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“I see. Do you like what you do?”
“I really do. It gives me time to think about anything I want as I’m driving. Sometimes I like to make up stories in my head as I go from store to store. It’s very cathartic for me.”
“I’d probably like that as well. That’s what I do when I walk at night. I think about different things or make up stories in my head. My mother thinks it means that there’s something a bit off about me, but I don’t care. I love walking and thinking more than I can express.” She took her first bite of pot roast, thrilled with how it came out.
“This is delicious,” he said. “Best pot roast I’ve ever eaten.”
“I’m so glad you like it. My mother would never allow me to add onions to it because she doesn’t care for them. I added all the onions I wanted, and I think it turned out much better.”
Leonard nodded emphatically. “It’s very good.”
“Are there any foods you don’t like that I should avoid making?”
He shrugged. “Lutefisk, blood sausage, and porridge.” He answered quickly, so she knew hereallydidn’t like those things.
“I will avoid all three. Are you good with bacon and eggs most mornings? I could do pancakes or johnny cakes or even French toast if you preferred.”
“Just switch things around when you want to. I like eggs prepared just about any way, though scrambled are my favorite. I’m quite easy to please with food. Ma always called me her slop eater. If I wouldn’t eat something, it automatically went to the pigs, but Ma would always try me first.”
“I really am excited to meet your ma,” she said.
“She’ll like you. She considers all her daughters-in-law daughters of her heart. She was always sad she could only have boys.”
“Are all your brothers married?” Constance asked.
Leonard nodded. “Yup. I’m the last. All of them have children as well.”
“Are they much older?” she asked.
“The next youngest is five years older than me.”
“It makes sense that they’re all married with children then.”
“Yes, it makes a lot of sense.” He took another bite of the roast. “I want you to cook for me every day for the rest of my life.”
“Isn’t that what I agreed to yesterday afternoon?” she asked with a smile.
He tilted his head to one side for a moment, studying her. “You’re like me. You think of a day as sleep to sleep. Not changing new days even when it’s after midnight.”
“That’s true. How could I think any other way?” she asked.
All through dinner, though their conversation was lively, all she could think about was the night to come. It made sense for her to be nervous about consummating the marriage, but she wasn’t sure she should be quite as nervous as she was.
After supper, he went into the parlor with a newspaper, and she cleaned the dishes, taking her time so as not to hurry things along. She never should have told him she was ready. She’d just gotten carried away in the moment, loving the kisses they shared.
Once she’d put the last dish away, there was no more putting off the inevitable moment, and she joined him in the parlor. “Dishes are done,” she announced.
He set his paper down and patted the spot on the sofa beside him. “Join me.”
She took a deep breath and did as he asked. Snuggling up to his side. When he turned and kissed her right away, she did her best not to think about what was about to happen and instead lost herself in his touch.
He cupped her face in his hands as his mouth explored hers. At first, she kept her hands folded in her lap, afraid to really do anything that would spur him on and make him go any faster with their consummation. After a minute or two, she put her hands on his shoulders and felt his strength through the lightweight fabric of his shirt. When she touched him, he reached to unbutton the top few buttons of his shirt.
“I need your touch against my bare skin.”
Constance didn’t need to be told twice. She was aching to feel his muscles beneath her fingers. Never having seen a man shirtless in her short life, she was surprised to feel a light dusting of hair there, but she just kept stroking, determined to enjoy the moment.
Leonard’s fingers went to the buttons at the back of her neck, releasing each one in turn. He let his hands roam over her shoulders and bare back, though he wanted to strip her and take her there on the sofa. He knew he needed to go slowly though. He’d talked to his brother Luke about Constance coming to marry him, and his brother had given him advice on how to take things slowly to make it better for his bride.
