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.“How many grapes did you get this year?”“Not too many, just enough to enjoy ourselves a little.We had to get them quick before the birds got to them.Hopefully there will be more next year.Do you remember how pretty the vines used to be? They covered the whole arbor.”“Yes, I do remember.Was the arbor still here, after the war?”“No, we had to burn that in the winter right before the war ended.I built this myself, when I first came back here in June.”“You did all this yourself? With your own two hands?” he asked in a dramatic surprised gesture, teasing me again.“Yes, with my own two hands,” I teased back.I didn’t mention that William had helped me a little.“I had to do something when I got here to take my mind off of you,” I said, more seriously.“It didn’t work, though.I’ve never stopped thinking about you.”He leaned over and kissed me slowly and sweetly.“Nor have I, you,” he said softly.Lillie started chasing a stray cat around the bushes, walking at first, then she got down and started crawling, mimicking the cat walking on all four legs.We could hear her talk to it in her own language in a hushed voice.“Do you remember proposing to me here?” I asked Ethan.“Of course I remember.That was one of the happiest days of my life, despite being in the middle of the war.”“Mine, too.That was the first night we spent in each other’s arms.It was wonderful, even if your mother was there in the same room with us.” We both smiled at the memory.I almost wished we could go back in time to that moment again and erase all the bad things that had happened to us in between.Keep the good parts and skip the bad parts.I still wished I could remember my accident, the thing that started this whole mess.Lillie got tired of the cat and walked over to us, reaching to be picked up.I picked her up and held her sideways, rocking and humming to her.“It’s her naptime,” I told Ethan.He watched as I hummed and rocked her to sleep, and he began rubbing my back, which felt wonderful.Once Lillie was asleep, he picked her up and put her back in the carriage.I covered her up with a warm fuzzy blanket, yawning in the process.“Have we done too much walking, Maddie? Is the baby okay?” He put his hand on my abdomen as he spoke.“Yes, the baby is fine,” I said.“I’m just a little tired, no need to fuss over me.But I would love another back rub.You have some mighty fine hands there.”“Oh, you enjoyed that, did you?”“Mhmm.”Ethan turned me to face away from him, and he began rubbing my neck and shoulders, working his way down my back.I leaned forward slightly so he could reach better.I closed my eyes, enjoying his touch and wishing I didn’t have the cape on so I could feel his hands even more.But as it was, I was still getting cold chills from the massaging.While still massaging, I felt his warm breath in my ear as he asked me, “Would you like to nap, as well?”“Not on this hard bench,” I said, turning my head towards him and wrinkling up my nose.“No, silly.On the ground.Allow me to demonstrate.”He stood up and took off his overcoat and laid it on the ground up against a thick tree trunk nearby.He sat down on the top part of the overcoat, and patted the rest of the coat for me to sit down on.“In this hoop?” I asked.He laughed.I looked around, and seeing no one else around, I reached up under my skirt and untied the crinoline, taking it off and folding it up, leaning it against the bench.“This is highly scandalous,” he said, grinning as I sat down between his legs and leaned my back against his chest.I laughed at him.He wrapped his arms around my waist, and I could hear him sniffing my hair.“Mm, this is nice.”It was nice.It was actually almost too nice, too close.I began to feel yearnings for him, and as he caressed my abdomen softly, the urge increased.“I don’t think I can sleep,” I whispered, turning my head sideways towards him.Not only did I have yearnings for him, making it hard for me to sleep, but I also didn’t want to sleep because I wanted to be awake and enjoy all the time I had with him while he was here.He kissed my cheek.“Come on, at least close your eyes.You need to rest,” he said very softly.He took my bonnet off and then took the hair net off of my hair and the pins out to let my hair down.He smoothed it out down my back and brought some in the front to rest on my chest.Playing with my hair was making me want to kiss him instead of going to sleep.He kissed the top my head, letting his lips linger there.I could feel his warm breath through my hair.“How can I sleep when I’m this close to you?” I asked, turning my head sideways again.I shifted my body around more so I could look at him, and draped my legs across one of his.He slowly leaned towards me, and we kissed passionately.My heart did flips inside of me.I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he held me tightly against him.After a few moments of bliss, I stopped kissing him, knowing that if we continued, we would have relations right there on the ground…on top of his overcoat.I looked at him breathlessly and caressed his face, regaining my composure.He did the same.“I love you so, Maddie,” he whispered.“And I love you, Ethan.”He patted his chest.“Come on, naptime,” he coaxed.“Oh, all right,” I conceded.I turned my body back to the front, my legs between his again.“Aren’t you cold without your overcoat? You’ll catch a cold.”“Nonsense.You keep me plenty warm.Those kisses warmed me up good.” I laughed.“Now, come on.Close your eyes,” he said.He wrapped his arms around my waist again and rubbed my lower abdomen where the baby was.“Ethan, I’d rather just spend time with you than sleep.I’ll miss out on more time with you,” I said, turning my head towards him again.“I’ll be here the whole time.Come on, you want to make me happy, don’t you?” I nodded.“Do it for me…for our baby.”I sighed and leaned my head back against his chest, closing my eyes.I thought about how wonderful it was to be in his arms, when I thought he’d never hold me again.I laid my arms on top of his and held his hands, interlocking our fingers.He nestled his head against mine.I didn’t know if I could sleep, but I closed my eyes to at least try, since it meant so much to him.The air was cool but not too cold, and his arms kept me warm.All was quiet except for the chirp of a cardinal nearby.I must have dozed.I awoke with a start, happy to still be in Ethan’s arms.“Hey, sleepyhead.Did you enjoy your nap?” he asked me.I could feel his warm breath on my ear, and he kissed my ear softly.“Mm.I like waking up in your arms.”“Me, too [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]