October 10, 2023 – 2:18 PM
The television continued playing softly.
Lin had stopped paying attention to the cooking show about twenty minutes ago.
The remote rested beside her thigh.
She picked it up and started scrolling.
News.
Sports.
Documentary.
Another cooking show.
She groaned.
"No."
She kept scrolling.
Then she stopped.
A familiar face appeared on the screen.
A 1990s romantic comedy.
She smiled.
"Now we're talking."
She settled deeper into the couch.
The movie had everything she remembered.
A ridiculous misunderstanding.
A handsome man who was completely oblivious.
A woman who insisted she wasn't interested in him while very clearly being interested in him.
And, naturally, an absurd amount of running through airports.
Lin laughed.
"Nobody actually does that."
The heroine did.
Lin shook her head.
"Of course she does."
Twenty minutes later, Lin had forgotten about the warehouse.
Forgotten about the contractors.
Forgotten about the delivery schedules.
Even the Carter family had disappeared from her thoughts.
The movie was silly.
Predictable.
Comfortable.
She ate another handful of popcorn.
The male lead appeared on screen wearing a suit and carrying flowers.
Lin smiled despite herself.
"Okay..."
She pointed at the television.
"That's actually a good one."
She laughed quietly when the heroine immediately slammed the door in his face.
"You deserved that."
As the movie continued, Lin's smile slowly faded into something softer.
She watched the couple arguing in a restaurant.
The dialogue was clever.
The chemistry was obvious.
Neither character said exactly what they meant.
Instead, they danced around it.
Jokes.
Teasing.
Little glances.
Silences that lasted half a second too long.
Lin recognized the rhythm.
She'd seen it before.
She just hadn't experienced much of it herself.
Her eyes drifted toward the window.
Outside, the afternoon sun lit the pasture.
A horse wandered lazily along the fence.
Biscuit was attempting to eat something he absolutely shouldn't have been eating.
She smiled.
Then her thoughts shifted.
Love.
The word felt strange.
Not unpleasant.
Just distant.
In her previous life, there hadn't been much room for it.
Survival had consumed everything.
Work.
Planning.
Moving.
Trading.
Protecting what little she had.
Relationships had become complicated luxuries.
People disappeared.
Promises became dangerous.
She had learned not to build her future around another person's presence.
And now...
She was sitting in a farmhouse in October of 2023.
There were no sirens.
No shortages.
No frozen markets.
No desperate people trading winter coats for cans of food.
Just a romantic comedy playing on television.
Lin glanced toward the television again.
The heroine was finally admitting she was in love.
The male lead looked completely stunned.
Lin laughed.
"Took you long enough."
She paused.
Then smiled at herself.
"Look who's talking."
Her mind immediately produced an unwanted image.
Adam.
Standing beside his truck.
Dust on his boots.
That easy smile.
The way he spoke without making everything sound like a performance.
The way he had told her yesterday that something would always go wrong with the deliveries.
She remembered him sitting beside her at the bar.
She remembered the casual way he'd said she would do just fine tomorrow.
Lin reached for another piece of popcorn.
She missed the bowl.
The popcorn bounced onto the blanket.
She stared at it.
"Oh, come on."
She picked it up.
Then laughed at herself.
Apparently, thinking about a man had already reduced her ability to operate basic household equipment.
That was encouraging.
She looked back at the movie.
The couple was dancing now.
Lin watched quietly.
For the first time, she allowed herself to imagine something she hadn't permitted herself to consider in years.
Not marriage.
Not forever.
Nothing that dramatic.
Just having someone.
Someone who knew when she needed silence.
Someone who didn't need her to be invincible.
The thought lingered.
Lin pulled the blanket a little higher.
Then she smiled.
"Maybe someday."
The movie continued.
The heroine finally kissed the man she'd spent the entire film arguing with.
Lin shook her head.
"See? That's why you don't spend ninety minutes being stubborn."
She reached for another piece of popcorn.
Outside, the farm carried on without her.
For one afternoon, Lin was perfectly content to let the world wait while she watched an old 90s romantic comedy and entertained the dangerous possibility that, someday, she might want a little romance of her own.