Breathless

Chapter 28: Nestled - April 4

Anne suddenly beamed at her. "My dear, I would take all the fun out of today if I were to answer your question. Why don't you see if you can find your next set of clues instead of wasting your time questioning a silent woman?"

Ruby laughed. "You silent? Never!"

Anne chuckled. "Maybe not. But I can't give you the information you seek. I've been sworn to secrecy."

Ruby furrowed her brow. "Can you, at least, tell me why?"

"I think he needs to explain that himself. My only part to play is to help you find the clues. So, my dear, have a look." She waved her hand, palm up, out towards her bountiful garden.

Ruby consulted the poem again. Suddenly, her face brightened. And her eyes danced.

"The rose bushes!" She turned towards Anne. "Where are the rose bushes?"

"Ah, yes! In that corner there." She pointed at the southernmost corner of the garden.

Ruby headed that way and began to search between the bushes as she mumbled, "'Quietly hidden between the bright blooms...Nestled in a garden with many rooms.'"

Suddenly, she gasped and leapt forward. She bent to pick up the big red heart off the ground. It was very similar to the one she'd found on her porch this morning. Only this one was half its size. Her eyes scanned it as she murmured its contents aloud.

"You were always my heart's desire,

The one I wanted above the rest,

Within my soul, a raging fire,

But I never did pass that test.

"I could have had lovely you had I pursued you,

But I lacked the courage to fight for what I'd dreamed.

Instead, I acted as if I never knew you,

As if the lonely world was what it always seemed.

"So now I've come to beg your kind pardon.

You deserve more than your dead dream's casket.

I'm hoping to find in a sweet garden

What wasn't found in the picnic basket."

The picnic basket?

The Picnic Basket!

Her heart began to pound as all her suspicions coalesced...