Watching her flushed, delicate face, Bert thought to himself that he truly must be crazy. He couldn't believe how impulsively he had kissed her just now—he had even thought that if her mother saw them, so be it. He would simply admit everything.
He would tell her mother how much he loved her daughter, how he wanted to talk about marriage, to spend his life with her, to protect her so that her future days would hold no grievance or pain.
Bert knew this loss of reason was pure impulsiveness. He couldn't even remember the last time he had acted this way. For so many years, his life had been governed by restraint and self-discipline; this kind of reckless urge felt almost foreign to him.
But it felt wonderful.
In the end, Renata bought the dress. The group spent the entire morning shopping, and at noon, Lilian pulled Catherine along to have lunch with Renata—Bert's treat.
