Chapter 23
Adrian was in his office, working, when he heard someone knocking on the closed door. He looked up and scowled, as his staff knew better than to disturb him.
“Adrian…” The voice was soft, just a little cautious. “Are you decent?”
It was a voice that made Adrian’s stomach flip, just as it made his heart swell. How hard he had tried these past few weeks to deny such reactions, and how desperate he had been to tell himself that he ought to feel guilty or ashamed because of them.
Now, he was beginning to wonder what it was that he had been so scared of. Just as he wondered why he had fought so hard against that which felt so good and so right.
It had taken some convincing. It had required an act of God, or so it had felt like. But slowly, Adrian began to accept that it was not such a bad thing to care about someone else, just as it was not such a bad thing to be cared for in return.
And seeing as that person was his wife…
“I am,” he said as he sat himself up and put down his quill. “Come in –” The door opened before he had finished.
The fact that she braved his office was proof that their relationship was coming along in leaps and bounds.
Even if Adrian wanted to avoid her, it looked as if Ophelia would no longer give him that chance.
When he saved her from the storm, he had announced to the world that he did care, and she had taken that declaration as a challenge.
“You’re not too busy, are you?” she asked, staying back across the room. Even as she did, there was excitement on her face, no sense at all that she feared disturbing him.
“Would it matter if I was?” he said lightly.
She grinned. “Not at all.”
It helped too that she was so beautiful. Her auburn hair shone even in the darkness of the room, and her green eyes sparkled with joy. That dusting of freckles across her nose was adorable, her full lips were desirable, and she was possessed of an energy that was contagious.
Adrian was the storm; she was the shining sun, and while they battled against one another, only one might come out victorious in the end. In this instance, he found that he wanted it to be her.
Might I one day be that joyous? Might I one day know what it feels like to smile without a reason? To laugh even when there is nothing funny about?
“What is it?” he asked. “I might try and get rid of you, but I sense there would be no point.”
“Ah, so, you are finally starting to understand me then. A good thing, as it will make this so much easier.”
He scoffed. “Do not push it.”
She grinned further. “There is something I wish to show you.” Her green eyes flashed. “But it will require you leaving your office, as horrible as that is.” Then she laughed. “Five minutes, that is all. I promise it will be worth it.”
Adrian doubted there was anything that she might show to justify how eager and excited she behaved. But that did not matter. The truth was, he liked seeing her that way, as he liked to think that by playing along, he only added to her joyous temperament.
“Well, seeing as I know you will not leave me alone until I say yes…” He sighed with exaggeration as he stood up. “I guess I have no choice.”
Ophelia laughed and rolled her eyes, just as she bounced on the balls of her feet with glee. He crossed the office, she smiled to see him come, and they left it together.
As to what it was that she wanted to show him? Adrian had no idea, but he guessed well enough as she led him downstairs, through the back of the manor, and into the garden.
She walked ahead, her entire body trembling. And when they reached the middle of the garden path, she turned, held out her arms, and let her smile reach her green eyes so that they sparkled like the sun.
“Well?” she asked, a touch of nervousness now. “What do you think?”
“About what?” he pretended not to understand.
“You know what!” she snapped playfully. “The garden. It’s finished. And I…” She bit into her lip, shied away, but did not break eye contact. “I wished to know what you think. Do you… Do you like it?”
Adrian had never cared much about the back garden.
Mostly, that was on account of the mayhem that came with it all.
So chaotic, it required constant maintenance, and even when it was tended to and cared after, there was still a sense of disorder to be found because flowers and hedges and trees did not stagnate but insisted on growth and change in ways he never much liked.
Also, the colors made him uncomfortable. When people walked into a garden, they gushed and gaped and smiled, they laughed and turned to joy as their natural reaction. Happiness was what one found in a garden, and happiness was the exact opposite of what Adrian sought.
However, as he looked around the newly planted garden, he felt… something. It stirred deep within. It rose without permission. It spread across him, through his heart, capturing his soul, forcing a smile that he did not mean for but could not resist.
“Ophelia…” He turned on the spot, taking in the colors of the flowerbeds, the layout of the hedges, the order of it all, the precision. Verdant and brimming with life. Not chaotic, but precise and purposeful. It was transcendent and dare he say perfect.
“You like it?” she asked hopefully.
“Does it matter what I think?” he said simply.
“It does,” she said, meaning it. “I want you to like it – but only if you do,” she hurried. “Do not lie to me just because you think that you should.”
He tore his eyes from the garden and focused his attention on her fully.
He saw the trepidation, the worry that he might not like what she had done.
He also saw the hope, a sense that this was about more than just the garden, that if he accepted her changes here, if he encouraged them, that it might be a step forward for both of them.
“It is beautiful,” he said. “Better than I could have expected, but also exactly as I should have known.” A smile then, one that was not forced. “I am very proud of you.”
She shied away, and her cheeks colored. “You are just saying that.”
“I am not.” A sudden urge came over him to take her hands. He resisted that urge, only too aware of what it meant, but it was hard to do. “You have done so well. In fact…” That time, he allowed a smirk of his own.
“What?” she asked him. “What?”
“Well, now that you have proven that you can be trusted, I do wonder how you might turn your eye to some of the rooms inside.”
“Really?” She blinked in shock.
“They are in desperate need of redecorating, and I surely do not have the time. So, if you are looking for another project…” He raised a questioning eyebrow at her.
This was about more than just redecorating some musty old rooms. It was a sign given that Adrian was willing to embrace the changes that were starting to come with their marriage.
He was, at his core, a man who hated change, but if it would make Ophelia happy, as it would make her feel welcome as he wanted her to be, then perhaps a little change was not such a bad thing?
What was more, she understood this, perhaps even better than he did.
“I promise I will not do anything without first asking,” she said, her eyes shining as she was already surely thinking of the changes she wanted to make. “And nothing too grand or egregious. I won’t change too much.”
“You will,” he said firmly. “What is more, I want you to. I want you to feel at home here, Ophelia. I want…” His stomach twisted, a warning, but he fought it back. “I want you to be happy here.”
“You do…?”
“I do,” he said. “I really do.”