We got into town after dark last night, so we went straight to bed—ahem!—and got up early this morning. After spreading a dozen brochures and flyers out across the flowery quilt, Lincoln asked me to choose an outing to start our day.
That’s how we ended up here at an adorable farmer’s market. The town of Crescent Harbor is no bigger than Fairy Bush, and it’s equally as charming. We walk hand in hand, browsing thelocal vendors who go on and on about how good their coffee beans are.
“Oh, these look so good,” I moan over some artisanal cheese and bread baskets. There are some amazing-looking pastry baskets, too. They’re unlike anything I’ve seen back home.
“We’ll take two,” Lincoln steps up to the vendor and holds out his corporate credit card.
“Oh, I’m sorry, sir. Cash only,” the eighty-year-old baker says, pointing to the sign Lincoln missed.
“Ah…um…” my husband fumbles through his wallet and pockets, only finding a few stray dollars. “I don’t…”
Struggling to fight back my laughter , I swoop in and hand the old man a couple twenty dollar bills. As we walk away, Lincoln turns red, promising to pay me back, but I just shake my head.
“I see you weren’t prepared to really rough it out here in the backwoods,” I tease.
He grumbles out a poor excuse. “I just…I never carry cash on me.”
“You’ve been a city boy for too long. It’s time we bring that country boy back out,” I joke, swatting him on his ass as he carries both baskets.“I do like those jeans on you, though. That’s a good look, Mr. Button-Up.” My eyes travel up and down the polo and denim he’s wearing today.
He gives a dramatic little huff, but his smile never leaves his face.
On the way back to the inn, we happen to stroll past an outlet ofRenewed Gowns, the shop I bought my wedding dress from. To me, that feels like a good omen.
We make one more stop to share a scoop of homemade ice cream at a tiny parlor on The Promenade Street.
Lincoln laughs at me when I again drip some onto my clothes. “I can't take you anywhere,” he teases, as he dips hisnapkin into a cup of water and gently tries to scrub out the stain for me.
I shiver when his knuckles graze the curve of my breast. My nipples go erect under my thin T-shirt and I grin, arching my back. “Truly. You can’t take me anywhere,” I tease. “You should probably get me back to our room right now and have your way with me.”
His eyes hook on my chest and he groans in his throat. “There you go, threatening me with a good time, my wife.”
We hurry back to the inn, get in a hot quickie in the shower and change into better shoes. Then we hike down to the creek that’s at the edge of the property. We have to use this paper map that Mr. Kingston gave us to find our way off the trail and through the trees.
Crunching through the leaves and brush, we only make a few wrong turns—all Lincoln’s ideas—before we hear the trickling water up ahead.
We end the afternoon at the creek. It’s far too cold to get in, but we explore the bank, we skip stones, and we kiss. We kiss a lot.
We spread out a thread-bare blanket over the rigid ground, and then we share a simple picnic, snacking on the fresh cheese and bread from the market.
Lincoln reclines on the blanket, stretching out with an easy smile on his face. I pop a bite of bread in my mouth before feeding him bite by bite. While his eyes are on the passing clouds above, mine are on him.
He’s different out here.
I didn’t realize how stressed he was over that business deal until he closed it. Without his phone buzzing every ten seconds, Lincoln is actually able to relax. He seems happier. Present. More in the moment with me.
“We should come back here when it’s warmer,” Lincoln says suddenly.
“Yeah…?” I blink in surprise.
He nods casually. “So we can skinny dip and swim in the creek together.”
I ignore the way my stomach flutters when he mentions plans for us.Is he thinking about a future together, or did that just slip out?
Lately it’s becoming harder and harder to remember what we’re doing here. Harder and harder to figure out where these blurry lines are drawn.
At some point in the past week or so, I decided to just go with it. To just enjoy each and every moment I’m in. Life’s too short to make it all work and no play.
Even if that means I might be setting myself up for a world of hurt later.
