Oh. He'd sort of forgotten about that, and had no witty response ready for her on the subject. If he dodged the question in any way other than a witty remark, though, she would think he'd been up to something and was now trying to hide it. The only thing left to him seemed to be the truth. "Sudden rain storm. Very intense but localized to about an eight foot diameter," he said briskly as they walked outside. It occurred to him that she might not believe that, but he'd devoted all the attention to the issue that he intended to. He'd brought her out here because he wanted to cut to the chase, not to explain how he'd managed to create a small but incredibly persistent weather anomaly by accident.

"I'd let go of your arm, but I don't want you getting lost," he continued as they moved from the patio to the garden proper. "I'm sure this is much larger than what you're accustomed to."

A normal person trying to set a woman up for an offer of marriage might have asked how do you like the house? but that was hardly as much fun.

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