Chapter 28

Hearing the children's voices caused Tom to jump and start to dress. If Tom had been in a laughing mood the differences in their approaches to covering their naked bodies was humorous. Francesca unashamedly stood and lifting her dress over her head allowed it to flutter down her body to hide her charms. Meanwhile he had remained sitting on the blanket trying to struggle into his clothes from that position.

Francesca noticed his troubles when she bent to slide her feet back into her sandals. Trying very hard not to giggle at his battle with his clothes she went about gathering up the picnic and when the only thing that remained to do was to fold up the blanket, she glanced back at Tom to find him putting on his shoes.

In an attempt to sooth the stress their outing had caused him, Francesca suggested he drive them home. Pretending to fall asleep in the passenger seat worked just as she had planned. He was too polite to wake her to ask for directions so the trip that should have only taken twenty minutes took almost an hour.

Just to be absolutely sure her scheme didn't fail she pretended to wake a block before the bistro and suggested that they drop off the picnic basket so they wouldn't have to come back out later to do it. By the time they arrived back at her apartment it was nearly lunchtime. There was no familiar car parked near her place so she led the way inside secretly relieved that all was well.

Her answering machine was flashing when she looked at it and even though she knew whose voice she would hear when she hit 'play' she did anyway. Her mother's voice came into the room causing Tom to visibly cringe. "Darling when you did not come by for brunch today and bring your Tommy like I told you to do so I could meet him, I stopped by. When you did not answer the door I let myself in with my key hoping to find the two of you en flagrante delicto," there came almost a girlish giggle before her voice went on, "Since you were not, I left some food for the two of you in your icebox. Please call your mother when you get home from where ever you are. Oh! And before if forget, I called the old number that I had for your Papa's old friend Tom Boone, but it had been disconnected, and I hate to think what your Papa would say if I called him for Tom's number. I was wondering if you might ask him for it the next time you speak to him? Please let me know soon dearest."

Francesca turned to Tom with a sorry little smile and asked, "What do you want me to do? If I do nothing she just might call Papa on her own after all."

"Give her my cell phone number if you like Cesca. I can put her off without any problem," he told her with assurance.

"You do remember my mother, do you not?"

"Yes I do, why?"

"Because unless she has changed a lot since you knew her she is a very determined woman!"

To be continued…