while, with all the atmospheric turmoil, but didn’t stop to join in the various conversations because she had nothing to share. Sitting on the steps with Ben and watching the sky was an experience she hugged to herself; she hadn’t even told Carol about the awkward but strangely alluring interlude they’d shared—if sitting beside each other could be called an interlude—because it was both too intimate and too casual. Carol would make a big deal out of it, joking that Mr. Hot Body had a thing for Sela, and Sela discovered that she couldn’t regard anything about Ben as a joke.
It wasn’t that they’d had any deep conversation; in fact, she’d be surprised if he’d said a grand total of thirty words to her. But still—they’d communicated. They had shared a piece of magic that they’d never forget. Their bare arms had brushed. If there was any other person in the valley with whom Ben Jernigan had willingly spent that length of time, and actually touched, she didn’t know who it would be. Of course, for all she knew he regularly had booty calls with any number of women, but he seemed far too solitary for that.
Abruptly she realized that she had stopped walking and was simply standing motionless in the middle of the big field, while eddies of people swirled around her. Her face heated, even though no one walking by knew she’d gotten lost simply thinking about Ben, the mystery and appeal of him. She knew, and she was both appalled at herself and unreasonably excited. This was how her adolescent crushes had felt, and she had thought she’d grown beyond that. Evidently she was wrong.
Someone behind her gripped her arm, and she turned to find Ted Parsons standing there. If that wasn’t immediate punishment for letting herself get distracted, she didn’t know what was. He released her and caught another woman’s hand, tugging her to him. “Meredith, this is—sorry, I didn’t catch your name last night.”
“Sela Gordon,” she supplied, and held out her hand to Meredith. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Right. This is my wife, Meredith.”
She’d already figured that out. Meredith Parsons appeared to be the exact opposite of her abrasive husband. She had a kind, gentle face, and her smile was genuine. She shook Sela’s hand, then looked around the busy field. “Isn’t this something? So many people, all helping each other and sharing.”
“It’s important to cook the perishable things and not let them go to waste—” Sela began.
Ted interrupted with, “Her mother was chosen as valley leader.” He was still visibly disgruntled that not only had he not been chosen, but a female senior citizen had been.
“My aunt,” Sela corrected. “On my father’s side.”
The curl of Ted’s lip said he didn’t care on which side of Sela’s family Carol came in. “Where is she? I’ve come up with some ideas about what we should be doing.”
“I’m sure you have,” she murmured, and turned to point across the field. “She’s set up in that pavilion tent with the red stripes. And she has coffee brewing, if you’d like a cup. All ideas are welcome.”
“Ted’s really good at getting things done,” Meredith said, looking up at him with a smile, one that he returned with such obvious affection that Sela blinked in surprise. When he looked at his wife, his expression changed completely. It was a reminder that even jerks could have a few good qualities, something she should remember. Seeing him with his wife made her feel less hostile to him, and that was a good thing considering how they would all have to work together in the coming months.
The morning wore on. She was approached by a couple who had to be in their seventies but were lean and spry, and offered their knowledge of herbs in the event of sickness. A group of women in a quilting club offered to make quilts for those who didn’t have enough bedcovers for the coming winter. A few men offered to hunt for those who couldn’t. Sela wrote down names and addresses, with notes about capabilities and offers. A system needed to be created to connect those in need with the people offering services, and also a means of payment by barter, though what the people in need could offer in return would be way more complicated to set up. She was mulling that over when someone over by Carol’s tent rang a cowbell, calling them all to congregate.
The sun was really beating down now, so the