Neil watched Christy rush past him and Alice, surprised at how very upset she was. Was she really that upset he had not told her he was coming to Asheville?
Don't flatter yourself, MacNeill, Neil chastised himself mentally.
The lawyer father came out and spotted Neil and Alice, unlike his daughter had a moment before. Alice, forever the peacemaker and always the one who knew what to say, spoke first.
"Mr. Huddleston, is thy daughter all right?" she asked in her quaint Quaker speech.
William Huddleston fought with himself. His daughter trusted both Alice and Neil explicitly. She was a wonderful judge of character. He could trust them, couldn't he?
"I don't know," William admitted. "She won't talk to me. She's always talked to me. But she's alienated herself from the rest of the family since she got here and I don't understand it." William was slightly rambling in his minor panic.
"Perhaps Miss Huddleston is just tired," Alice suggested, certain there was more to it than just fatigue.
"I doubt it," William replied dubiously. William never meant to let the small sigh escape his lips but he had no real choice in the matter. Neil and Alice watched in concern. "How's Margaret?"
The two could see William shifting the attention away from himself, as Christy liked to do when she felt uncomfortable. So they decided to play along without orally agreeing to it. They knew William needed to think it out alone now and would not push him.
"She is resting peacefully," Alice said optimistically.
Neil decided that Alice's discretion and optimism was best for now, especially when the Huddlestons had their own domestic troubles. "We talked some today."
"Good, good," William replied. "If you'll excuse me, I should talk to Christy. Supper should be in a half hour."
He hurriedly left them before they could argue his departure, not that they would. Alice and Neil exchanged a glance before returning on their path up to their rooms.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Supper was a silent affair. George tried to lighten the conversation but the older adults had other things on their mind.
Alice's thoughts were, understandably, completely consumed by her fatally ill daughter. Tuberculosis was a sickness there was no turning back from. Margaret had not taken care of herself. Not ever. It was finally catching up to her, despite her defiance.
Neil was thinking of both Margaret and Christy. Christy was ignoring absolutely everyone, which saddened and concerned Neil. Usually, she was such a vivacious young woman, full of life and ready to make the world a better place. She seemed so defeated. This demeanor was a haunting similarity to Margaret. Neil hated that there was any similarity between the two, especially such a dark one. Their equal spirits were similar, despite how they had put such spirit to use. Their spirits were running on the same track again. They seemed so worn by life. And Christy had hardly reached twenty years old!
Fate, or William Huddleston's gut instinct, had placed Christy directly across from Neil at the supper table. Christy disliked this. It gave her no privacy. She always seemed to feel his eyes, whether he was carefully scrutinizing her or not. Christy felt he was thinking about her odd behavior, her immature behavior. Christy did not want to act so stupidly but her intuition went out the window when her emotions got to her. Christy had always been an emotional girl. Now she was an emotional young woman. It was the first time she truly despised being able to feel her emotions so vividly.
William and Julia watched the chemistry between Neil and Christy, though they never said anything to each other nor made eye contact but for a fleeting second. William knew his daughter better than Julia and knew something was between them. The tangible friction between them was noticeable.
"This is wonderful, Julia," William said, breaking the icy silence that had engulfed them.
Julia smiled slightly as the other echoed it, feeling a little compelled to. "Thank you, but it was mostly Hanna's doing," Julia replied honestly, speaking of their part-time maid.
The silence resumed.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Christy lay in bed that night, thinking. It was hard to sleep. There were too many life changing events happening in her life. She was afraid that if she went to sleep she would miss something, though the others were probably all asleep.
Christy finally decided sleep was avoiding her for a reason and dragged herself out of bed, feeling woozy from her severe inner conflict. Her mind was her worst enemy at this point. Christy sat lightly on her window seat and gazed at the bright quarter moon thoughtfully.
This was not how she had planned to spend her time in Asheville. Not at all. Christy was considering going back to Cutter Gap. But she knew immediately that it was impossible. Not only would Neil and Alice feel uncomfortable in a home where they hardly knew the owners but it would be incredibly rude. For a fleeting moment, Christy did not care in the least about being rude. A childish, wrong thought entered her mind. She wanted to leave Neil to his problems to take care of herself.
Perhaps Christy needed to take care of herself. In fact, she did need to take care of herself. But the way Christy took care of herself was to take care of others. And while Neil might not accept her help, if she could even offer it to him, Alice still needed a crutch. Neil was stuck in his own turmoil to be any help to his mother-in-law, Christy knew. Alice was the main thing keeping Christy in Asheville.
Christy rededicated herself to her previous commitment. She would help Alice, and perhaps Neil, and forget herself.
"Stick to it this time, Christy," whispered the troubled young woman. "Stick to it."