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She gulped, her face beginning to redden at the same time. Looking down, Tony noticed her bandaged leg.
"You fell through and didn't tell me?" he said shocked.
"I didn't want to bother you."
"Did you go to the doctor too, without telling me?" he asked.
"No, I didn't go to the doctor, I cleaned the scratches and that's all it needed."
"There were rusty nails in that hole. I saw them. Did you scratch yourself on them?"
"I don't think so, this isn't serious at all. I cleaned it."
"Let me see your leg." He didn't let her balk. Pushing her down on the couch, he ripped the bandage from her leg and examined it carefully.
"We're going to emergency and get a tetanus shot," he announced.
"Oh, for heavens sake, Tony, it's not necessary," Melanie protested.
"How long's it been?"
"I don't know, an hour I guess," Melanie shrugged.
They were on their way before she could protest further, the two making a long uneasy ride to the emergency room.
***
On the way home, Melanie was silent. There was not one thing she could say that wouldn't infuriate Tony. He'd lost half a day's work because she'd refused to listen to him about the gazebo; and she'd tried to care for a deep wound that the doctor shamed her into seeing how serious it was. Now she really wished he would spank her. It might vent his anger, and ease the prickly tension between them.
When the two got in the door, Melanie was ready to slink away like a cat, figuring it was better to stay away from Tony, than try to pacify him. Only time would do that. Yet Tony had other ideas.
"Don't you dare go up to that attic of yours," he said.
Melanie turned on the stairway and stared at Tony's dark expression.
"What do you want?" Melanie asked sheepishly.
"I want to know what to do with you," he said.
"Do with me?"
"Perhaps you have some ideas. I feel like I'm living with a child, not a woman."
"Then maybe you should spank me," Melanie suggested boldly.
He looked at her thoughtfully. "You know you certainly deserve it. If you were younger, I would," he vowed.
What did "younger" have to do with it, Melanie wondered. She shivered
excitedly, amazed that he'd even considered it.
&
nbsp; "So?" she asked hopefully.
"What we're going to do is tear down the gazebo," he stated flatly.
"NO!" she shouted. "You can't! I'll fix it. I'll hire people to do it, and I promise I won't go near it, until it's done. It's my Aunt Daisy's, and that's really special to me."
