And then itwas date night. I’d asked Anil if he could pretty please come over after his course, even though it would be late, both to make up for his lack of hours so far that week and so I could make things up to Amy. Not that I had to– there was nothing in our rules that said we’d do anything in particular, or see each other more than once a week– but I wanted to. She’d shown me the night before that she wanted to be there, and for now at least, I was done keeping her at bay.
PHIL
I’ve got Anil tonight. What should we do?
AMY
Leave it to me. I have an idea.
Amy showed up at half past seven, just a couple minutes after Anil did, with an actual picnic basket made of brown wicker, with a red checkered lining and a rolled-up blanket.
“Ooh, let me guess,” I said after she’d greeted Ethel. I stepped out the front door, slinging a backpack over my shoulder. “Skydiving? Wait, no. Ice skating?”
“How’d you guess?”
Instead of heading back to her car, she started walking down the street; clearly we weren’t going far. It felt good to be walking– it was hot as hell, but I’d been inside all day cleaning up after an isolated week so Anil wouldn’t feel like he needed to do it. There was still a huge pile of tailoring work to do, and I hadn’t finished a job all week, but at least the house was properly clean for the first time in ages. And now I was touching grass with Amy whilst Ethel was well cared for at home. Things were pretty good by my standards.
We walked out to the edge of town, about twenty minutes away, and across a big green meadow towards the river.
“You Evanses and your swimming spots,” I said when I realised where we were headed. I was pretty sure Jack had pulled this exact move on Morgan when they’d gotten together, which was a weird thought. My stomach did a backflip at the idea that Amy was trying to make a move– was this what I’d been hoping for?
“Don’t worry,” she said. “I’m not expecting you to swim.”
That was good, since I didn’t have my swim trunks.
There were dozens of other people out here on the green, tossing frisbees and flying kites and having picnics of their own. It was late enough that the oppressive heat had lifted, and we passed the last of the swimmers walking in the opposite direction as they headed home. It took us twice as long as it should have to cross the meadow because Amy kept stopping to pet dogs that came up to us.
When we got to the river, the path diverging to either side, Amy didn’t follow either route but rather took off her sandals and started fording the river, as if that were the most normal thing to do.
“Come on,” she said. “I know a spot.”
Okay, this was definitely starting to feel like a move. But my body was moving, my socks and shoes in hand, before my brain could question it.
Once we were across the river, we walked barefoot for a few minutes on the other side until we reached a secluded clearing just a couple of metres from the water. The sun was still very much out, so the shade from the surrounding trees made it noticeably cooler. It was golden hour, and the broad-leafed trees glowed around the edges. The light caught Amy’s hair too as she rolled out the blanket, and I found myself frozen to the spot on the edge of the clearing as I watched her. She was so beautiful, and she’d made me a picnic, and she drove me half crazy. God, I was in trouble.
“Come on,” she said as she sat down, waving me over to the blanket. I walked brainlessly over to her; I would have jumped off a bridge if she’d asked me to in that moment. Thank god she was too busy unloading the basket to pay any attention to the way I was gawking.
Except eventually my attention snapped to the blanket like a rubber band, because she’d produced a full-on charcuterie board, with at least half a dozen cheeses, just as many meats, fruit, crackers, and even a bottle of wine.
“I had to ask Jack for the pairing guide you sent him ages ago,” Amy said, holding the bottle out to me, “but this should be a good all-rounder.”
“You did well,” I said, pretending to look at the bottle but knowing I would have drunk it no matter what it was.
Shehaddone well though; I eventually found enough wherewithal to actually eat like a normal person, and it was delicious. The perfect meal for a summer’s evening. I hoovered it up, half because it was so good and half because chewing meant not having to talk. And I didn’t trust myself to talk like a normal person.
Amy, on the other hand, talked enough for the two of us. She picked at her food in between telling me about the rewilding trip with her mum, the ideas she and Fatima had for Eden’s backstory, and the meeting she had coming up in a few weeks to present the pitch for the Kenchester job. Meanwhile, I sat there watching her, in awe of the woman she was, so full of life and so interested in everything and so fucking thoughtful. I needed to tell her how wonderful she was. How much joy she brought me. How around all the logistics and worries of my life, part of my mind was always stuck on her. I didn’t know exactly what to say, but I was finally going to say it.
I opened my mouth and sucked in a deep breath for courage, just as she took a bite of her food.
“Amy, I?—”
“Oh shit,” she said suddenly with her mouth full, sending a few cracker crumbs spraying in my direction, and we both laughed as she tried to hold the rest in her mouth.
“I forgot to send you your horoscope for today,” she said once she’d composed herself.
“I’m sorry,that’swhat was so important you couldn’t swallow first?”
She held up her middle finger with one hand as she got out her phone with the other. “Here, look.”
