Chapter Thirty-Nine
“I just sent Mrs. Ellis to your room with a variety of clothing options for the remainder of your stay. Don’t worry; I had a stylist pick them out. I do not have any knowledge of that which I should not. I gave her a general idea of what I was looking for, and she brought me the bags. If you hate it, I will give you the contact information to complain formally. She also included cosmetics should you desire any of that. Now, would you like to go investigate your new wardrobe or go outside and get cold?” He stuffed his hands into the front pockets of his jeans to keep from fidgeting. He was really hoping she would agree to a walk.
“Clothes can wait. I’m sure it will be fine. Mrs. Ellis did a wonderful job picking this outfit, so if the other items don’t work out, I would be more than happy to wear this for the next three days. I may donate my ski suit, though. I am over wearing that. Let’s walk. I just need to go change my socks. These will never fit in my ski boots. ”
“No worries. I picked up some Ugg boots for you in Denver. They should fit nice and snug. They are over by the door.”
Sure enough, Leigh’s foot slipped right inside the new snow boots. Standing back up after pulling on the second shoe, Enrique draped a brand-new long wool wrap coat around her shoulders. It was a deep teal color that complimented her eyes. Putting her arms into the sleeves and tying the belt around her waist, she admired the coat. She had never owned anything so nice before.
“Thank you, Enrique. Really, you didn’t need to go to all this trouble. My ski coat would have been just fine.”
“I know, but one thing you will learn about me, Leighann, is that I love to give things to the people I care about. Hannah made us take this quiz one time to determine our love language. Mine is giving gifts. It truly makes me happy.”
“Does that mean that is also the way you receive love best, through the receiving of gifts?” Leigh asked, adding this new information to her mental files.
“Yes and no. My highest-ranked love language for receiving love was words of affirmation and physical touch, but receiving gifts that are well thought out and personal goes a long way with me. I’m a conundrum, I know.”
Enrique escorted Leighann outside and down a sidewalk that had been shoveled clear. It was a beautiful day, and the temperatures were comfortable, bundled up as they were.
“Do you happen to know your love language?” Enrique inquired .
“Yes, actually. We took the quiz in youth group years ago. My primary love language is acts of service. Doing the dishes for me will go much further to fill my love tank than buying me flowers. My second is quality time. I’m sure there is some hidden correlation between my childhood neglect and my love languages, but that is what they are, and I have found over the years that they are accurate.”
Enrique offered his hand to Leigh, and she took it without hesitation. They strolled and talked for a while before Enrique had to step aside to answer a phone call. As he spoke privately a little ways down the path, Leigh busied herself creating a stockpile of snowballs.
As soon as he hung up the phone and tucked it back into his coat pocket, she let her first snowball fly. It landed squarely in the middle of his chest. He instantly went into defense mode and ducked, but the next one was already on its way, and it slammed into his repositioned face, ice crystals sliding down his throat and into his clothes.
He howled at the impact and the cold.
“I’m sorry. That wasn’t supposed to happen! You moved!” Leigh shouted but couldn’t contain her laughter.
“Of course, I moved. Only an idiot would stand still when things are being thrown at him!” Enrique hollered back.
“You don’t have very good reflexes then because you put your face right in the path of that one,” she called, taunting him .
He scooped up snow for a projectile of his own, but Leigh was way ahead of him and let two more balls rip before he finished packing one.
Deciding he was never going to win this war on her terms, he charged her, swung her up in his arms, walked over to the nearest snowbank, and dropped her in. As she sank deep into the large pile of snow, he stood back, hands on his hip, and laughed at his triumph.
Leighann was so surprised by what he had done she just stared up at him from her little cave of snow. After her initial shock passed, she started digging her way out. “You fight dirty, using your superior size against me. I could never pick you up and throw you in the snow!”
Finally extricating herself from the massive mound of snow, she stomped onto the path where he was bent over laughing. She noticed a large plastic pot along the path and picked it up, dumping it over his head. He gasped as three gallons worth of snow once again fell down his collar, but they both were lost to hysterics when the chunk of ice that had been stuck in the bottom plopped onto his head.
“Oh no! I didn’t know that was in there!” Leigh apologized but once again fell into a fit of giggles. “You deserved it though.”
Enrique scooped large handfuls of snow out of the back of his coat and then rubbed the back of his skull. “No harm done, but I am wondering if you are trying to give me another concussion, so you have to monitor me for another twenty-four hours straight,” he teased, his charming smile firmly in place and wiggling his eyebrows at her suggestively.
“Not gonna happen, buddy. That is what you have staff for.” But a smile lit her face as she resumed walking down the path.
Their outdoor excursion ended soon after, as they were both wet and needed to warm up. Mrs. Ellis took their coats and assured them she would have them washed and dried before their date that evening.
Leigh felt bad for her extra work and assured her that tossing it in the dryer for a little while would be fine; there was no need for washing. Mrs. Ellis simply replied that she would explain how cashmere worked sometime.
They got comfortable on the large cream sectional couch in front of the massive fireplace that dominated the living room. Mrs. Ellis brought them a tray of fresh Snickerdoodle cookies, steaming mugs of hot chocolate with whipped cream on top, and tiny dishes of toppings: chocolate shavings, crushed peppermint candies, sprinkles, marshmallows.
“This is crazy! She puts in so much effort all the time. A mug of microwaved water and a packet or two of Swiss Miss would be fine with me. Actually, I could microwave my own water and retrieve my own chocolate packet from the cabinet, too,” Leigh lamented, taking a mug from the tray resting on the upholstered ottoman in the middle of the floor.
“Don’t rain on her parade, Leighann. She lives for this stuff. When I first hired her, I had just made my first hundred million and bought this huge house I could never keep clean. I didn’t want strangers coming in to do the work, so I hired her. She passed all the background checks and everything. Well, I came home from work one day exhausted, and she had laid out this fancy table setting and prepared a delicious home-cooked meal. It felt awkward but wonderful at the same time. I thanked her and went to my room. It didn’t happen every night, but if I happened to mention I would be home early, as a courtesy, so she could have herself situated, and in her private apartment so we didn’t cross paths, she would instead greet me with a meal. After about the sixth time, I had gotten more comfortable with her, and we had a talk. She said it made her happy to take care of me. Her kids were grown and wouldn’t let her do it anymore. Now, she was getting paid to do what she loved, which was taking care of others. So, I stopped fighting her years ago and just let her do her thing. You know how your love language is acts of service, and mine is giving gifts? Well, to her, this is an act of service; we needed something warm to drink, and she blessed us with the gift of her time and effort, making this wonderfully displayed tray with every possible item we could desire.”
Leigh was grateful for the explanation; it put the whole housekeeper thing in perspective for her. Mrs. Ellis was a wonderful woman, and she had a job she enjoyed. Leigh could wrap her head around that.
They talked about a variety of other topics until four-thirty, when Enrique suggested she go upstairs to prepare for their evening. She scoffed at the idea it would take her an hour and a half to dress but decided to roll with it. Boy, was she glad she did.