Chapter 4
"Sunset By the Lake"
By the time that I had finished showing Will around my cottage, we headed down to the lake where all of my pets were buried and where I would come down and at least think of my future life. This was the place where I had my most deepest thoughts, the place where I found sanctuary where my cottage or my father's mansion would not. The lake was very beautiful especially at sunset.
"This is where I used to come to bury my pets," I explained to Will as we sat on the beach. "And this is where I realized...that one day I would die. I would not only join them, but my mother and my little brother. This is my sanctuary, Will, the place where I would go for my solice and where I can think of my own thoughts and dreams. Standing right here, on this spot, I realized... that one day I would be over the rainbow."
At that moment, Will looked down at the ground before looking back up towards me with a look of worry in his eyes, almost as if he needed to tell me something.
"Laura," he said. "I want to tell you something."
"Sure, what is it?" I replied, thinking that he was going to confess his love for me, despite the fact that he was married.
"A few days ago," he explained, looking up towards me. "Something happened to me. I was driving in New England, and I hit an animal."
"Oh, God," I gasped, suddenly thinking back to one of my pets who got hit by a car when I was eight. "What animal was it?"
"It was a wolf," he replied. "A gray wolf or something."
"In New England?" I asked. "Are you sure?"
"I'm positive," said Will. "And when I tried to touch it, I thought it was dead. But then suddenly, out of nowhere, it bit me and went back into the woods before I even realized what had just happened."
Almost immediately, I could sense why my horse, Fleeting Ways, was frightened of Will earlier in the day. Will had a strange presence whenever animals were around him, almost as if he was a wolf himself. Still, that was the fascinating thing about Will.
"Did you get checked for rabies?" I asked, trying to hide my fascination.
"No, I'm fine," replied Will, scratching his head slightly. "But this is really going to sound insane. Since it happened, I feel as though the wolf..."
Will then took an enormous gulp as if he was going to tell me something embarrassing about himself.
"…Passed something along to me," he continued, rebounding himself. "A scrap of its spirit in my blood or something, I don't know. But, all of a sudden, my senses are all incredibly acute. I feel just so great, like that I'm just not the kind of person who walks around claiming that they are feeling great."
I could almost tell immediately that Will was starting to show me exactly what he was talking to me about. I was beginning to sense something, something that I could never have felt before in any other man I have met.
"I don't know what is happening to me," said Will, a hint of excitement in his voice. "But, I'm different, than most people now. I feel more…more alive…stronger, to an extent."
"Well, it sounds strange, but…" I started to say, before Will interrupted me.
"It's better than living in Bosnia," he interrupted, chuckling slightly. "It's not a very nice place this time of year. However, I was going to say that whatever it is, if you feel great that maybe you should just accept it as a gift, to an extent if you will."
Just then, I could tell that it was starting to get dark and slightly cold, which meant that we needed to get back inside. I knew that Will needed to get back to his wife, so I figured we could maybe have another meal together before he left.
"Would you like to stay for dinner?" I offered to Will as we stood up. "It's not peanut butter and jelly, I can assure you."
"Yes, of course," said Will, accepting my invitation. However, just as we started to make our way back, I suddenly saw him fall over forward and immediately jumped forward to keep him from falling over on his face.
"Are you all right?" I asked as Will turned towards me and slightly nodded.
"I think so," he replied weakly, as I swung my arm over his shoulder. "We'd better get inside."
"Can you walk?" I asked again and Will nodded. "Well, don't worry. You are talking to an almost-professional psychiatric nurse."
By the time that we got back to the cottage, I could tell immediately that Will was starting to feel very ill. I had a guest bedroom in the cottage that he could stay in and I helped him into the bedroom, took off his necktie and shoes and placed a thermometer in his mouth.
"Elevated," I said, taking the thermometer out of his mouth. "But, I think you will live. Is this the same kind of attack you had the other night?"
Will sighed and weakly looked back up towards me, almost as if to say that it didn't really matter. I could tell that he looked like he was thinking of something else besides being ill.
"No, I don't know," he sighed, looking up at my face with warm eyes. "But, don't get upset when I tell you this…"
He took in another heavy sigh and smiled back at me.
"You are beautiful," he said softly, as I smiled at the very nice compliment he gave me while he stroked the left side of my face. "And the nicest girl."
"Can you sleep?" I asked. "I don't think you really feel like eating right now."
"I can," replied Will.
"I've got bacon and eggs for breakfast tomorrow," I said, getting up from the bed. "You will need energy tomorrow if you are going to face my father again in that publishing house."
We both had to chuckle at this and soon, I saw Will was falling asleep and left the bedroom to let him sleep.
As I closed up for the night, I couldn't help but wonder. He told me I was beautiful, a word that no man, not even my own father or either of my brothers have ever said to me. Could it be that Will and I are destined to be together? No, it couldn't be. The man was married and told me that I was perfectly safe. Besides, I am an independent woman looking to aim at her own path of life.
Still, there was a lot more to this man that met the eye.
