Something Old by Dianne Christner

mistake for his first encounter with Katy. He should have waited and gone with their original plan. Lil’s plan. She’d hired him to modernize the doddy house. He’d be there when Katy came over. He would apologize in privacy. Beg, if he had to, for her forgiveness.
    “Well?”
    “I can’t go rescue her. I didn’t bring any skates. But it looks like they’re coming in off the ice.” He glared at David. “I’ve got my work cut out for me.”
    She put an elbow in his gut. “You deserve it, chump.”
    “Hmph.” He glanced away from the irritating scene where David was now unlacing her skates. Lil had one glove on her hip, looking miffed. She never should have told him all those years ago that Katy meant to marry him. Maybe it wouldn’t have made him so confident she’d always be there. Maybe it wouldn’t have scared him away. But Lil had meant well. They’d always been close as if she were his sister. In fact, when the family got together, she hung out with him instead of his younger sister Erin. That’s probably how he noticed Katy. She and Lil and Megan had always been together.
    “They’re leaving. I can’t believe she’s not even going to say good-bye,” Lil huffed.
    A hand clamped Jake’s shoulder, and he turned. “Hey, how’s it going?”
    “Good to see you, man.” Chad Penner held out his hand. Though they had once been best of friends, their relationship had become estranged when Jake had left the church.
    Grasping it, Jake replied, “Better get used to it. I’m back to stay.”
    Chad swung an arm over Jake’s shoulder. “I knew you’d be back.”
    With relief, Jake allowed himself to be drawn into the group of skaters warming up at the bonfire. Everyone seemed happy to see him, forgiving of his sudden absence and eager to accept him back into the group. Meanwhile, he glimpsed Katy and David disappearing into a stand of box elders. But as the group enveloped him, some of his heaviness fled. He roasted a hot dog and caught up with Chad.
    Jake wished he’d never left, but all he could do now was prove how he’d changed. He was earnest in his desire to fit back in with his old friends.
    When the group began to disperse, Jake walked Lil to her car then squeezed her shoulder. “Maybe this was for the best. It’ll give Katy time to digest the idea that I’m back. We’ll have to trust God with this, okay?”
    “I’ve been praying for you for a long time, chump.”
    “I know. Thanks.”
    Head bent in thought, he strode to his truck and climbed in. Although he’d jumped his first hurdle, facing the group again, he knew the worst was still ahead of him. He’d never forget the incident, the night when he’d been drunk. Furious, Katy had hissed that she wanted him to go away and stay away. But this afternoon, when their gazes latched, he’d felt hopeful for an instant. Then when she’d left without even saying good-bye to Lil, he’d gotten the impression she loathed him.
    He drove out onto the gravel road. Nobody had ever loathed him. Wait, hadn’t he once heard that love and hate were closely related? For his sake, he hoped so. His mind traveled back to the time before he’d grown restless. He flicked on his headlights and started toward home, involuntarily scanning the snowy ditches and fields for deer and other wild animals that sometimes leapt in front of vehicles.
    The farm made him restless. Jake’s dad had died years earlier. His mom still lived in his childhood home, but his uncle and brother Cal managed the farm. Jake had never been interested in that, though he’d helped his uncle a lot over the years. He had been interested in construction, seeing buildings erected, swinging a hammer. He didn’t regret his vocation decision, but he regretted losing Katy.
    Suddenly his vision caught something that made his pulse race. Was God answering his prayer so quickly? There alongside the road was David Miller’s disgustingly shiny car. A grin spread over Jake’s face; then a