Star Wars - Kenobi

you tonight.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
    SO THIS IS HOW A HERMIT LIVES, Annileen thought as she looked around Ben’s house. It was cleaner inside than outside, which was what she’d imagined, knowing Ben. But the furnishings were impossibly spare. She could not picture him living here in any kind of comfort at all. Every day must be like camping. Which might not be such a bad way to go, she thought, remembering the clutter of her own life.
    Annileen finished washing her hands in the basin and dried them quickly. It wouldn’t do to linger here, when she’d just come inside to freshen up—and she’d had to finagle that.
    But she had a good excuse. Rooh had found her way home, as Annileen had predicted, but she’d been wrong about how close the animal was to birth. Annileen and Ben had arrived just as the first sun touched the western Jundland mountains—and found mother and son right outside the trough. Annileen’s examination of the eopie and her kid found both healthy; the exertions of the morning must have brought on the early labor.
    With a last look around, Annileen stepped through the curtain and into the warm evening. Ben knelt beside Rooh, who was happily munching feed. Annileen lingered outside the door, not wanting to disturb the serene moment.
    But Ben noticed her presence. “Rooh’s quite energetic, given her ordeal,” he said, patting the new mother’s snout. “How long should she rest?”
    “Eopies are made out of elastic bands,” Annileen joked. “She’s probably ready to race.”
    Ben marveled. “So soon?”
    Annileen laughed. “Believe me, I envy her. Jabe knocked me off my feet for a month.”
    She walked into the yard. The repaired cooling unit sat amid the other junk outside. Ben had remained mostly quiet during the drive to fetch it and the journey here. He’d added little to his tale about Orrin’s absence, apart from a question about the man’s finances, which she found oddly timed. Ben hadn’t pried further. And he hadn’t asked at all about the one thing she most wanted an opinion about.
    “Well,” Ben said, rising. “I’d better get the equipment inside while there’s still light. It was a lovely day. Thanks for the help.” With that, he passed her and walked toward the coolant unit. Annileen stood frozen as he knelt beside it.
    Finally, she cracked. She marched into his field of view. “Ben,” she said. “Should I marry Orrin?”
    Ben paused. “Do you want to marry Orrin?”
    “Not especially,” she said. “A lot of people think I should.”
    Ben heaved the unit from the ground. “I’m sure your other friends would be more qualified to advise. Leelee—”
    “No,” Annileen said. “Not Leelee.” She walked after him and blocked him from the doorway. He looked at her, puzzled, as she tugged the coolant unit from his hands and set it down by the door. “I want to know what you want me to do.”
    Ben shrugged. “It’s your life. Every individual decides his or her own fate—”
    Annileen groaned. “Everything’s an adage with you. Ben, are you telling me you’ve never had to deal with a real-life situation? Where you had to make a decision about someone else?”
    Finally seeming to sense her frustration, Ben looked away. “I’m human,” he said. “There was someone, once. It wasn’t to be.”
    “And you gave up and moved to the Jundland Wastes?” She laughed. “I’d say you didn’t find the right person.”
    “Perhaps I did,” Ben said, looking back at her from beneath his hood. “But I wasn’t the right person.”
    “More double-talk from Crazy Ben,” Annileen said. Feeling her confidence grow, she took a step toward him, cutting the space between them in half. “Well, I don’t think you’re so crazy. I think you’ve found someone you didn’t expect to find. And that’s not a bad thing,” she said, reaching toward him.
    Ben put his hands before him to slow her advance. “Annileen—no. I can’t do this,” he said.
    “Are you sure?” She looked up into his eyes. “I think you can.”
    “No, I definitely can’t.”
    “Everyone loses the reins once in a while.”
    He gave an uncomfortable half chuckle. “I said that, didn’t I?”
    “Yep.” She clasped his hands and pulled him closer …
    … and he drew back and turned away.
    “What is it?” She stared at his back. “Is it because of Orrin? Don’t worry about that. I’ve told you, I don’t feel that way about him.”
    “And I don’t think you feel that way