One Step Forward

Chapter 7. We Could Be Friends

Mya's POV

A knock on the door startled Mom as she was peeling potatoes, and the peeler fell from her hands and hit the counter. I stood beside her, peeling husk off corn on the cob to get it ready to boil. 

"I can get it," I said.

"I got it," Mom said. 

I shrugged and went back to pulling the husk off the cob. 

"Hey, Mel. Is Mya home?" 

"Hey, sweetheart. Come on in. She's in the kitchen."

I walked around the kitchen island and saw Linc step around my mother in the doorway. He had a cane, but he was walking.

"Mya mentioned you walked some on Friday, but I didn't realize you were doing so well," Mom said.

"Well, I can enough to drive or walk short distances, but it's still challenging and tiring," he said. 

Mom turned toward the kitchen and stopped when she saw me. "I'll give you two a moment."

Linc took slow steps toward the door, but there were two steps down into the kitchen. I stood in front of him, afraid he'd fall. 

"What are you doing with just a cane, Linc? That's dangerous. You're not ready—"

"I'm fine," he said as he slowly descended the steps in the kitchen. I walked with him to the kitchen island and waited for him to sit on one of the barstools. 

"Coffee?" I asked.

"Sure."

I grabbed a cup from the cupboard and poured coffee into the cup for him, and added some to the cup I had that was near empty and probably cold. "So, what are you doing here?" I asked. I slid the cup across the counter to him and wrapped my hand nervously around my cup.

He stared at my hand for a long moment before he spoke. "You never told me what happened? If you're having trouble with your boss, I would be more than happy to go into her office Monday and explain. It wasn't your fault."

"We sorted it out," I said. "It just can't happen again. I was lucky. She considered suspending me, but seeing your progress is what changed her mind. Also, you taking the wrap for what happened may have helped. If I had forced myself onto you, then I probably would have been fired. Regardless, it wasn't appropriate. There were others around us. She seemed more bothered by that part."

"So, it's okay?" 

"Yeah."

He nodded and finally looked up at me. His eyes burned into mine. There were questions in his eyes that he wanted answers to, but he hesitated. 

"So much has happened, you know? I've had a very difficult year. The last thing I want to do is complicate it more, and I have to think about what is best for Lilly."

He mashed his lips in a straight line and gave one solid nod. "There's no chance of it, is there?"

I bit down on my bottom lip harder than necessary. I didn't know how to answer his question without feeling like a completely manipulative bitch. I let him kiss me. We shared some feelings that we shouldn't have. It's difficult to ignore your feelings towards a person you loved for so long and had such a thick history with. 

"I don't know," I mumbled and dropped my gaze.

He sighed. "I don't want to make things awkward between us."

"Then don't," I pleaded.

"But let's be honest, we have to be around each other. I mean, how are we supposed to act?"