Part 2

Ominous thoughts swirled around in his head - what would she do? What would she say? How would she react when he entered the house, hours after supper, with no valid reason for being away so long. His single shred of evidence that would have proved where he had been was gone. He stood there empty-handed, his clothes sagging with the mist, watching the balloon meander through the sky, pitching back and forth in the turbulent bursts of wind.

He turned toward the house. A light flickered on in the front room and he a saw a divide appear in the blinds, a space that was shortly conquered by his wife's beady eyes and her shrewd glare. He quickly gathered up his coat and umbrella and hastened to the house. The door was opened before he could lay his hand on his keys and he found himself face to face with that penetrating stare.

"Where have you been?" she asked steadily, "It's ten past eight and you missed supper."

"I'm sorry, I - "

"And you left your phone on the counter, again." Her voice went up an octave.

"I know, I feel - "

"And you didn't leave a note or anything, you had me so worried," the words began flowing out quicker and closer together, "I didn't know what to do, whether I should call the police or wait it out or what. I was going to call the police in ten minutes if you hadn't gotten back, " a whine had evolved out of her voice as they entered the house and walked down the hall, "What a mess that would have been, I mean, you're obviously OK, you finally made it home, but if I had called and you had arrived two seconds later, we would have had to waste hours explaining the situation to the police and no doubt they would have fined us for a prank call or something, like we can really afford that right now, especially with all these bills we have to pay because of the new furniture, and with your job, it's not like we're getting anywhere fast - "

"Why do you worry so much?" Oops, he grimaced just as the last words fell out of his mouth. That wasn't exactly what he had meant to say and clearly the grimace was taken as a look of disgust.

"Why do I worry so much?!" Her pitch rose and the whine transformed into a snarl, "I worry so much because you do stupid things like take off in the middle of the day, without warning, and don't return until hours later, with no explanation of where you've been and why! I have to worry for the both of us because clearly you don't care enough to stay home and take on your share of responsibility, worrying included!"

"Look, I'm sorry, but you didn't even give me a chance to explain."

"Well do so then!" She had started the wild hand gestures and drops of perspiration had appeared just above her eyebrows - he knew she was on the brink of erupting.

"Well, OK, Matt wanted to go to the fair - "

"You put me through all of this just for a stupid kiddie fair?!"

"Let me finish! He didn't want to go by himself so I went with him to the kissing booth - "

"WHAT??"

"But I didn't - "

"You went to a kissing booth?! What do you think I am? A piece of lawn furniture? I am your wife!" Her face was turning red and he felt spitle hitting his face, "Am I only good enough to cook your food and wash your clothes and you can't even come to me for a kiss?!" He figured it was time to start fighting back. This was ridiculous, he hadn't even gotten in line, much less kissed another woman.

"Look, I didn't even get in line - "

"But you were there!"

"Yeah but I didn't kiss anybody!"

"But you could have! Why can't I trust you?"

"Good question, why?!" They glowered at each other for a minute before she stalked off huffing into the kitchen. He followed her, not finished with his argument.

"I promise you, I have never kissed another women since we got married. I simply was doing Matt a favor by going with him. I just stood by, watched, and then we left. I'm mostly late because of the storm. I bought a balloon while I was there because I wanted to bring something nice back to you, but the wind caught it and it blew away. You should only be mad at me because I got home late and didn't let you know where I was and I'm sorry for that, OK? Just give me a break."

"You bought me a balloon?" She peeked at him through her bangs.

"Yes, I though it would be nice and I though you'd like it."

"What color was it?"

"Pink, your - "

"Favorite." She was looking at him with awe, like she'd never seen anything more beautiful than him before.

"I love you." She skipped toward him and squeezed him tight. Then she looked into his eyes and whispered, "You're so good to me." Geez, he thought, she's so emotionally unstable, why do I put up with her? But he couldn't complete his thought, she pressed her lips to his and they were locked in a passionate kiss. As she pulled away, he understood.