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I half expected Gabriel not to show up today, not after the disastrous appearance I made yesterday. But before I've even had a chance to tell the Smiths where I'm going, he's at their door asking for me.
Mrs. Smith gives me an appraising stare as I say goodbye, I'm sure thinking that its improper for me to be spending the day with a man without a chaperone. She says nothing though, and I feel free as we step away from the house.
Gabriel appears relaxed as usual, a small, pleased smile lifting the corners of his mouth when he first sees me. He reaches out to take my hand as we walk, and I'm surprised at how effortless it feels.
"You look beautiful, Juliet," he tells me, and his smile is so breathtaking, for a minute I get lost in it, loving that it's meant for me.
"Where are you taking me?" I ask.
"It's a surprise," he says with a smirk, and I feel a moment of deja vu, my mind going to other surprises, and other smiles.
"Where did you go?" he asks, his head cocked as he studies me.
"Somewhere far away," I tell him sadly.
He squeezes my hand in response, and we continue to walk towards the outskirts of town, the mood a little more somber than before.
We get to a small, charming cottage after a while. It's simple in its structure, but somehow, I can tell that it's sturdy, meant to last the test of time. I gasp when I see that its front porch looks out over the ocean. It's immediately my new favorite place, and I'm jealous of whoever lives there. When I ask who it belongs to, Gabriel throws his head back and laughs. It's a full bellied laugh that fills me up with happiness at the sound of it.
"It's mine," he says. "People always think that I don't live in town because I can't afford it, but why would I live anywhere else when I can look out my porch and see this?" He gestures out to the view, and I wholeheartedly agree with him. I tell him so, and the perpetual smile on his face somehow widens.
"I somehow knew you were the kind of girl that appreciated the small things," he says, and I blush as if it's the nicest compliment that I've ever heard.
"Come on, this wasn't the surprise," he says, pulling my hand to follow him.
I was so distracted by the view of the sea that I missed the large building just beyond the cottage. He lets go of my hand to push one of the heavy, thick wooden doors to the side. I miss the comforting presence of his hand in mine as soon as he pulls away.
"It's over here," he says, and I take a hesitant step into the building that I realize is actually his forge where he does his blacksmith work. I absorb everything around me as I walk to where he's standing patiently.
When I look down to where he's pointing, a grin lights up my face. Nestled in a blanket is a sleeping dog with her four tiny, black puppies, rooting lazily at her belly. I squeal and scoop up one of the little, warm, soft bodies, and bring it to my chest, cradling its sleeping weight, and nuzzling my nose into the soft fur. The puppy whines and starts rooting at my cheek, its wet nose making me giggle. The sound is foreign to my ears, and I have to double check that it actually came from me.
"They're adorable," I tell him, and my stomach flutters when a blush appears on his cheeks.
"They were just born a few weeks ago. I thought you might like them," he says humbly.
"You were right," I answer, picking up another one of the balls of fur, and resisting the urge to squeeze it too hard in my enthusiasm.
I play with the puppies for an hour while Gabriel works on things around the forge.
We then walk to his cottage, where he has me sit down on a handmade rocking chair on the porch while he goes inside to make us some food for lunch.
"Are you sure you don't need help?" I call out to him, feeling strange that I'm outside relaxing.
"I'm good, just enjoy yourself," he yells back, and I do just that. Sitting in the chair, watching the waves crash on the beach, I feel a rare moment of peace.
He comes out with a loaf of bread, some jam, and a block of cheese.
We share the simple meal, and somehow it tastes better to me than any meal that I can remember.
After we eat, we clean up and then come back outside to sit in the chairs.
He clears his throat, and I look over to him expectantly.
He looks nervous for the first time since I've met him, and it makes me sit up straight in my chair on high alert.
"I didn't bring you out here just to see the puppies," he says, his voice shaking a little bit. "I have a proposition to make for you," he tells me.
"Okay," I answer, not having any clue what he's going to say.
