Not tempted to spend yet another day at Gino Chang's, Rose Abbott called in favors during the night, and by morning the streets of Everwood were cleared. The people of Everwood rejoiced, and poor Gino had a lot to clean up. Every house in Everwood was now empty, the trapped inhabitants out enjoying the fresh air and restocking supplies in case of another blizzard. But for the most part, getting out and into the open air was the main thing on everyone's minds.
On one of Everwood's less busy streets Amy and Jig walked along, both wanting to get out and Jig down right afraid to walk on the icy path alone. Amy didn't mind though, she was out of Gino Chang's and Jig was making her laugh. Amy didn't mind admitting that watching Jig slip and occasionally fall on the ice and snow was funny, except when she pulled Amy down with her, of course.
"Who ever invented ice should die!" Jig yelled as she just barely kept her balance.
"Uh Jig…" Amy told her. Jig frowned at her.
"What do you mean no one invented ice? Are you suggesting it's some naturally occurring form of torture that isn't actually out to get me? Is that what you're trying to tell me, Amy?" Jig asked. Amy laughed slightly.
"Something like that," she said smiling. Jig scoffed.
"You and your silly ideas Amy," Jig told her shaking her head. The two then laughed.
"Man it must have been great living in LA. Tank tops all year long," Amy said smiling. Jig forced a smile but then dropped it.
"You know until I moved to Everwood I didn't own a piece of clothing that wasn't white," Jig told her. Amy raised an eyebrow.
"Why?" she asked confused.
"Because white is a neutral color. You wear white you don't get shot. You wouldn't like living in LA, Amy. At least not in my part of it…" Jig told her. Amy simply nodded and turned away from her cousin. She stopped walking and sighed, looking down the sidewalk ahead of them. Jig stopped and looked too. She sighed.
"No shame what so ever…" she said. Plastered against a tree a few yards from the two were Ephram and Desi. They were so close together, meshed so perfectly it was like their bodies were made to interlock, that it was hard to distinguish between Ephram, Desi, and the tree.
"Do they do that all the time?" Amy asked Jig, leaning close so no one would overhear her prying curiosity.
"Not usually in public… But they've been apart for a few days, doing that is like drugs for the two of them. There's always at it," Jig said shrugging. Amy bit her lower lip and sighed softly, but it was still audible to Jig.
"You had your chance at him Amy, you threw him back," Jig reminded her. Amy nodded.
"Yea. Hey, you had a chance at him too, why didn't you keep him?" Amy asked her.
"Because he loved you, Amy. And when he was over you it was because of Desi-"
"So you didn't even get a chance…" Amy finished for her. Jig sighed.
"Actually, I never thought about it. I had other things on my mind at that point…" Jig said solemnly. Amy nodded.
"Right, sorry. Look, this is probably a silly question, but, does he know? About your mom, I mean…" Amy asked delicately. Jig nodded.
"Yea, I told him back in, sheesh… November. Yea, early November, right after Cory got here," Jig said.
"Wow, that's been awhile then," Amy commented. Jig nodded her head.
"Yea. Hey, what's with the recent bout of nostalgia that's been going around?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well yesterday Ephram and I were talking about when we first met and stuff…" Jig explained. Amy shrugged.
"Snow can sometimes make you think about days gone by, maybe," Amy suggested. Jig nodded her head.
"Maybe. It's still weird though… Thinking back at things I've done, and not having them been in LA… It's kind of freaky…" Jig confessed. Amy shrugged, not really knowing the feeling herself.
"Your life has taken many a strange turn, Jig," Amy told her and Jig laughed slightly.
"That's a nice way of putting it," she said and they both laughed a little.
"So any word from your traveling man?" Amy asked her.
"Who? Isaac? Or Orrie?"
"Isaac, or, both, I suppose…" Amy said giving it a second thought.
"Orrie, yes. His father's getting married…"
"Oh, that sounds troublesome."
"Not really, she's a nice woman, a photographer who speaks four languages including Japanese. Orrie likes her."
"That's good. What about Isaac?"
