Mum's weary voice broke the silence. "Um … Jeanette, would you like to accompany me to the café down the road? I think we need some hot drinks before we get started."
"But I have a flask of tea in my ba-"
"Oh never mind that. You can drink it later. Come on. Let's leave these two to have a chat, yeah?"
Mum laced her arm with Jeanette's and led her up the path to her car, and when they were out of sight, I copped a punch-slap-shove sequence to my arm.
"What the fuck, Lots? Yesterday we were getting married and today we are expecting a child?" She shoved me again. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?"
"Hey! Wait a minute!" I tried to secure her hands, mainly because they looked like icy poles, but also to stop any further abuse. "That wasn't my fault."
"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT," she growled.
"Okay. Well, technically, it-"
"Don't say that."
I paused. "Say what?"
"Technically."
"Why?"
"Because."
"Because why?"
"Just don't say it. I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear any of this." Danielle slapped her hands to her cheeks and pushed them together, and my heart all but spasmed. Every fibre in my being wanted to pull her to me and kiss those pouted lips again, to feel her in my arms again, to-
"What did you say to Helen? This is getting way out of hand," she snapped.
I diverted my sight from her lips and cheeks. "Nothing. I promise. In fact, I was about to tell her the truth when she started talking about babies, and that's when you and Jeanette turned up."
"This has all gone way too far."
"I agree."
"Pfft."
My eyebrow rose at her sarcastic reply. "What was that for?"
"Because I don't believe you."
"You don't believe me?"
She nodded. "That's what I said."
"How about I don't believe you."
"In what way? I haven't done anything?"
"Chris ring any bells?"
Danielle shifted on the spot. "What about him?"
"He's not your boyfriend."
"Ha! You'd like that, wouldn't you?"
Remembering my new tactic for discovery, I, too, lied and deliberately held back information. "Whether he's your boyfriend or not doesn't matter to me. What matters is you lying. We've never lied to each other, so why now?"
She took a step back as if I'd slapped her across the face. "I'm … I'm not lying."
That lie stung. I'd just given her the perfect opportunity to come clean and she hadn't, and I didn't understand why. Yeah, I was a hypocrite for telling her I didn't care if Chris was her boyfriend or not, because I fucking well did care. I cared a lot. She just wasn't giving me any choice but to lie in return. Ironically, it was the best way to get to the truth.
Turning my back on her, I continued to collect the smashed up pieces of shed from the ground. "Yeah, you're lying, and I'm not sure why. You've already told me I'm not your type. Fair enough. You're not my type either. I guess I'm just wondering why you're continuing to lie to me, you know?"
She stared at me, her mouth dropping open, tears welling in her eyes before she quickly turned away. Fuck!
"Danielle, I-"
"Let it go, Elliot. Let's just do what we're here to do, okay?"
I didn't argue and let it go. For now.
Mum and Jeanette gave Danielle and I wide berth for the remainder of the day. My guess was that they could tell things were tense between us. The funny thing was it was the perfect opportunity to set the record straight yet neither of us did, which only strengthened my determination but also confused me further. I needed answers, a resolution. It was what I aspired to day in and day out.
Leaning on my shovel, I surveyed the site, taking in the mess we'd made during the demolition phase. There was shit everywhere: piles of wood, dug up garden beds, weeds … mounds of dirt. We needed a mini excavator.
Just as I was about to pull my phone out to look into hiring one for the following weekend, I heard Danielle curse.
"Damn it! Stupid splinters!"
Scouting the site, I found her flapping her hand as if she was performing the chicken dance.
"Owwwww," she whined, and placed her finger in her mouth then pulled it out and flapped it again.
I removed the distance between us and walked over to where she was dancing about. "You okay?"
"I'm fine. It's just a splinter."
I held out my hand. "Show me. Just a splinter or not, it needs to come out."