Billy didn't know how long he was inside working on the rocker he'd built for Lily's new boy, he knew it had been a while and he hadn't heard anything from his spontaneous guest. He thought she could have gone home, he supposed he could have missed the pop she would make when leaving. Somehow he didn't think so, something, or someone, was telling his heart she was still out there and he wanted to be here if she wanted to talk to the living. He would stay there and wait all night if that's what it took no matter how tired his old body was. He sanded a little more then took his whittling knife and whittled off a pattern on the headrest. More roses, Lily would appreciate the bit of her momma in it.

He heard his shed door creak open, he'd been meaning to fix that. He didn't smile but he did look up, the arresting woman looked a bit edgy. "Did it help?"

She shook her head. "As much as I expected it to." He nodded. The dead didn't really give direct answers so the living weren't as attuned to hearing them.

"Come here, this always helped me to settle my mind. Give my hands something to do and my mind something to concentrate on, helps me pick one problem at a time to focus on." He laughed, "Never worked for my brood, they couldn't be still long enough to learn, but you look like you got some patience in you." Bella moved forward curiously. Billy handed her a rough square piece of wood, it was deceptively small, a little larger than her forearm, but it was heavy. He showed her how to place it on the table where she could work on it and handed her a wood knife. "Wherever you feel the wood telling you, that's where you cut. The wood will take care of the shape if you just listen, that's how you make wood art. You got to listen to the wood." He went to sanding his rocking chair.

Bella looked dumbfounded at the knife in her hand. "I could just use magic…." She trailed off at Billy's good natured laughter. He didn't look back at her just continued to sand.

"You could at that. That's what little Lily did." The sound of his sand paper smoothing the rough edges of his rocker was strangely soothing, the voices in her head seemed to quiet. "But there's something about doing this kind of work with your hands and some primitive tools." He inhaled deeply. "With magic there was no smells, no small cuts or wood shavings littering the floor. It was too clean. That's not the point of woodwork."

Bella inhaled the scents as he meant her to. It did smell clean and fresh, a little woodsy. She expected it was all the different types of woods he had stacked about. But it was a good smell, a calming smell, she could appreciate it. She seemed to think it over staring curiously at the block of wood he'd given her. It was heavy but soft, she felt like it was almost pleading for her to take a stab at it and see if she could make something beautiful out of its dull features. She put the knife to it and slit off a sliver. It felt relaxing, it felt right, and the voices in her head were completely gone as she focused only on what the wood was telling her.

Billy smiled as he continued his sanding, his kids may not have been interesting but as he covertly watched the dark beauty get so absorbed in her work he had a wonderful feeling his talents and passion might be passed down after all.