“I am still figuring out what exactly I mean to do.”
“I figured.”
“Another day or two and –”
“You don’t have to justify it, Sophia,” he calmed her. “I trust you.”
“You… you do?” She seemed surprised by the concept.
“Of course I do,” he said. “Even if the current evidence…” He looked around the room. “… might make me question why I am.”
The bedroom was a verifiable mess. The mattress had been flipped onto the floor, the curtains had been torn down, the furniture had been shifted and moved into odd places, and the paintings that were meant to be hanging on the walls had been removed. And that wasn’t to mention the wallpaper, half of which was peeled off the walls.
Gabriel shuddered to see the chaos, not to mention the changes. As already mentioned, change was not something Gabriel aspired for in any facet of his life. But this marriage…
He was starting to see change as a good thing. To try and stop it, to try and block it, caused confusion, and even danger as proven by Sophia. Now, he understood that when change stared him in the face, the best thing to do was to let it unfold naturally and good things would follow.
“Lucky for you, I did not come here to judge,” he said to her. “Even if I think I should.”
She laughed. “And what did you come here for? If not to judge…” She put her hands on her hips and raised both eyebrows at him.
Gabriel hesitated on his response… and it was done because he suddenly felt nervous. Absurd! He had no reason to be. But now that he and Sophia were in such a good place, every word said and every action taken carried a different kind of weight to it.
It is as if we are both waiting for the right time to voice what we seem to know.
“The day is a beautiful one,” he ventured, finally. As he spoke, he looked around the room, pretending to admire it. “Too beautiful to be spent indoors. I thought you might like to join me for a walk.”
“Oh.” She blinked. “A walk where?”
“There is a park not too far from here,” he explained. “About fifteen minutes by carriage. It is not a particularly grand or verdant grounds, but it is quiet, and good for walking.”
“And talking?”
“Yes, I suppose it could be. That depends on you.”
She beamed. “I would love to go for a walk. Just give me a moment to change…” She was wearing an old grey dress, something a maid might wear, and her hair was tied back in a ponytail. It was an outfit that she likely never would have wornbefore this marriage, and it was just further proof that she was becoming more comfortable with who she was.
“I’ll meet you outside,” he told her as she hurried from the room.
Gabriel’s mood was peaked as he made his way outside. That a mere walk with his wife could have him feeling this way should not have come as a surprise, but that did not mean he was used to it. The more time he spent with Sophia, the more he admired her, and the more he realized this decision to marry her was the best he had ever made.
They arrived at the park less than thirty minutes later.
As told, the park was not the lavish and grandiose parks that might be found in the city. It did not stretch for miles. It was not a cornucopia of pedestrians out to enjoy a day in the sun. It was not teaming with colorful flower beds and intricately carved hedges and lined trees all trimmed neatly and perfectly. But it didn’t have to be.
It was quaint and quiet and isolated, and that was why it was perfect.
They walked together down the stone pathway that wound the edges of the park. They walked closely, but not holding hands or linking arms, as that still felt too familiar and beyond where their relationship was at. But neither seemed to notice, more than happy with the chance to spend time together freely.
And that was what mattered. That they both wanted to spend their time this way, together, free from judgement or expectation.
“… you know, we never did have that honeymoon,” Gabriel pointed out as they strolled along the pathway.
She raised an eyebrow at him. “Is that a hint?”
“Merely a statement of fact.”
Sophia narrowed her eyes. “Now, I am left to wonder, are you telling me because you wish for me to make a suggestion, saving you from having to do so? Or are you hoping I will anyway, so that you can deny me, and then do whatever it is you wanted to from the beginning?”
