A Heart's Desire - Book 1 of the Crossing Midian Series - A Christian Romance

Chapter 12

After Claudine had left that morning, Wesley drove Anna back to her house so that they could start packing up her belongings.

They were in her bedroom for about an hour, sorting through box after box of Anna's things, deciding what she wanted to take and what she wanted to donate to the local goodwill.

Wesley spoke up from behind her, "Anna, which box do you want the blankets and sheets to go in?"

Anna turned from where she'd been clearing out her small desk drawer and before she could tell him to just toss them anywhere, her jaw dropped in surprise.

Wesley stood at the foot of her bed holding a pale yellow fitted sheet he was folding into crisp quarters. In front of him, on the bed, sat the rest of her perfectly folded bed set.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked suspiciously.

The corner of Anna's lips turned up in a teasing grin. "Did your mom teach you how to fold sheets like that?" She asked as she tried and failed to hide her smile behind her hand.

Wesley looked down at the sheet in his hand as his cheeks colored. He scratched the back of his neck and looked back up at her. "As a matter of fact, she did."

"You did a great job, Anderson. You've made your mama proud." She laughed.

"Oh, just forget it." Wesley said with a roll of his eyes as he tossed the sheet onto the bed with the others.

Anna laughed again, but ran over and picked up the discarded fabric. "No, no! Wait!" she exclaimed. "Show me how to fold it!"

Wesley glared at her but couldn't tell if she was still teasing him. "Are you serious? Why would you want to know? You can just—"

"It's a perfectly good skill to have! C'mon, Anderson, teach me the ways of fitted sheet folding."

Anna didn't know how or when she had become so lighthearted. With everything that had been going on, she felt sure that teasing Wesley in the middle of packing up her childhood bedroom would be the last thing on her mind. But somehow, it felt right. As if this moment of fun had been just what she needed. It felt good to not be so worried about everything for a change. Even if it was only for a small moment.

Wesley sighed but grinned at the rare moment of happiness Anna was showing before taking the sheet from her and unfolding it just so that they could refold it together.

"Okay, fine. First, hold your hands out in front of you." Once Anna had complied, he came over to stand closer to her. "You're gonna turn it inside out and put one corner on this hand and one corner on the other, like this," he said as he placed the corners from opposite ends on either of her outstretched hands.

"Got it." Anna replied, nodding her head.

"Then bring your hands together and flip the right corner over the left."

"How's that?" She asked after she'd flipped the first corner.

"Not bad." Wesley reached up and pulled the corners so that they were even. His hands brushing hers as he smoothed out a nonexistent wrinkle, just to have a reason to stay close to her. "Um, okay, now switch hands and use this free hand to grab the corners from the bottom so that it's just like when you first started."

Wesley didn't step back. Instead, he watched Anna's face as she concentrated on the small task and wondered why suddenly he felt like he was a sixth grader with his first crush, instead of a grown man falling for a woman he had known his whole life.

Was that it? Was it because it was Anna? Because it wasn't as if Wesley hadn't been with other women before! So why was it so different now? Why was it Anna that was sparking feelings inside him he had never felt before?