Chapter 4
1215 Words
I was off work the day Greg was supposed to call on me and ask me for another date. Mrs. Brady and aunt Alice had invited me over for afternoon tea. I agreed to go. The men were at work. All but Peter. He was out job hunting.
Greg did not have much work for him at the moment. He had already hired Bobby. I baked some cookies for the tea this afternoon. I made lavender shortbread cookies. With a hint of lemon in them. They smelled so good. They really went well with ginger tea.
I happened to know Mrs. Brady adored shortbread cookies. We had talked about cookies and tea time the last luncheon we had together. I put the cookies in a fancy tin I had in the kitchen. Aunt Alice had gifted it to me one year.
Not sure when. But I knew she had. I wondered if she would remember the tin when she saw it. I head on over to Mrs. Brady's. I was going to meet aunt Alice over there. Right on time auntie was at the door to.
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"Hi" I greet her.
We hug.
"How was the big date with Greg? We had not gotten to talk to much" she reminds me. "I am dying to know" she teases.
I blush. "The date was fantastic. So romantic. He was a perfect gentleman. And he asked me if he could ask for a second date" I brag.
We laugh.
"I am so happy for you!" gushes auntie.
We ring the doorbell. And Mrs. Brady comes.
"Welcome come on in ladies" she cheerfully greets us. We come in. She has us follow her to the dining room table. Where the tea was set up for us. "It is so odd not to have Alice here all the time. Or Mr. Brady. Most of the kids are all gone and grown up. I do look forward to seeing grandkids visit me this holiday" she sighs. "times have changed" she mentions.
"Sure has Mrs. Brady" says Alice. "I miss the old days to. But Sam sure is a fine husband like I always knew he could be" she jokes.
"I am thrilled for you Alice. Sometimes I really miss Mr. Brady is all." sighs Mrs. Brady. "It is nice to have the boys all home with me. I know it won't last too long" she chuckles.
"How is Peter?" asks Alice.
"He is sad. But out job hunting. He wants to get his own place. So, the girls can visit him more often" says Mrs. Brady. "he is a great dad. I feel badly for him"
"Sometimes marriage is not for everyone" points out Alice.
"Oh, I am sure Peter will marry again. I know he loved being married" sighs Mrs. Brady.
"I met Peter. He is a nice man. He helped me with my car the other day in town" I speak up as Mrs. Brady pours us a cup of tea.
"You did? How wonderful!" says Mrs. Brady. She grins at me.
"He really is good with cars" I tell her.
Peter suddenly walks past us.
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"Pete!" calls out aunt Alice happily.
They hug one another.
"I am so happy to see you!" Alice gushes.
"It has been a long time" he agrees. He notices me. "Daisy hi" he greets me. We shake hands.
"Hi Peter" I answer. "we meet again" I joke.
"Join us for tea if you can" offers Alice.
Pete smiles at me. "Sure, why not"
"Daisy made us cookies! They are lovely" brags Mrs. Brady as she opens the tin.
"Hey, I got you that tin right?" asks aunt Alice.
I nod. "Yes, you had on a valentines day" I remind her.
"Oh, you kept it" she happily says.
"Lavender shortbread's how lovely! You remembered" says Mrs. Brady with joy.
"Yes, I had" I say with a smile.
"I will try one" offers Pete.
Mrs. Brady passed out the cookies. And we all talk. Peter was seated next to me. The phone rings. Mrs. Brady goes to answer it. Aunt Alice and Peter talk.
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"I need to use the bathroom. May I?" I ask them.
"The one downstairs is not in use. There is one upstairs. Let me show you" offers Peter.
I follow him up the stairs. I had never really been upstairs here. I go up the long staircase. Then down the hall. We go in a girls room. It had yellow and pink flowers all over it. Then there was a bathroom there.
"I used to share this bathroom with my brothers and sisters. That was never fun" he jokes. "Now Bobby Greg and I share it again. At least we don't share the same room. Greg has the attic room. I have the other bedroom. And Bobby has Dad's old den" he laughs.
"Wow you were lucky to have close siblings" I sigh. "I never had that growing up"
"It was not always fun and games" he teases.
"Still.." I giggle.
"Say can I ask you something before I go?" he wonders.
"Sure" I agree.
"Are you going steady with Greg now?" he wants to know.
I shake my head. "Well no" I answer.
"Can I ask you one more thing?" he asks.
"Sure" I answer.
"Can I ask you for a date tonight? To get to know you more? Since you are not going steady?" he wonders.
"A date?" I stammer. Greg had said we might go out tonight but that was a might. And we were not going steady yet. "Oh, sure why not?" I agree.
"Great! How about seven tonight?" he offers.
"Okay" I say with a smile.
"I can't wait" Pete answers. Then he heads on his way. I use the bathroom.
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Should I have told him no? I really wanted to date only Greg. But Pete was right. We were not going steady. I wished we were. I would love to be Greg's girl. I blush thinking of our last date.
Of how much we talked. And kissed. I had a blast. I sigh. I did not want to hurt Peter's feelings. He was getting over a marriage. He would be down if I turned him down.
I head back downstairs. And I see Greg had gotten back.
"Hi Daisy. We need to talk" Greg says. "privately"
"Okay" I say softly.
We head into the kitchen area.
"Why did you agree to go out with Peter tonight?" he asks me. "you knew I was going to ask you for tonight" he begins to say. "We had planned it"
"Well you really did not make any sort of set plans with me. And he asked me. We are not going steady. You never asked. And so, I accepted. I did not want to hurt anyone's feelings" I say.
"Would you break the date with Peter? He knows I like you" grumbles Greg.
I shake my head. "No, I don't want to hurt him either" I say. "It is only one date is all" I add.
"Fine, have your one date. But our dating is done!" he declares.
"Greg! Come on that is unfair! You never mentioned going steady" I remind him. "no plans were set. This is not fair" I argue.
He glares at me then stomps away.
Tears water in my eyes. I bolt out the back door. I still would go on the date with Peter. Greg never said a word about going steady.
I was not wrong. He was. He should have made set plans with me. Made things clearer. This was not my fault. It was Greg's.
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- Writer
