Chapter 27
Grace
T he scents of coffee and cinnamon roused me the morning after the wedding. I lay in bed, enjoying both and hoping that Michael was making his cinnamon rolls, which were nothing short of irresistible.
I breathed in deeply one more time, then threw back the covers. If Michael was up and making breakfast, I should go help, not laze away in bed.
I was headed toward the bathroom when a thought hit me, and I looked down at what I was wearing – the thong I’d worn under my wedding dress and a nearly see-through white tank top. I almost never wore a thong to bed – they weren’t that comfortable – and I hadn’t worn a tank top to bed since...
Oh no.
I stood stock still as a vague image of Michael putting me to bed the night before swam through my head. I closed my eyes, thinking.
He’d helped me unzip my dress. And...oh lord...taken my necklace off for me after I’d walked around in front of him wearing...
I dropped my head into my hands. Michael had taken care of me, made sure I got into bed okay, and I – my stomach clenched in embarrassment – I’d paraded around in front of him in almost nothing.
Poor Michael. He must have been so uncomfortable. How absolutely mortifying.
He had to have seen naked and nearly naked women before, but that wasn’t the point. We weren’t in that kind of relationship. Sure, we’d kissed a few times, but our situation had changed since then. That was before Michael was forced – willingly, but still – into this artificial closeness of a marriage that was real, yet not. The wedding kiss and the kiss at our celebration didn’t count – those were for tradition and for show.
My instinct was to change into the baggiest shirt and shorts I owned, march out into the kitchen, and promise Michael that something like this would never, ever happen again.
But what if that embarrassed him more?
He’d insist it was no big deal – even though it was – and it would make things weird at the very least. I didn’t want that for either of us.
Maybe the best thing to do was to act like it hadn’t happened. Just go out into the kitchen, say good morning, and act normal. Like it was any other day, and my butt cheeks and nipples hadn’t been on full display for him the night before.
Easy, right?
Just act normal.
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I STROLLED INTO THE kitchen wearing a baggy black t-shirt and bright pink leggings, with my hair clipped up in a twist.
Just an ordinary day. Nothing to see here folks.
Nothing but my sinfully handsome new husband standing at the stove, his dark hair going all directions and his muscular body showcased in a tight sleeveless navy-blue t-shirt and – heaven help me – low-slung gray sweatpants.
I took a fortifying breath. You can do this, Grace. He’s your friend. Just your friend.
“Hey, Michael.” Good, that sounded natural.
“Good morning, Grace.” He threw me a smile over his shoulder. “Perfect timing. Coffee’s ready and the cinnamon rolls and eggs have about three minutes to go.”
So much for helping. “What can I do?”
“You can grab plates and there’s juice in the fridge if you’re interested.”
I got out two plates and set them on the counter next to the stove, then got the juice and two glasses and put them at our usual places at the kitchen table. Meanwhile, Michael sprinkled sharp cheddar on the eggs – my favorite – covered them and set them off the heat, then pulled the cinnamon rolls from the oven and carried the whole pan to the kitchen table.
I poured us each a cup of coffee, added creamer and sugar to mine, and sat down at the table just as Michael did the same.
“Happy first day of married life.” He lifted his coffee cup in a toast, and I followed suit.
“Happy first day of married life,” I echoed. “If more marriages started with your cinnamon rolls on the first day, I’m betting they’d all be happy.”
Michael laughed as he transferred a spiral of hot, gooey, cinnamony goodness to my plate.
“I figure you don’t get a honeymoon, the least I can do is make you cinnamon rolls.”
My stomach jumped at the thought of a honeymoon with Michael, but I focused on smiling back at him.
“I have no argument with that. And if you’d like to continue to make them every morning, I have no argument with that either.”
Michael chuckled again as he dug into his eggs. “I’ll make a note of it. What are your plans today?”
My nerves settled as we talked. Maybe disaster had been averted and we were going to be okay.
I told Michael that I planned to file our marriage certificate with the County Clerk’s office, then go to the Social Security office to legally change my name.
“Have you been cleared to drive?”
Darn it.
My shoulders slumped a little, but I forced them straight. “Not technically, no, but my shoulder is fine. I’m sure I’ll be cleared when I go in for PT next week.”
Michael didn’t comment on that, just sipped his coffee.
“And Detective Chase said you shouldn’t go out alone, right?”
Ugh. “Yes, he did,” I conceded. “But I’m sure he means at night, or places where I won’t be around a lot of people. No one’s going to grab me at the clerk’s office or Social Security office.”
Michael shrugged a shoulder. “I don’t know. There were people around when you were grabbed last time.”
I practically felt myself deflate. “I know. You’re right.”
“Why don’t I go with you?” Michael offered. “It’s probably a good idea anyway in case they need me there for verification of the marriage certificate or something.”
“But you have to work today,” I argued.
“Not until two. We can knock these things out this morning and they’ll all be done. Maybe we can grab lunch somewhere if we have time.”
I hated this. I really did. Michael constantly needing to rearrange his schedule and his life for me.
No matter how many times I swore to myself that I wouldn’t be a burden, it never seemed to work out that way.
Still, these things needed to be done, so I accepted his help – again – as graciously as I could.
“Alright, that sounds like a plan.”
We finished eating, cleaned up the kitchen, then headed to our separate bathrooms to get cleaned up ourselves. As I showered, I reminded myself to look at the positives. At least our plan for the day would give me a few unexpected hours with my new husband.
That was the silver-est of all silver linings.