Didn't that mean he really thought of her that way? Like a ... Not that it mattered. Why would it? If only telling herself that made it sting less. "I didn't say any of that because I believed it, and I didn't do it with the desire to hurt you either, that's why it matters." It was just a way to make him react but Kaine hadn't possessed the foresight to see the obvious fault in the method. She could lie if it really came to it but Bert was honest. And he might as well have called her a desperate slut.

"Be generous enough to at least take my sweater, or take blankets if you're determined to sleep with the roses and hydrangeas." Assuming they were there at all. Everything would be easier if he would just come back in the house and settle in the final, necessary guest room but she had made a promise.