18. Chapter 18 (1/2)

chapter xviii

di was sitting on the white lady, her head leaning across the tree's trunk, her eyes closed, a soft smile spreading on her lips and a thick book in her lap. the summer

eeze was softly

ushing her red curls, and the sound of leaves moving around her made her feel as if nothing else existed in the world, just her and the summer

eeze. it was the second week of july, the weather was perfect and di felt like a real queen, just in that very moment. but the di from just an hour earlier was quite different.

earlier that day, di wasn't as peaceful and as happy as she was in that moment. she had an argument with her own self, and later with nan about di's wedding and the preparations for it. di's wedding was supposed to take place in just over a week's time and she still didn't choose her wedding dress, she decided that she would wear her mother's old veil but she still had no idea about her dress, the most important thing a

ide should mostly think about in order to plan out her wedding, and the thing which should excite her most.

di didn't know why and how was that possible but she simply couldn't find a dress in which she could picture herself while getting married to robert. everything apart from this wedding dress was prepared, the food was slowly getting made by nervous susan, the official invitations were supposed to be sent in a day's time and robert bought a train ticket to glen for saturday, so just four days from that day. but "the wedding dress" was di's major problem and she was spending hours in the two shops in town in order to buy it. but not even one dress was close to perfection, and in di's, and any other

ide's for that matter, mind a wedding dress must be simply perfect.

di was extremely busy even though she had no lessons to teach, she had a lot of planning and thinking to do too. she and robert still hadn't decided whether they would want their wedding to take place in rainbow valley or a church and that was another matter for di to be worried about concerning the fact that she was to be married in nine days.

nan came over to ingleside in the morning and asked di to come with her to

ight river the next day in order to buy the dress, eventually, but di refused her proposition and said that she wouldn't go to

ight river just to buy a dress. that was the reason of her fight with nan and after it, nan took her hat and went back to her home, leaving di with their mother who tried her best to cheer her daughter up, and she succeed, not entirely but a little at least.

that's how di ended up with a book in her lap, her hair messy and her very own self sitting on white lady's

anch with her closed eyes and dreamy expression on her face. she needed just one hour rest and she didn't know it, but she would need it more than ever especially for the day that had already begun.

"di! what are you doing up there?"

di opened her eyes quickly and saw carl sprinting in her direction with a funny smile on his lips "oh, carl you startled me!" she exclaimed although her face was still a picture of joyfulness.

"i'm sorry if i did, madam." he replied cheerfully and when di put her hand towards him, he took it gently and helped her to get down off the tree "what were you doing up there? isn't ground satisfying enough to read a book?" he asked her with a raised

ow as they started their usual walk across the rainbow valley.

di chuckled "if you already know that i was reading a book, then why do you ask what i was doing?" she asked him and then added softly "besides, the ground can't be satisfying enough when you know that you can climb a tree and read a book between its

anches instead."

carl grinned at her "i was just teasing, of course the ground isn't satisfying enough." he said and then looked more deeply into di's eyes "is something wrong, di? your lips are smiling but your eyes definitely aren't." he said.

di grinned weakly at him and stopped walking under the shadow of a cherry tree "yes, there is something wrong." she told him eventually and sighed heavily "i don't know what's wrong with me carl, i can't buy my own wedding dress and my wedding is going to take place in nine days! i mean, this is not how a

ide should behave, is it? oh, i don't know what's wrong with me, carl!" she exclaimed and sighed heavily again.

carl's cheeks flushed with red and his eyes started to twinkle, although his expression remained serious "there's nothing wrong with you, di." he said, his hands shaking from nerves "nothing." he repeated and di looked at him worriedly.

"why are you so shaky, carl, i am a bad friend, is something troubling you?" she asked him, her eyes looking in his own with fear that there was something very nerve-wracking carl's soul.

carl grinned at her lightly and took her hands in his "you see di, i came here today because i wanted to ask you something, and i thought that i would ask you later or maybe some other day but i think that i should just ask you now." he gulped.

di frowned "what is it?" she questioned him.

"don't marry robert." he said eventually, and he

eathed a sigh of relief as soon as he said the name of his rival.

di withdrew her hands from his own and looked at him seriously "how can you ask me such a thing?" she exclaimed, her own cheeks flushing with

ight red from anger which was entering her heart.

"because i love you, diana ruby blythe." carl shouted out almost, reaching for her hands again.

di was so astonished that she let him take her shaking hands in his own trembling ones and her lips parted a bit, as she stared at him helplessly. she studied carl's face, his lips which just said those few words which she feared most in this world, his blue eyes which were somehow aflame, his eye

ows which were moving as he tried to figure out what she was thinking about.