Why hadn’t she left Henry then and there, instead of wasting more years, giving up more of her self-respect, her youth, her ambitions and dreams, all the things she’s wasted, and willingly, for what? An occasional crumb ofaffection.
The enormity of it, left her gasping for breath as she wept intoher hands.
George said nothing; he just held her close, his hand cradling the back of her head. They remained like that for along time.
Slowly the tears stopped. George had his chin on her head, his strong fingers laced in her hair. A soft breeze played on her skin. Her arms, shoulders and upper back were all bare—where washer shawl?
Gradually she became aware of his heartbeat, his breathing, his throat against the side of her face. He made a sound, swallowing.
They stood in a different kind of silence now. When she moved a little, taking a deep breath, his heart hammered faster againsther hand.
If she pressed her body to him a little closer, she’d be able to feel—
Really?
Now? Here?
Was she really going to have sex with him in the middle of a field?
After she gave him hell about beingher boss?
She pulled away. Wiping her face, Millie pretended to brush her dress and straightenher hair.
George turned back to where she’d dropped her handbag and shawl earlier. He picked them up. A minute later, he gave them to her and waited while she draped the shawl loosely around her arms and started walking.
For a while, they walked in silence.
George seemed happy to stroll at her pace, but Millie was less content.
It couldn’t have been just her imagination. There definitely had been a littlefrissonbetween them back there? Something in the way his breath deepened, the fingers in her hair had rubbed the nape of her neck a couple of secondstoo long.
They walked side by side, but he hadn’t taken her hand again. Apparently, he was no longer worried about hertripping.
Was the silence awkward or just a normal silence and she the one feeling awkward?
Nothing good was ever going to come from comparing Henry with George. Just because she’d had a poor life, starved of affection, was no reason to get the wrong idea about nothing.
Okay, then, why did he go to such lengths to reassure her he wasn’t her employer? It’d sounded like he meant to… establish an equality, or…something.
No, she was reading too much into it. Millie shook her head, kept her eyes on the ground and side-stepped another half-buried stone. The lane stretched long and gently winding before her feet. Thank God she’d worn comfortable ballerina shoes instead of the barely-there gold sandals Joanie had made her order. If it wasn’t for the lucky delay in delivery, she might have tripped and fallen on her face. George would have had to carry her in his arms, which would be bad. And she’d have had to rest her head on his chest; and that would be even worse.
No, where was her independence?
She searched for something to say, something mundane, to end the fanciful thoughts inher head.
“It’s strange I can see better in thedark now.”
“O—h?” He drew out the syllable as if returning from distantthoughts.
“I can see quite a way ahead now—” She looked up at the sky. And then the words died onher lips.
The sky. How could this be the sky?
He stopped. “Ah. The clouds have cleared. And you didn’t notice. You’ve been looking at your feet for fear of tripping, haven’t you?”
She turned her head in a circle, taking in the spectacular dome of the sky. There were no words to describe this. With he clouds gone, a hundred thousand stars, of every colour shone. The view left her speechless for long moments.
“Millie, you’ve been here for months,” George said eventually. “How is it possible you never saw our night sky before?”
