“Do not try and tell me again that you aren’t interested.”
Saxon hung her head. “Tippy that’s a one way ticket to nowhere.”
“I don’t think so.” Tippy took her hand and pulled her over to a set of lawn chairs in the shade. “Honey, I think the time is right. Make a move.”
“I don’t think so. I’ve seen too many really good friendships ruined because someone decided it was time to make a move. That never works. I love Ian too much to give up what I have with him.”
“But that Clare thing is out of the picture.” Tippy looked at the little boy bouncing across the yard. “And he’s got Ronnie now. The path is clear. I’d think about it if I were you.”
“Honestly, Tippy, since Ian came to town I’ve thought of little else.” Saxon shook her head. “It’s just not meant to be.”
“I think Ian might surprise you.”
Saxon squeezed Tippy’s hand. “I think he’d try, Tippy. I really do think he’d give it everything he had, but in the end he’d never open up enough to let me in.”
“He was with that Clare thing for what eight, nine years. He had to fight to keep that relationship together, what makes you think he wouldn’t work even harder to make it work with you?”
“Tippy, you don’t understand.”
“Then make me, and I’ll back right off.”
“Ian loved Clare, but he was never in love with Clare. Do you understand that?”
Tippy nodded her head. “Because of Taylor.”
“Right. He was with Clare because deep down he knew she’d never break his heart. I will.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m human, because he knows I’d break my own heart trying to overcome the first real joy he’d ever known that crumbled into a nightmare he lived with for ten years.”
“Oh honey.” Tippy put her arm around Saxon. “You’re the one who’s afraid. You’re the one whose had her heart smashed to bits a few too many times.”
“Well, I can’t deny that.”
“Saxon, romance is like going camping with diarrhea.”
“What?”
"No matter how hard you try to plan or anticipate sooner or later there's gonna be an explosion. Never let it be said you didn't go for it just because you were afraid you'd end up having to beat your underwear on a rock. Besides, those little explosions in romance are half the fun, and most of the time the only thing you end up remembering."
Saxon laughed out loud. “Okay, I need to write that one down.”
“It’ll be in the book.” Tippy smiled.
“I’ll think about it, but…”
“Honey, I know all about the fear of overcoming those first great loves, the one’s that break a man’s heart into believing he’ll never ever be that foolish again. Colton is the love of my life, and I have no doubt that I’m his, but you know he was married once before.”
“He was?”
“He had one of those stories, like Ian. Poor boy in a small town, a pretty young thing swept in and made him feel like the two of them could make impossible possible but…”
“She broke his heart?”
“He found out she lied about almost every thing and left town almost as quickly as she came. Almost killed the man.”
“But then he met you.”
“He met me.” She smiled. “We’d been married a few years and I noticed that every once and a while he’d get that look in his eyes and drift off. You know me, I chased around until I got to the bottom of it. I found it on the bottom in the back of his underwear drawer--a picture.”
“A picture?”
“A picture of them on their wedding day. It nearly broke my heart.”
“What did you do?”
“Well, my first instinct was to call him on it. I mean, how dare he keep that around, and still pine for her? I gave him everything I had and he had that one little piece of his heart still hidden under his socks.”
Saxon nodded her head and looked at the ground. “Did you talk to him about it?”
“I never even brought it up. I realized that I couldn’t expect him to give me something that wasn’t his. He’d given that part of himself away. It wasn’t his to give to give back.”
“You just let it go?”
Tippy nodded her head. “You know what I did? I went right out and bought a frame for that picture. Just put that picture in it and slipped it right back in the drawer, and never said a word.”
“Why?”
“Saxon, if it weren’t for that little part being taken away, the rest would never to come to me as fully and as perfect as it is. Think about it, honey. You may just be avoiding the best thing that ever happened to either one of you, just because there’s a little vibrant part of him that should never, ever be yours because it’s no longer a part of him.”
“But…”
“One last thing, and I swear I’ll never talk about it again…today.” Tippy smiled. “You know when you walk down the sidewalk sometimes you hear the tap of your heel and sometimes you don’t? You know what that sound is? It’s the echo of where you came from.”
Tippy munched on a piece of cheese and mused further. “Sometimes you don’t hear it, sometimes just barely and sometimes it’s so loud you can’t help but recall where it came from. You still walk a straight line to your destination, but there’s always that echo of yesterday reminding you of how you got to where you are. It’s natural, not a thing wrong with it. It’s just up to you whether it makes you smile or makes you cry.”
Tippy reached over and gave Saxon a hug. “You think on that a while. I’m gonna slip up the stairs there and say hello to David Turner. You should make a point to do the same before he slips off.”
“I will.” Tippy got up and Saxon grabbed her hand. “And thank you.”
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