"Nothing, as usual. He's in Paris somewhere fil- never mind…" Jig said. Amy sighed.
"I'm going to find out about him eventually so you may as well tell me!"
"Na uh. You have your secrets, I have mine…" Jig told her. Amy frowned.
"What are you talking about? I don't have any secrets…"
"I have a photo album at home that says differently," Jig told her with a smirk. Amy stood still, a little worry in her face, but Jig kept walking, smugness on her face. After a few moments Amy realized Jig was ahead of her.
"Hey Jig! Wait up!" Amy yelled and ran carefully on the icy sidewalk after her.
Delia smiled as she walked around her room. It felt good to be home. Nina's house was great, it was very clean and the entire house smelled like cookies, but it just wasn't home. The first thing Delia did when she got home was go upstairs and change her clothes and of course, her baseball cap. Now she wore the cap Murasaki had given her. She laid down on her bed for a few moments, enjoying the feel of it again, and the smell. She was always surprised about how each house, for some reason, has a different smell. When they first arrived in Everwood, back in the beginning of time, Delia had cried as she unpacked her boxes. With the opening of every box came a wave of smell of their old home, of their old lives. Her blankets smelled like her old room even a few weeks after they had moved in. Ephram's had too, Delia knew that, because a few days after they first moved here, he bought new sheets, new blankets, and washed all of his clothes three times. Despite how Ephram seemed to want to keep a hold of his old life back then, he didn't want to be surrounded by it. That's how Delia had always thought of it, anyway.
Andy was glad to be outside. He was glad to get something in his stomach that wasn't microwaved, which was the dominant form of food he received at the Harper residence. He had offered to take Delia with him to Mama Joy's, but she wanted to be at home for this time, with Ephram out with Desi Andy asked Nina to check in on Delia every now and then, and he would call to make sure she was okay. He might only be out for twenty minutes or maybe longer, but he wasn't about to take chances with his second born.
Mama Joy's was as busy as Andy had ever seen it. The waitress, the one who wasn't Nina, was moving so quickly from table to table you'd need a camera with an incredible shutter speed to see her feet touch the ground. Dr. Abbott was sitting at his usual spot at the counter, talking casually amongst sips of his coffee to the familiar brown haired woman sitting next to him. He was just finishing but it looked as though she had just arrived, still a full plate of food in front of her. As Andy hung his coat up Dr. Abbott placed some money on the counter and stood up. He said good bye to Penny Laderer, the woman sitting next to him, and walked over toward Andy to pick up his own coat. Andy smoothly slid out of his way and into the spot Dr. Abbott had been sitting just as the light footed waitress took away Dr. Abbott's plate and swept the counter with a damp cloth. Andy turned to Penny who hadn't noticed him, but seemed content simply eating her hash browns and scrambled eggs. The waitress came over to him as the wind and took his order of chicken fingers with fries and coffee. The sound of his voice made Penny look up and notice him sitting next to her.
"Chicken fingers? A big time, New York City neurosurgeon, eats chicken fingers?" she asked him. He chuckled slightly.
"Up until a few years ago I got chocolate milk too," he said and she smiled. She shook her head, laughing slightly, and looked down at her plate. Then she looked back at him, a smile still spreading her lips.
"It's always nice to hear that people aren't who you think they are," she told him. He smiled back at her, not really understanding what she meant, but telling by her face that it was a smiling occasion. Penny laughed slightly, looking into Andy's eyes and seeing no connections being made.
"You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?" she asked him. He shook his head.
"Not truthfully, no…" he said and she laughed. She placed her fork down.
"Okay it's like this… You hear a lot about a person, you've even met them a few times, so you set up this idea of them in your mind. That's just natural. But, it's still nice to learn that you're wrong about them," she explained. Andy nodded.
"But only if your idea of them was negative…" he pointed out. She shook her head.
"Not all of the time. Sometimes just being wrong is good for a person…" she told him and he smiled.
"So, was your idea of me positive, or negative?" he asked her. She smirked.
"I haven't decided yet…"
