Tabitha was well-aware of what the cause was for any man in her presence to lose his wits, but it was rare for them to acknowledge their own part in the folly. In fact, she might not actually recall a time in which it had ever happened before. It was an interesting start, so Tabi allowed herself to be led toward the picnic blanket, lowering the hood of her deep green cloak slowly. He did not miss much, warm tea would certainly help, but she wasn't so cold tucked away between the trees as she had been at the Harvest Festival. She was still warm from the quick walk over and though her breathing had finally slowed, she wasn't making an progress in calming her heartrate.

She seated herself near the edge of the blanket, sitting with her legs tucked to the side, arranging her skirts and her cloak accordingly, but mostly for warmth. There was a suitable distance between them, which was good. She took in the sight of the picnic, could see the care he'd put into the details, but she was still on edge. This conversation had a lot of facets and she wasn't even sure what she should share or which side to start with. Mr. Colton launched right into it though, as expected and she listened with a little frown. Mr. Colton already seemed so enamored with the idea of her, that it was almost daunting. It was hard to tell how genuine it was, because of course she always doubted that, even if he said it had nothing to do with the veela. How could he truly know that.

His request to call him by his first name was met with a little face; Tabi wasn't sure she could do it confidently, but in an effort to meet him in the middle she would. She still wasn't sure what to say, but she did have a request of her own. "Thank you for your apology, Rhett," she tried, testing out the shape of his name quietly. "May I make a small request of my own?" She hesitated, but plowed on so she didn't lose her nerve. "Would you mind, maybe, just facing away for a few minutes?" It wasn't so strong without the visual aspect. She knew that much from experience. It might be a little cowardly, but she thought it worth a shot. This way he couldn't watch her trip over her words and the weight of seeing his reactions, at least for a moment, would be lifted from the conversation. She wanted to be honest, but she wasn't sure she could handle watching his expressions in real time when she shared things she hadn't shared with anyone else for a long time. "And, you can call me Tabi, if you like." Very few people called her by the nickname, but it was her favorite shortened version. Maybe that small concession would persuade him to follow her request.

Thankfully, he obliged without fuss and Tabitha relaxed a little. She drew her knees up to her chest, a much less refined position, more vulnerable. "I apologize for how our last conversation went," she wrapped her arms around her knees. "I am... not always the most open of people. You can assume why," Tabi had few female friends, her best, most genuine connection was with her ghostly chaperon, and she never quite knew how genuine men were being. "It is hard for me to know just how much an influence I am inadvertently having on someone, but I need you to know that I never do it intentionally." She tried so hard to the contrary, in fact. "I was overwhelmed and I tend to shut down when that happens. I have not had the best experience in these sorts of situations." Whatever this was blooming into felt sort of what she'd had with her former fiancé. It was different in many ways, but the butterflies were undoubtedly there. "And so my walls are up high." Tabi wasn't sure how much to elaborate, so she left off there, but wondered just how much was too much?