Paris Summer by April Lynn Kihlstrom

shoulder, and she felt
curiously secure with it there.
    After the movie they stopped for coffee at a nearby
cafe. Later, in the car going home, Sandy’s arm was
around Janine again. Feeling happy and relaxed, she
let her head rest against his shoulder. Sandy’s free hand
stroked her hair gently. For once, Alan had the sense
not to joke about what he saw in the rear-view mirror.
At seventeen rue Bonaparte Alan waited with the car
while Sandy walked Janine to the stairs where, for the second time, he kissed her thoroughly. And for the
third time, she fled up the stairs to the apartment.

    Janine’s heart was beating rapidly as she sat down
on the daybed. Ralph stared at her with green eyes that
almost matched Sandy’s in color. “Is this what I want?”
she asked Ralph. “Am I falling in love?”
    Ralph was silent and continued to stare. Suddenly
Janine clenched her fists. “Then why do I feel like
running?”

Wednesday was sunny and over breakfast Janine
decided to spend the day at a park. She was trying to
decide which park when the phone rang. “Alto “she
said.
    “Hi, kitten!” Sandy’s voice answered. “How are
you?”
    “Fine,” Janine answered calmly, her jitters of the
night before already forgotten.
    “Have you got any plans for today?” he asked.
    “Well, I thought I’d go to a park.”
    “Sounds great,” he said. “Can I come too?”
    “If you want to,” Janine said, laughing. “Maybe you
can help me pick the park.”
    “Jardin du Luxembourg,” he said decisively.
    She had seen it already but…“Okay,” she said with
no perceptible hesitation.
    “Be over in half an hour,” Sandy said. “See you then,
kitten.”
    “All right. ‘Bye.”
    As soon as she had set down the receiver Janine
turned to check her reflection in the mirror. As usual,
her hair fell free around her shoulders and she wore no
makeup. She was wearing green linen pants and a print
muslin blouse along with sandals. “Well, he can’t
expect me to wear a skirt to a park,” she said, and felt a
vague sense of relief.
    Sandy was five minutes early and whistled approv ingly when he saw Janine. She smiled back, equally
impressed with his well-tailored brown pants and blue
short-sleeve pullover. “You’re one of the best-looking
men I know,” she said frankly.

    “Of course!” Sandy said with a grin, “and I’d like to
keep it that way.”
    “Give me a minute and I’ll be ready,” she said.
    Actually, Janine just kept him waiting long enough
to stuff a comb, keys, money, and rubber bands for her
hair in her pockets. She was glad of a moment to
compose herself. She never quite knew how to react to
things Sandy said, and there was always the danger she
would take him too seriously.
    When they were finally on their way to the park,
Janine asked, “Why did you pick the Jardin du
Luxembourg?”
    Sandy smiled at her and shrugged. “Dunno. I guess
because it’s the first place that came to mind, and I
don’t like to spend time deciding things. It’s one of the
places Alan must have mentioned, and I guess it stuck
because he said there’s a shallow pool where children
sail toy boats and things.”
    Sandy’s smile was infectious and Janine returned it.
There was so much about this charming man she did
not know. Had she thought about it, Janine would not
have expected Sandy to remember a park on the basis
of a comment about toy boats and children. “Do you
like sailboats?” she asked.
    “Only the toy size,” he answered with a selfconscious laugh. “I always get seasick on real boats.
But I love toy ones. When I was a boy I had quite a
collection, most of which I built myself. I had
everything from a small raft with a handkerchief for a
sail to a model clipper ship someone gave me. Of course, I wasn’t actually allowed to try to sail the
clipper ship.”

    “Where did you sail your boats?”
    “The bathtub and a park near our apartment when I
was really