CHAPTER 17
“You do not have to sit all the way over there,” Lucy said to Marcus, even adding an eye roll to emphasize the point.
“This is where the chair is,” Marcus pointed out. Then, as if to double down on his comment, he folded his legs and purposefully rested his arms on the armrests. “Where else am I supposed to sit?”
“Literally anywhere else,” Lucy said. “The floor, for example.”
He raised an eyebrow at her, a sense that she might as well have asked him to strip off his clothes and start clucking like a chicken. “I am not going to sit on the floor when there is a perfectly good chair here for me. As is its purpose.”
“If you are going to be like that…” Lucy pushed her lips together in thought and then brightened. “Then we will have to come to you.”
“There is no –”
“No, no,” she interrupted him. “I am sure you want nothing more than to be closer to us but seeing as we are all the way over here, not a chair in sight, then we best compromise. That is unless…” She looked right at him. “… we could go somewhere else, if you would prefer it? We do not have to be here.”
It was a probing question, even if it was asked casually.
I am giving him a chance to change his mind, as if he has been trapped in some sort of fugue state all morning, from which he cannot escape. If he really does not want this, if it is all an act, now would be the time to show it…
“You won’t get rid of me that easily,” Marcus offered, a knowing look thrown her way.
She laughed. “So be it.”
It was the morning room where Lucy and Marcus were currently spending time together. Only, they were not alone. As Lucy had done most days since she married Marcus, she was spending the day with baby James – she was far more comfortable with the child now, such that she no longer felt awkward around him, just as she no longer required Helga to look over her shoulder at all hours.
They sat on the floor together, surrounded by toys for James to play with, and oh how she enjoyed seeing him gape and gawkand laugh and clap his hands excitedly because every little thing seemed to bring him unbridled amounts of happiness.
I cannot believe that I was once afraid of him, and that not so long ago the idea of looking after him filled me with fear because I worried that I was not capable.
Now, it is almost second nature… as if it is something I was born for.
Marcus had joined the two shortly after Lucy brought James into the room. At first, he stood in the doorway and watched them, no doubt uncomfortable by the paternal act that was far beyond his realm of expertise. Arms folded, expression stern, he could not have looked more out of place.
Then, once he grew used to the sight, he slowly edged into the room. It was done with great caution, each step careful, and always he watched James as if he expected the child to burst into tears.
Finally, once it was accepted that James bore him no ill will, Marcus sat down on the single chair by the window. It was across the room, as far away from James as he could be without having to leave. But he was there, he was trying, and that was something to be grateful for.
Lucy smiled coyly to herself when she saw how Marcus acted, because she knew what he was doing. Just as she knew how difficult this was for him.
It was two days ago when she had taken Beauty for a ride and had fallen because she was acting like a fool. And it was two days since Marcus had dropped the pretense of wanting nothing to do with her, seemingly accepting that this marriage might be more than what both had signed up for.
Marcus was not overt about it. He was careful not to be too obvious in showing his emotions. But it was clear that he wanted to bridge the gap that existed between them, just as it was clear that this marriage had changed so very much… and for the better, in Lucy’s opinion.
Now, let us see if this is all for show, or if it is real.
“Here we come.” She scooped James into her arms and carried him across the room. As she approached Marcus, she noticed him stiffen, and he even leaned back a touch as if to escape.
She smiled warmly and set James down on the floor just a few feet from Marcus. He eyed James warily, not so much as blinking.
“He won’t bite,” she sighed.
“It is not the biting that worries me.”
“And what does worry you?” She sat down on the floor, her legs crossed, giving James room to crawl about freely. “One would think that I had brought a rabid dog into the room, for how you stare at him.”
“Oh, please.” Marcus scoffed. “I am not as bad as that.”
“You are not that good either,” she pointed out, sure to keep her voice light and warm. Gentle mocking, was how she thought of it, hoping to ease the tension in the room.
