By Any Other Name

Chapter 12

The weather was beginning to change and so we decided it was time to take the children for that picnic by the lake before the cold weather set in.

I was surprised to learn that some of the children had never been on an actual picnic before, and I was gratified that I was able to help give them their first one.

It was actually the time when we normally had school and so I used some of the time, having the children examine bugs, leaves, birds, and other things found in the science book.

The rest of the time was spent eating the massive amount of food that Minnie had packed, and playing games.

The children played Tag and Tug of War and Duck Duck Goose, but their favorite game was apparently Blind Man's Bluff.

I'd waved them off for most of the games, feeling much too silly to be playing children's games at my age, but they absolutely insisted that Levi and I join them for Blind Man's Bluff. And I had to admit, it was rather fun.

I'd worried about how foolish I would look, bumbling around, wearing a blindfold, but the children made so much noise as they laughed, it wasn't at all difficult to grab hold of one of them and end my potential humiliation.

When it came time for Oliver's turn, he was determined to get Levi, who had successfully managed to avoid being grabbed by each one of the children up until that point. I couldn't help but admire Oliver's determination. He wandered around, passing all the more obvious targets, tripping many times, just so he could get to Levi.

It was easy to tell that Levi could have stayed out of the boy's reach if he wanted to, but after several minutes of Oliver waving his arms at empty air, Levi tripped over nothing, making enough noise to cause Oliver to race for him and land on top of him, giggling with glee.

"I got ya!" he cried, ecstatic, ripping the blindfold from his face.

"You sure did." Levi smiled. "I guess it's my turn then."

"Don't forget the blindfold!" Oliver laughed, handing him the black cloth.

Levi took the blindfold in his hands. Just before he covered his eyes, he met my gaze and winked, causing my smile to freeze as my pulse jumped.

The children laughed as the new round began and I quietly inched my way as far as possible from the last place Levi had seen me.

He made a good show of waving his arms at empty air, conveniently missing all of the children as he came closer, and after a minute, I got the distinct impression that he was coming right for me.

It had to be paranoia though. He couldn't know that I was standing where I was. I hadn't made any noise at all and the children were being extremely loud.

I moved away from that spot and a few seconds later, Levi changed directions so that he was still heading my way. Thinking he was guessing that I was moving, I froze, expecting him to change directions again. He turned a few times, swinging his arms at Oliver and then Phoebe and then Joshua, but he always seemed to be aiming right for me.

How was it possible? I wore that blindfold. It was pitch black. But somehow, Levi was peeking.

He got closer and I began backing up, trying to keep quiet even though I knew he had to be cheating. Every time I inched away, he moved forward and his steps were twice as long as mine.

I was about to dash away, when I stepped in a pothole and squeaked in surprise.

Levi grinned seconds before he swallowed me up in his arms, throwing us both off balance and to the ground. He managed to turn us mid-air so that I landed on top of his body and I knew my face must be bright red from the position we found ourselves in.

"Got ya," Levi whispered in my ear, making my already pounding heart, beat even faster.

"You cheated," I accused, slightly breathless.

He smiled bigger. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Narrowing my eyes, I wondered how he did it and tried to ignore the fact that I was pleased that he did. I pushed myself off him and to my feet, hoping that my traitorous thoughts weren't obvious.

"Ring Around the Rosie!" Lilah shouted, apparently tired of Blind Man's Bluff.

Some of the children grumbled, but I was happy for the change.

"Good idea, Lilah," I said, trying not to look at Levi as he got to his feet behind me. "Everyone's had a turn at Blind Man's Bluff and we'll have to head back to the house soon."

The children whined some more, but no one complained as we formed a circle to play Lilah's favorite game. We were just about to start when Levi pushed his way between Hannah and me.

"Hold on," he said, gripping my hand. "You all ain't playin' this one without me."

The children laughed and I focused on appearing unaffected from the feel of my hand in his.

"Ring around the rosie. Pocket full of posy," the children sang as we began moving.

Suddenly very clumsy, I stumbled a few steps and bumped into Levi. He chuckled and my face felt warm.

"Ashes! Ashes! We all fall down!"

Most of the children were incredibly enthusiastic when they dropped to the ground, releasing their grip on one another. Levi held tightly to my hand though, and I didn't try to pull it away.

Everyone got up and formed the circle again before the song was repeated. Levi continued to hold firm to my hand each time we fell to the ground and stood up again, and I found myself smiling. Not at the silliness of the children as they thrilled Lilah with their dramatics, but at the pleasant way it felt, holding Levi's hand.

About the fifth time we dropped to the ground, I caught a smile and very interested look on Minnie's face, directed at Levi and me. Suddenly, holding his hand didn't seem so innocent anymore.

How could I behave in such a manner? I was a married woman. I had no right to have these feelings and I had no right to lead Levi on this way.

Pulling my hand free, I tried to appear casual as I avoided Levi's eye.

"I think I'm done for now," I said to the children. "You're all making me dizzy!"

They giggled and quickly closed the gap I left, to begin another round.

I went to take a seat beside Minnie on the blanket and pretended I didn't notice the open curiosity on her face.

"Lovely day," I said, hoping to distract her. "I don't think we'll have many more bright sunny days like this in the year."

"Probably not," she agreed and I could tell that I had in no way diverted her attention.

"Unfortunate..." I muttered.

"Do you want any more peach cobbler?" she asked after an awkwardly silent minute.

"No, thank you. I've had plenty. But I'd love some more iced tea if there's any left."

"Of course." She nodded and pulled the tea from her basket.

I knew that she wanted to be talking about Levi and not peach cobbler or iced tea, but as usual, she was allowing me privacy and I was extremely grateful. I had no earthly idea what I would say if she asked the questions I know she wanted to. I wasn't allowed to have feelings for Levi and I couldn't tell her why. She would see right through any other excuse I could come up with as exactly that - an excuse.

And so we passed the rest of the time sipping iced tea and talking about mundane and safe topics that neither one of us particularly wanted to be talking about.