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Veronica sat across from her husband; the room was illuminated by candlelight, and the waitress had just delivered their meal. Stories from their day, laughter, flirtations, and the soft, rumbling conversation of the others in the room, enhanced by Edward’s peaceful aura, created a healing ambiance. In the far corner of the little restaurant, a vocal soloist produced crisp notes that tickled her eardrums. Edward, sitting across from her with ruffled hair, a glowing smile, and laughter in his eyes, waited for her response to his latest question, but she had been lost in the way his forearm muscles coiled as he swirled his glass and had not actually been listening.
His low and seasoned voice was honey in her ears, “Well?”
She blinked forcefully to try and break the stupor his body had placed upon her mind. “Hrm?”
“Do you know what I have been so busy with?” He took a sip and set his glass down, shaking his head and smiling. “Veri, you have been begging me to tell you my little secret for days, and now you hesitate?”
Indeed, she had been hounding him for days. Veronica loathed when Edward was taken away on business, and the feeling was amplified when he could not tell her the details of his trip. The secrecy drove her mad. “I wasn’t hesitating. I was thinking of something else.”
“What could you be possibly thinking about that’s more important than a nagging secret?”
Veronica smiled, looking down at her plate, her cheeks burning. “If you must know... I was looking at your muscles.”
Edward’s grin widened, “My muscles?”
She looked up at him, making every effort to display her lust for him in her gaze. “Yes. Your forearms, in particular. You’re looking really good lately.”
Edward laughed, reaching behind his head and flexing tightly, “It must be the extra sessions in the yard with Sir Phillip. I haven’t felt this strong in years.”
“I wish I could join you.”
Edward relaxed, realizing that his flex, which normally put his wife into a fit of girlish flirtations, had been thwarted by her deep longing to train with the sword. Honestly, he had long ago decided that, though it was improper, Veronica should train with the sword. He wanted to fulfill her dreams, to be involved with the realization of those dreams, and further entangle his life with hers. He was obsessed with the beautiful woman who had agreed to be his wife, and he had never been happier in the decades he had been alive. Still, he felt she wasn’t yet ready for training, and he was extremely excited to present her with the gift he had painstakingly hidden. So, he deflected the subject by presenting his gift.
Edward looked to the entrance of the restaurant and gestured to the knight at the door, Sir Phillip, who brought a folded piece of paper on a silver platter. Veronica sat up straight, a huge smile on her face.
By the Mother, I love her smile.
Edward picked up the folded parchment and handed it to his wife.
Veronica unfolded it slowly, read it carefully, then gasped and clutched her neck. Tears filled her eyes, her jaw hung slack, and she read it again and again. She couldn’t believe her eyes. She tried to blink away her tears, but they resisted and rained down her cheeks. “But... how?”
Edward smiled at her across the table—his incredibly infuriating “I know something you don’t” smile. “I contacted Lord Amount, who agreed to sell the entire parcel to me.”
Veronica’s joy was stifled with fury. “You talked to my father? I told you I didn’t want either of us to talk to that heinous man ever again!”
Edward shook his head, “And I never broke that promise, Veri. I used intermediates to broker the deal. Your father never knew I was involved, and I never laid eyes on him, neither spoke nor wrote.”
His soothing words calmed the emotional tides within her, uncovering the intact, although a bit more salty, joy of this incredible surprise. “I can’t believe you bought me our old cabin!” She clutched the paper tighter, her hands shaking.
Edward was instantly at her side, pulling her head into his mighty chest. Then, after a long and drawn-out embrace, he kissed her deeply. When he pulled away, her tears graced his cheeks and lips. “That cabin brought you the happiest moments of your young life, and it’s where you remember your mother the best. It took time, but if you like it,” he paused and stroked her light brown wavy hair, gazing into her wet eyes, “then it was all worth it.”
Veronica wiped her tears on her dress, sniffling. “Oh, Edward, I love it. This is worth more than all the gold in the castle coffers.” She grabbed him by the face and kissed him. “I love you, Edward.”