The Petite Gardener by Robin Thomas

Author:Robin Thomas [Thomas, Robin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781452080703
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Published: 2010-12-07T05:00:00+00:00

Friday evening, Isla was again sitting on the beach and looking out toward the horizon. She let the last warm rays of the sun warm her body and the breeze tried to dry the tears that had spilled over her cheeks. She felt no closer to a peaceful resolution than she had a week ago and wondered what she could do to speed the process along. The wind carried a familiar voice to her;

“Miss Hampstead! We found you.” It was Susan.

“You found me?” Isla looked around and there was Gavin coming to sit next to her again. She raised an eyebrow at him quizzically.

“Yes, we are stalking you,” he stated very plainly as he took his seat, never looking her in the eye.

“Should I be alarmed?”

“Only if you have an aversion to hotdogs, which I know you don’t,” he said.

“Daddy, what’s stawking?”

“I’ll explain it to you later, hon.” He threw Isla a quick oops-better-watch-what-I-say look, and then tried a diversion tactic. “Did you still want to look for shells before we eat?”

Without bothering to answer him, Susan happily hopped away at his suggestion to search for her treasures.

“So, Friday night is hotdog night, huh?”

“I think it’s turning out that way, yes,” Gavin said, now looking at her so intently she had to look away. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, fine,” she lied. She tried to think of some small talk, anything to turn the attention away from her, but her mind went blank. He was so direct, so blunt, always catching her off guard. She couldn’t think of a thing to say and so just sat there looking at the waves rolling onto the sand.

“Wow.” He tossed a broken shell out in front of him and looked at the water.

She turned her head to glance at him; “What?”

“You’re a really lousy liar,” he said.

She had to laugh. “I’ve been told that before.”

“So, what’s wrong?” He didn’t beat around the bush. Seeing her upset struck a chord in him that put him on edge. He felt defensive, protective, even a little angry and he didn’t know where to direct his emotions. He wanted to know what was going on, what he could do, what was wrong.

“Nothing’s wrong, really. I just got some news, and it sort of threw me for a loop, that’s all. It’s actually good news… and I’m… happy.” She bit her bottom lip and looked away.

“Yeah.” He didn’t sound convinced, he dug in the sand for another shell.

“I am!” she said defensively. “I’m adjusting… but I am happy.” He sat looking at her, then to get a better look he took off his sunglasses and narrowed his eyes which were the exact color of the evening sky. “What?” she asked nervously.

“Well…” he hesitated. “If this is happy, I’d hate to see sad.”

She smiled sadly. “Honesty is so overrated,” she said. “You could just be polite and nod and say ‘ah yes, I understand’.”

“Then people would like me and think me caring and sensitive, and then where would I be?” He fought the urge to put his arm around her.

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