Letters from Josie

Chapter 6

I quickly let go of his hand. It wasn't that him holding my hand was a bad thing, it's just that it brought back memories that I couldn't take. Back when Paislee was still here, my dad would take us around the woods, holding our hands the whole time. It just felt different to be holding Andrew's...
"Everything okay?" He asked. I wrote to him: Brought back bad memories that didn't necessarily need to come back. "I...Im so sorry. Lets just go back to the cottage. Probably time we do anyway." The drive back was as awkward as the ride there. It felt even longer though. After what I seemed to be a century, we finally arrived back to the house. "Well there you are!" Marilyn giggled as we walked through the door, hands full with food. "So how was it? Did you guys have fun?" She asked as we placed the food on the dining table. Andrew said while looking at me, "It was okay." He looked away. "I think I'm going to...go get some...fresh air." Andrew suddenly left the cottage and escaped into the forest. "Come sit down honey. I liked to talk." Marilyn said as she gestured to the chair. I agreed to talk to her; I respect her. "So how was it really?"
I guess it was okay. Things got kind of awkward.
"Awkward?"
Yeah, Andrew took my hand saying how I can come to him anytime and...it brought back some memories...
"Well, I know things have happened, but you can't focus on the past. You have to live in the present, so focus on the present. I know it's hard but the only person to be keeping you back is yourself."
Thank you for the advice, Marilyn.
"No problem, darling."
I think I'm going to go outside too.
"Okay, be careful." Marilyn said as I got up from the chair and walked out of the cottage. I walked outside and immediately smelt the fresh air. .I looked up at the sky. Sunset. Gorgeous. I look to the right and notice Andrew sitting up in a tree. I just knew I had to get up there. I slipped my notepad and pen into the pocket on my cardigan and started to quietly climb the tree. When I got to the branch Andrew was on, he looked at me and then looked away. I climbed up fully and sat next to him. Still looking off in the distance, he said, "Look, I'm really sorry I grabbed your hand earlier. I just wanted to say that I'll help you if you need anything. I'm really sorry. I never meant to overstep my boundaries. I'm- " I passed him a note: You don't need to apologize, Andrew. I do like you. As I gave the note to him, I put his arm around me. "You sure you're wanting to do this?" he said while finishing the letter. I wrote him another note as I put my head on his chest: I've never been more sure.