They were both silent for a few long moments, J.T. working the bellows and Matt staring into the bright heat of the forge, looking like his mind was a thousand miles away. At length, he sighed and pulled the metal out of the heat and started hammering it again.
“You think it’s that important, huh?” he asked between hammer strokes.
“I absolutely think it’s that important,” J.T. said. “If I were to tell your sister and Thom, they’d think the same.”
“Why haven’t you, then?”
J.T. snorted. “Because they’ve got more than enough on their minds already, don’t you think?”
“I guess,” Matt said, brows knitting for a moment. “Are we going to keep this from them?”
“I don’t think that we’ll be able to,” J.T. said, then heaved a heavy sigh. “We’ll eventually have to tell them.”
“Tell who what?” Marin slipped into the warmth of the forge, pushing back the hood of her jacket and dusting some of the snow off and onto the floor, where it hit and melted quickly.
Matt opened his mouth to answer her, then closed it, glancing at J.T.
“Uh-oh,” Marin said as she tugged off her gloves. “What’s going on that you’re not sure you want to tell me about?”
“Phelan’s being ridiculous,” J.T. said.
“You mean about leaving? I knew about that. We just have to figure something out. I really don’t think that he’s got his heart set on it, do you?”
J.T. winced. I think he does. It’s not going to be easy, making him stay. He’s convinced himself it’s for the best and something tells me that once he decides something’s for the best, swaying him is no easy task.
“You do, don’t you?”
“After what he said today and what Ériu said after that? Yeah, I think I do.”
Marin shivered at the mention of the spirit, then shook her head. “Neve and I are trying to come up with some kind of plan.”
“We’ll need to work fast,” J.T. said. “Because I’ve got a feeling as soon as he thinks he’s healed enough, he’s going to try to leave.”
“Maybe we should let him,” Matt suggested. He blinked as they both stared at him as if he’d grown a second head. “What? We let him start to wander away, then we collect him again when he ends up sprawled on his face in the road.”
“You’re underestimating his stubbornness, Matt,” Marin said, a smile tugging at one corner of her mouth.
“Maybe,” Matt agreed. “But right now, it’s the only plan we’ve got. Use that was motivation to come up with something better.”
J.T. choked on a laugh as Marin put her hands on her hips.
“Fine,” she said. “We will.”
“Use that *as* motivation” rather than “was motivation”? Or did I miss something? 😉 love it, keep up the awesomeness!