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The next morning, he had shown up at her house bright and early. He needed all the time he could get.  He couldn't think of anything she liked, what she might fancy - not one scrap of info on her would come back to his mind.  So he let his own cravings lead the way.  

He went to pick up breakfast at the local cafe.  The smell of the chai latte drove him wild.  His eyes wandered over everything in the glass case, but seeing the steamy, chocolatey flaky croissants made his stomach grumble so loudly, the baker giggled. 

"I'm guessing you'd like two of those?"

Dante blushed.  "And two chai lattes - extra foam, please."

The baker buzzed around the shop expertly and had his packages wrapped to go in moments.  "Have a beautiful day, lad."

Nodding, Dante ducked out the door and headed to his Willow.  Rapping at the door, he anticipated her smile.  The anticipation was great, but the reality nearly knocked him over.  She radiated warmth and light.  If he failed this quest, how would he ever exist without her? How would he ever want to?

She stepped over the threshold of her little cottage and offered to take the bag of warm croissants from him.  He held out his arm, hoping that she wouldn't hesitate.  Her glow transferred to him as she snaked her arm over his and squeezed.

The day passed in a flash.  Conversation was light, easy, and comfortable as they walked for hours across the valley.  He wondered if her hip bothered her throughout the day.  As the sun was setting behind the mountain and causing the shadows to grow deeper, she was still strong as ever, matching him step for step. 
Rounding the last corner before her street, he longed for daylight again.  Curse the moon and its stars.  Damn the hours that he'd lose to the night.  

"There's always tomorrow, Dante."  It was like she really could read his mind.

"It feels so far away."

"Not so far.  Just rest, and it will be here before you know it."

"I was thinking, maybe we could meet at the stables at daybreak?  Take a ride into the forest?"  Again he thought of her hip, "I mean - if you're up for it?"

She threw her head back and laughed - hard.  It was so contagious that he found himself wheezing with laughter too, but he had no idea why.  "Dante, if you think you can outlast me on a horse, you REALLY better get your rest tonight."

"Tomorrow it is then.  Goodnight, my Willow."   The words were out of his mouth before he realized he said them.  He waited for some reproof  but was only met with a beautiful stare that deepened with, dare he imagine... desire? He held her sweater out for her.

"Goodnight, Dante," she smiled and accepted it from him, allowing her fingers to graze his arm for a final caress before heading to bed.

Thanks to Gertie, he had a room to spend the night for the next few days. He didn't imagine that he'd sleep much as his mind was racing with dilemmas.  She seemed to enjoy him, but she didn't know him.  If she didn't know him, how would she love him? His mind ran circles around itself until it shut down, exhausted. 

Birds chirping alerted him that the day had in fact, broken.  He splashed water on his face, swished lemon water around in his mouth, threw his pants on and sprinted towards the stables.  Willow was just finishing saddling his own horse.  The girl would not cease to surprise him.

"You missed all the worms, late bird!"  she called out, peeking her head around the neck of his horse.

"Worms?" he huffed. 

"Yeah, I was the early bird," she reached the bridle over the velvety ears of the Palomino. "I ate all the worms, and they were scrumptious!"

He continued to puff, and laugh, and wonder about this girl of his. His heart squeezed for a moment, chasing away the fears that she might not be his girl for much longer.

"Hop up, cowboy."  She headed over to her own horse, grabbed the pommel, hopped her good leg into the stirrup and flung her weaker leg over the saddle.  She sat up like a pro and looked like she had been born on a horse.  She smiled as she watched his admiration keep him in shock, and silent.  "Oh, unless you want me to hop back down and help you up onto your horse?" she grinned.

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"No!" he shook his head, and cleared the fog from his brain.  Mounting his horse quickly, though with less agility than her, he was ready to go.

They wandered through the forest, taking turns leading. The day was magical, the weather was perfect, they snacked on fruit from the trees and berries from the bushes.

When the afternoon heat had gotten a bit too stifling, she led him to a beautiful grove and they went swimming. As they climbed out onto the warm smooth rocks lining the pond, they sunned like lazy little sea lions.

After a few minutes of soaking in the calming contentment, he rolled over on his side to stare at her.  Sensing his gaze, she opened one eye, peering at him patiently.

"Can I ask you something?"

She nodded.

"How did you hurt your leg?"

She rolled over on her good leg, facing him - and draped her hand over her crooked hip.  Other women might have done that out of insecurity, but she seemed to accentuate the difference, showcasing it as one of her greatest attributes.  He was sure she resembled a goddess.

"I kicked a door."

He barked with laughter.  He had NOT expected that response!  "You kicked a door?!? Some temper, huh?"

She laughed and pushed a drenched ringlet of hair behind her ear.  "Yeah, I was pretty angry at the time, actually. It was stuck, and it was holding me back from something pretty important.  I knew it was up to me to kick it open, and I didn't have any help. I kicked it and felt something give in my hip, but I didn't have any other choice.  I had to try again. So I did. That last time, I heard a snap and the pain shot through me so intensely, I passed out."

She was quiet for so long, he realized she wasn't going to continue.  He prompted, "And then?"

She propped herself up on her elbow and looked into his eyes, "And then I died, Dante."

He swallowed hard. He hadn't expected that.  "I guess hindsight is 20/20, huh.  Probably would have rethought that decision if you knew then what you know now."

She laid back and looked up at the sky. It was the most delicious shade of serenity.  "Oh, I would have done it again, Dante."  She pulled her eyes from the heavens above and stared deep into his soul.  "I would have done it again, every single time."

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*****
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The serial writing challenge is over for Scholar and Scribe, but my story wasn't finished!   And it appears it will indeed be a 5-parter! hehe  Thanks for those who are still following along!  I hope you enjoy this little tale.  I sure am!   

For the image, I have been using images from Unsplash a lot lately, and have been finding suitable images there.  But for this chapter - I couldn't find the one I was looking for!  So, I created my own using Midjourney.  For those who are AI purists and offended by the use of AI-created images, feel free to skip right on by my post.  I happen to enjoy creating images with Midjourney, I'm happy to pay for the service, and I find that I can often get some pretty nice images there with a lot of co-creating, time, effort, and additional tweaking! hehe  For those who appreciate what those of us who are less artistic can do with Midjourney... I hope you like what I created for you here - to accompany my writing!  I felt like it really captured the romance of that afternoon in the forest with Willow and Dante!  The lighting was especially perfect (and took about 45 minutes for me to convince Midjourney of what I was looking for EXACTLY haha)  but I'm very happy with what it painted with my words!!!  And yes, of course - my writing is ALWAYS AI-free hehehe.   Enjoy!