“Yes, I see how this presents a problem.” he joked.
“This is not funny. I think I should leave now,” she said as she got up to leave.
She ran back the same way she had entered the garden. He ran after her and caught up with her in the archway; grabbing a hold of her arm.
“But you haven’t seen the rest; the fern walk, and the frog pond, and everything else.”
“I think it’s best if I just leave now.”
“You sure?”
She stood still, looking at him, not saying a word. Staring into her big brown eyes, he just wanted to kiss her. He could barely contain himself.
“Maybe, you could bring Madison, sometime,” he said, letting go of her arm and stepping back.
“Maybe.”
“With a child between us, it wouldn’t be inappropriate. Or better yet, I could just let you two explore without me. Just talk to Ellie; she’ll let you in. I don’t even have to be here.”
“Thank you.”
“Keep the t-shirt,” he joked.
She smiled and looked at him one last time before turning away.
When she got home, Robert was not too impressed; she was late and there was no dinner on the table.
“How was it?”
“Um... Dot was a no show.”
“Oh really...” he said, confused. “So what were you doing for three hours?”
“Actually... I waited for a while and then I got to chatting with her son.” She tried to appear as casual as she could.
“Chatting with her son?” he asked, getting a few staples out of the cupboard. “For three hours?”
“Actually it was nice, talking to a grown-up who isn’t you for a change. No offense. You know I’m going batty here, locked up in this house.”
How could he argue with that?
“Well, what did you two talk about?”
“Gardening, architecture, art...”
“This guy sounds like a sissy.”
“We talked about his family; he has two kids.”
“Is his wife hot?” he asked, smiling.
“Oh please...” she said as she ignored him and went upstairs, lying by omission in the process. She thought it was odd that Robert had failed to notice her shirt. Then again, he never reallylookedat her anymore, did he? She lay on the bed, burying her face in Michael’s t-shirt. She never wanted to take it off. She was certainly never giving it back.
She thought about the picnic in the garden. She wished she had kept her big mouth shut. She had no business getting so personal.
She called Ellie on Wednesday and asked her if she could let her and Madison in to see the garden. Ellie even offered to make them lunch but Angela politely declined; she wasn’t going to risk running into Michael. This was going to be a nice change to their usual play dates; mostly spent at the play centre or play park at the mall.
Madison seemed happy sitting in her car seat, looking out at the scenery. She was amused by the gate opening to let them in.
