3
JESSICA
“Oh goodness, does your wife grow dahlias?” He said it was his house, and my extremely limited experience with men made me believe his attention so far meant he was interested in me, so I hoped to God his answer was “no.”
But that could be just me and my insufficient exposure to the world. There was no law against a married man flirting with a girl.
“I’m the only gardener that lives here. I’m the only person who lives here. That slew of cars you see belong to my early bird relatives. They show up whenever they want.” His eyes clung to mine in the rearview mirror, gauging my reaction.
My feelings had nothing to do with reason, because I was out of money and homeless, but there was a gently growing fire inside me, undeniable. As though I’d slept outside in the snow and just co
