For The Angry Hour Glass
Prompt: picture of a bench in a park
360 words
"Be quiet, Anne Marie!" I grab at her ruddy lips. She can't seem to stop the giggles, and I don't want to be caught. Eddie doesn't know we're here. He didn't see us sneak out of the house when no one was looking or when we followed behind him on the rain bitten path. And he most certainly didn't notice us when he clasped hands with the pretty blonde girl whose name matches her blushing lips.
"I can't help myself," Annie whispers too loudly. "I didn't know my brother was sweet on Rosie Dale."
No one did. Not his mother who tried to set him up with shy Beth Parker or his father who said his business partner's daughter was a looker…or me. Not that I mattered in the long run. He's Edward Jones, recently graduated, off to law school, potential future husband. I'm just poor Lizzie Day whose father ran out on her mother, barely on the edge of womanhood. Too young to consider. Too old not to know better.
Annie giggles again, and I swear I see Eddie's eyes flick over to our rosebush, but I can't be sure. The bench him and Rosie are sitting on is too far away, too obscured by our leafy cover. I shake my head. "Annie, I swear! Eddie's not going to be too happy if he catches us."
Her blue eyes, so similar to her brother's, widen, and then she's pointing. "Look!"
I wish I hadn't. Then I wouldn't be plagued with the image of Eddie leaning in close to pretty Rosie, his lips on her upturned cheek. They stand, hands still twined together, whispering words that make her cheeks flush. They turn our way so suddenly that I only have seconds to push Annie down to the ground.
"Beautiful rainbow, don't you think, Rosie?" She nods her agreement. "I wonder if there's treasure at the end or if there's something even better hiding there."
"Like what?"
"Like a pretty girl with lips as red as those roses."
"Do you like roses?"
He pauses, smiles, and then I'm not sure if my heart should soar or plummet. "I love them."