In the next few days, the same thing happened several times. Sarah showed up when Billy's wives and kids weren't around and showed him some new tricks. At that point, even Billy, who tends to overlook small details, couldn't help but notice that something was off. That was way too weird... Besides, Sarah always showed up when the others were around. Almost as if she only had interest in the meetings of the group as a whole. While Billy taught her as many things as he did to others, she wasn't particularly more grateful or different than the others. So, he couldn't understand that...
"This isn't a coincidence… Sarah clearly is coming when the others are out," Billy thought. "Still, I doubt that she is always watching this place to know when that happens. Besides, they are leaving by themselves too often lately and this behavior started after they began to talk with Sarah… Are they working together? Is this some sort of plan that they came up with?"
One didn't have to be a genius to think what was their goal… Sarah was trying to appeal to Billy, and it seemed that Kate and Natalie were fine with that. It was a bit weird given the past they shared, but Billy concluded that Sara was in love with him. There was a small chance that his ego was just making him think that, but Billy couldn't find any other explanation.
"Come to think of it, she began to distance herself once I got married, even more after my kids were born…" Billy thought. "Oh, man… what should I do?"
Billy's motto was that a man should be reliable and should make all the girls who love him happy. That was why he tried to improve himself daily… even though most of what he did was training. Regardless, he couldn't see Sarah in a romantic light right now, but that was the same thing that had happened before. Still, things worked before because he was more or less in a neutral state in his mind, but now he was as happy as he could be. So, he didn't desire anything else.
Despite their awkward plan and equally awkward actions, Billy had to be considerate. He felt a little bit like he didn't deserve those two since they were supporting him in getting another wife… it was probably because Sarah was their friend, and they didn't want to let her leave. Most likely, the trip she had thought about it was to forget her love. Billy had two growing kids, and he was getting famous all over, so it seemed that they were getting really far apart.
As usual, Billy wanted to deal with that in a logical way. Even though he didn't have to think too much about it since the answer was obvious. He didn't want to lose a friend, and if he did the right thing, he would gain one lover. Still, he wanted to do the right thing even more in order to get the best result and not risk having future problems.
After waiting for a few days, Sarah showed up again when the others weren't home, and she found Billy lying on the grass of his garden. As expected, she immediately tried to show something new that she could do with mafic. She made Billy wonder how she was learning so many things so fast. Regardless, the ideas and plans that his friends came up with were too simple… It was probably because Billy was the one who did the problem-solving most of the time.
"Before that, Sarah, let's talk a little," Billy said. "You can lay down on the grass too, the weather is quite nice today."
"Okay…" Sarah said.
Sarah hesitated a little, but since Billy was calm and just stared at the sky, it didn't seem like he was angry or anything. Nevertheless, he stayed silent for a while.
"We really came a long, didn't we?" Billy asked. "From kids of some old forgotten tribes, to pillars of the military might of this state and the alliance."
"I guess so…" Sarah said.
"Let's not recall some events that made us reach this far, even though all of them were important for us," Billy said. "Still, we had a difficult start due to the situations and while we began to work together eventually, I always had a hard time reading you and I take pride in my skill to read people."
"... Is that so?" Sarah said.
"Did you have a hard time reading me?" Billy asked. "Aside from Alexander, I think I never mentioned before what I wanted."
"Sometimes, perhaps most of the time," Sarah replied.
"I guess people are like us are that difficult," Billy said. "I always knew what Kate wanted… to repay a favor. Natalie wanted to show that her father wasn't wrong with his fighting style. Alexander alwasy wanted to marry Lily, and Lily is an airhead."
"I guess you can say that… she never had much of a goal did she?" Sarah asked while showing a smile.
"It is a bit weird for me to say that to a woman, even more so like a friend like you," Billy said. "Aside from living my life as best as possible, my goal was to marry a woman like Marie."
"That is a bit unexpected… even though we noticed you taking glances at her many times," Sarah said. "Well, she is quite the beauty, strong, quite wild and has a body to kill for."
"Indeed, aside from her personality, she was the perfect woman in my head," Billy said. "However, I wouldn't trade my current life for a life with her. It is hard to imagine being more happy than this. Also, my current goal is to protect my family no matter what. What is your goal, Sarah?"
After hearing that, Sarah didn't know what to say, so she stayed quiet for the same reason she kept her distance over the years.
