The bell over the door rang as I entered the florist's. The fresh scent of plants carried me away and the sight of all of them around the room or hanging from the ceiling was like walking into a dream. An enchanted garden. Stone fountains with birds or cherubs carved into them demonstrated splashing their water around while garden gnomes kept watch over the place by night. Wooden and ceramic animals wandered the joint too, anything from a squirrel to a cheery pink pig in red rain boots. 

I might have to have that.

Or the speckled green frog holding a yellow umbrella...or the duck holding a suitcase while wearing a necktie...oh, there were too many to choose!

A woman with long coily hair asked if she could help me with anything. I asked her what her favourite animal was in the store and she showed me a little glass bluebird and the pig with the rain boots. I thanked her and grabbed them into my arms, naming them Bridgette and Margot respectively. 

A beautiful fern caught my eye, not unlike the one I saw in England all those years ago. Long green fronds and a stunning blue pot. I needed it too.

With my purchases lined up on the counter the woman who helped me earlier let me rent out a wagon to take my things home in. I picked the pink one and rolled my shiny new things out the door and down the street. It bumped over rocks and cracks in the footpath and I had to constantly check to make sure my things were still in one piece.

And still in the wagon. 

I opened the gate to our front yard and held it open with my foot. I carried my new figurines inside first and came back for my potted fern. Making sure they were safe and hidden in the yard, I turned back to return the wagon. 

When I ran into Sheryl. 

Her little blonde pigtails swung back and forth while she stared up at me, hands innocently behind her back. She wore an expensive looking dress I had seen on a mannequin at the boutique. "Hello, Hannah!" she waved.

I waved politely back. "Hi."

"Is that your wagon?" she asked. Just like me, the vibrant pink colour had caught her eye.

"For now. I'm on my way to return it to the store," I said pulling it behind me. I didn't expect Sheryl to follow me. I was hoping she'd shrug her shoulders and find one of the other kids to play with. 

"Where's Angus?" she asked picking dandelions. 

"He's in America right now," I said, the wagon wheels hitting my heels. "He's working."

"Do you miss him?" she asked. I smiled. 

"Of course I miss him, he's my best friend."

"I miss him too," she said picking up a smooth rock. "He gives me Smarties." She picked up more smooth rocks and tossed the ones deemed not good enough. Finally she had a huge collection of them and held them in her dress like an apron. It was now covered in dirt. "When is he coming back?"

"In March."

"What he if gets married while he's gone?"

It felt like the six year old just punched me in the stomach. What kind of a question was that? What did she hear from her parents? Was there neighbourhood talk about us? Rumours spreading that Angus would leave me for someone else? Was there....proof?

"He's not getting married," I said defensively. "He's my Angus."

"I'd marry him if I could," Sheryl said dropping all her rocks on someone's front yard. I looked around before quickening my pace. The wagon creaked behind me, almost catching on a shrub. "Then he could give me Smarties every day."

We both reached the florist's again and I took the wagon inside. Sheryl was fascinated by the cool things inside and she washed her hands in one of the fountains. "Is she yours?" the woman from this morning asked me. 

"No, she's my neighbour," I said crossing my name off the rental list. "She's the kid of a rich couple down the street."

"She's so cute!" She admired the way Sheryl pretended to feed the ceramic animals and talk to the gnomes. "You know....we have plenty of wagons here already...why don't you give it to her?" I looked at the woman in surprise. 

"How much did you want for it?"

She held up a hand. "You can have it, call it a gift." I didn't know what to say. Surely the wagon would have cost quite a bit, they couldn't afford to just give it away, could they? "What's her name?"

"Sheryl," I said. 

"Excuse me, Sheryl, is it?" she asked. Sheryl came bounding up her, pigtails and ribbons flying. "You see that pink wagon?" Sheryl nodded. "I'm giving it to you as a present."

"Really?"

"Just promise to take good care of it," the woman said. I caught a glimpse of the name tag and read 'Amanda'. "Pink happens to be my favourite colour."

Sheryl beamed and took hold of the wagon handle and scurried off with it. "Come on, Hannah!" Amanda turned to look at me and I quickly pulled my hand away from the tip jar, trying to wedge a twenty dollar note into it. I simply couldn't have taken the wagon for free. 

"Thank you," I said to Amanda and left the store, the bell jingling after us.

**********

I gave Sheryl a lift home, dropping her off at her massive house. There was ivy all over the walls and brick pillars guarding the front door with the fancy knob. Both of her parents were outside in monogrammed robes, her mother in curlers and her father smoking a pipe. Her mother came running up to her and knelt down. "There you are, we've been looking all over for you, young lady!" Her mother looked her over like I might have infected her with my company. "Look at your dress! Where have you been?"

"With Hannah," she said pointing at me. I stood there stupidly holding the handle of the obnoxiously bright pink wagon. "She took me to the plant store and got me a wagon."

Her mother eyed the wagon and me with suspicion. "I see....well, thank you. I'm sure she'll have  a lot of fun with it, won't you darling?"

"I'm going to marry Angus," Sheryl said. Her father came up to check on his daughter, pipe smoke blowing everywhere. "I'll ask him when he gets home."

"Gets home?" Her parents looked at me, expecting an answer.

"He's touring in America," I said, my voice nothing more than a squeak. "He'll be home in March."

"No doubt surrounded by tons of female fans," her father said. 

So that's where Sheryl got it...

"Yes, sir," I answered. 

"From what we've heard Angus is a very popular man," her mother said holding Sheryl in her arms. Sheryl rested her head on Mummy's shoulder. "Haven't you two planned anything yet?"

"Planned?"

"Well you're living together, aren't you? We figured you'd have a wedding planned out by now."

"We were just curious, is all," her father smiled. Or nosy....

"I could help you plan a gorgeous and lavish wedding and have it all ready by next month." Sheryl's mother, whose name was Wanda, handed her daughter to her father and came up to talk to me. "I have a friend who directs weddings, he'd be happy to plan yours. A beach? A church? Whatever you want." She put her hand on my shoulder and her touch burned. "Now a big dress for you and hundreds of guests, and my little Sheryl could be your flower girl!"

I shrugged her off and stepped away from her manicured nails. "Thanks, but we're not getting married yet," I said. "We're waiting a little bit."

"Why wait? It can't be a money issue, we all know Angus pays for everything around there." I pouted. "I just don't want my little Sheryl getting the wrong idea about relationships. Living together without being married is no way to live if you ask me. I want her marrying a good, hard working husband who can come home to her every night. Not some...." She paused, searching for the right word with which to offend me the least. "Musician."

"Angus and I are fine just the way we are," I said setting the wagon handle down. "We'll get married on our own time."

"By that time, Sheryl will have gotten there first," Wanda huffed. She adjusted the curlers in her blonde hair. "I won't say that's the kind of man I'd have chosen for her...never home, long and scraggly hair, smokes far too much..."

I looked behind her at her husband who was puffing on his pipe. 

"...and so...short," she finished. "I do pity you, dear, but I can't say I didn't try to help. Goodbye." She turned around and headed back toward her house, her husband Howard in tow. Sheryl waved at me and I waved back. As soon as they closed their front door, I bolted away from their house, humiliated.