiling. The man pretty much always had a cup of coffee in his hand. He pulled slowly away, both of our breaths were heavy and shallow, and I smiled at him.
"Molly, I care for you deeply, but I am married, this cannot happen," Craig said. He looked as sad as I felt. I knew he was right. I knew that we could never be. "I'm sorry I need to go back to the farm." He gave me one last lingering kiss and left me alone by the bell frame.
"I heard another bell," Own said slipping his arms around my waist. I slowly put my arms around his neck, as he nuzzled mine. The emptiness of the embrace was even more apparent after being in Craig's arms. I shuddered at the thought of that stolen kiss by the bell frame. "I take it you had something to do with it?" I nodded not quite trusting my voice. In that moment I hated Owen, for everything that he stood for, for everything that he was to me. He represented the life that I was expected to lead, and Craig was the life I wanted to live.
"The earth is restored," I informed him. "Marimba farm should be able to grow their crops again."
"Ruth will be relieved, maybe her useless husband will actually help out now," Owen growled. I tensed in his arms, becoming even angrier at the careless words he used to talk about the man I loved. I closed my eyes willing myself to calm down before I spoke my next words. Owen did not seem to notice my displeasure. It was something that I was used to, Owen ignoring me. He would never pay attention to how I was feeling. I absently listened as he continued to spout on about how Shelly had the material for his tux, and our upcoming wedding wedding.
After that day I turned away from Marimba farm and Craig, and never looked back. I rang the yellow bell, and the farm began to prosper once more. I heard through the grapevine that Ruth ended her affair with Ozzie shortly thereafter, and that both Craig and Ruth were happily engaged in their thriving business. I married Owen, moved into the blacksmith's with him, and allowed my brother to take over the farm.
There is not a day that goes by that I do not remember that warm spring day sitting by the bell frame in his arms, his lips against mine. I had never felt more happy, then more depressed in one day. I had my life to live, and he had his. But the memory of that one moment sitting by the bell frame has sustained me. It has been something that I go back to in my mind over and over again. I sit and I often wonder what it would be like to be with him. What it would be like if I could be Ruth. But then, I am called back to reality, usually by one of my two boisterous boys who are spitting images of their father. I will always have that spring day though, tucked forever in the recesses of my mind.