The look that passed over Gert’s face at Molly’s reaction was not exactly amusement, but it had to share a common root with that emotion. In retrospect, she should have done more to alert the girl to her presence, but that was the problem with hindsight. Not to mention that she had been enjoying the moment of just standing there, watching and remembering, unfolding the past to fit its corners around the present. The fit hadn’t been true, though. There would always be parts that were too tight or too loose, something would always be a little bit off.
“I should have made my presence known,” she said simply. Most people would have apologized or offered to go away if the other person was busy. Gert didn’t bother with the preliminaries. She stayed where she was, arms crossed over her chest and head tilted slightly. Old Lace was making a ruckus again, but she was doing her best to ignore it. Bringing Old Lace out now would only be a distraction.
Once this sort of thing would have been easy, but she wasn’t really sure how to manage it anymore. At least not without making an even bigger mess of things because Gert really wanted to demand answers and demand that Molly not be angry with them because of everything that had happened, because of the years that had gotten away from them. Instead, she said, “What were you listening to?”