Julia snorted. “I think you know you’re doing it right, David. Carry on. Your wife is enjoying the exhibition.”
“I’m not ...” David’s neck seemed to flush. “This isn’t an exhibition. I’m clearing the land.”
Walter straightened from the pile of rubbish he’d been gathering and puffed out his chest. “There is no reason you can’t do both,” he said with a wink in my direction. “Roll up your sleeves a bit more. I think they are getting dirty.”
David’s flush went away, and his eyes narrowed at Walter. “I don’t think my work will improve by rolling up my sleeves.”
“But it wouldn’t hurt, would it?” I called out, emboldened by Walter’s teasing.
David’s face whipped to mine. His mouth pursed, considering his options.
Walter nudged him with his elbow. “Your wife wants you to keep your sleeves clean, Mr. David. I don’t know much about wives and things, but I do know everyone in our house is happier when Pa listens to what Ma has to say.”
“Why, Walter,” I said, “I believe you are wise beyond your years.” I smiled broadly at him, and he shifted his feet and sneaked a glance at David.
David scowled. “If my wife’s intentions are to keep my sleeves clean, I would do better to leave them down. Touching them with my gloves will sully them more than leaving them in place.”
Julia put her hands on her hips. “Are you implying her intentions could be anything besides helping you keep your sleeves clean?”
I pulled off my gloves, lifted my skirt, and made my way over to David. With Walter here, wehadto play the part of a happily married couple, after all. Having an audience made my decision completely logical—it made it easier to pretend I was doing this for their sake and not my own. “I’ll help you. Then your sleeves won’t need to get dirty.”
David’s eyes flashed to Julia’s, and for a moment, I saw pure panic in them. I kept walking, but when I reached David, instead of immediately rolling up his sleeves, like I’d planned, I stopped in front of him. “David?” I asked softly enough I hoped neither Walter nor Julia would hear. His eyes met mine, and they were not the confident blue I’d become accustomed to. These were the eyes of young David, scared and unsure. The eyes of the boy he’d been before he’d even dared speak to me. “May I help you roll up your sleeves?”
It felt like a very formal question for a wife to be asking her husband. True, his jacket was off, and I’d been eyeing him, perhaps a little too forcefully, but we’d spent a week together as husband andwife, and he’d never looked at me this way, like he was preparing to run. With a deep sigh, he forced a word through his lips. “Once.”
I leaned in toward him, and he stiffened even more. “What do you mean by ‘once’?”
He glanced down at his wrists. “Please just roll them once, no more.”
Had my gaze disturbed him so much he was worried about what I would do if I saw more than two inches of his forearms? I’d been a very obedient wife. I wasn’t going to do anything to disturb our charade outside with Walter and Julia looking on.
“Of course,” I responded, not knowing what else to say. “I wouldn’t do it at all, except Walter might be quite disappointed in us if I didn’t.”
David’s mouth twisted, and his spine finally relaxed. He held out his hand. I could feel his eyes upon me as I slid my thumb underneath his cuff. His skin was warm and smooth. My thumb tarried, investigating the feel of the inside of my husband’s arm. A wife shouldn’t find such a small slip of skin fascinating, but I wasn’t a typical wife. David stiffened again.
He leaned forward and put his lips to my ear. “If you’re trying to put on a show for Walter, I think there are better ways to do that than acting as if you don’t know what to do when your skin touches mine.”
I froze because of course he was right. I gritted my teeth, rolled the sleeve on top of itself in the quickest, if not tidiest fashion I could, and held my hand out for his next arm.
His chuckle was low and soft as I rammed my hand under his cuff this time, my thumb encountering smooth, warm skin once again, which I pointedly ignored. Or at least tried to ignore until my thumbnail caught slightly on the rough edge of a slight bump. If he hadn’t just remarked on my inability to simply roll up his sleeves without being affected by his skin, I would have explored the raisedflesh longer, but I’d exercised all my privilege of curiosity on his other arm. I pretended I hadn’t found anything interesting and turned the sleeve over without sparing him another glance.
“There you go,” I said quickly, not daring to look up at him.
He let out a heavy breath and reached for my hand. “Thank you, my dear.” He gave my hand a quick tug, and I stumbled forward into him. He placed the barest of kisses on my cheek, a touch so soft it might have been indiscernible if I weren’t so aware of the man doing the kissing. When he pulled back, his eyes flashed in the direction of Walter and then to me with a smile.
He was taking advantage of our audience, just as I had.
“You’re welcome,” I quipped back, and with a broad smile, I returned his soft kiss. In an effort to outdo him, mine landed less than an inch from the corner of his mouth. My lips barely grazed him, but the warmth of his cheek, right at the spot his smile would begin, sent fire into my veins. He’d kissed me several times over the course of our marriage, but it had been a week since I’d been brave enough to take advantage of that aspect of being married. The thrill I got from that small touch was testament to the fact that I probably should not do it again anytime soon. I didn’t dare look up at him, didn’t dare let him see my eyes, for my heart would certainly be in them, and it wouldn’t change anything.
I turned and walked back to Julia before he had the chance to outdo me and kiss me again.
Or, at least, before I gave myself a chance to be disappointed if he didn’t.
When I reached Julia and turned back around, David was back with his shovel in hand, Walter lightly elbowing him in his side. I saw him only in profile, but a smile curved David’s mouth, and crinkles formed around his eyes as he laughed off Walter’s teasing.
David smiled and laughed so often I didn’t know how much of that was because of me. But I hoped at least some of it was. If Icouldn’t make his heart burst into flames like he did to mine, at least I could be playful with him and make certain he kept that smile on his face.
I was his bright spot after all.
