he might even sweep her into his arms , as they said in the romance novels ... she was reaching for her bag , wanting the comb inside , and beginning to slide into a harmless little fantasy of saturday morning-of bill tying the end of the plait with a piece of velvet ribbon , in fact ( why he would happen to have a piece of velvet ribbon on his person could go completely unexplained ; that was the nice thing about kitchen table daydreams ) -when her thoughts were interrupted by a small sound from the far side of the room .