He stood there for a minute looking down at me. Then he walked in and lifted me up off the floor.
“Let's go for a ride.” Was all he muttered.
The next thing I know, I was sitting on the back of a motorcycle with my arms wrapped tightly around his waist, and it felt as if I was flying. He took me upstate to a berry orchard and instantly my blues fled. I was allowed to pick as many berries as I wanted.
I was so excited I filled up a wooden crate and I gave him one to carry as I filled it up too.
“We can always freeze these, so I could have a constant supply of fresh berries when I bake.”
“Oh yeah, let's make sure you have a constant supply.” He agreed.
I laughed at him shaking my head. The orchard was so beautiful that I took my shoes off like I would have done back home, and let the richness of the soil seep into the soles of my feet. The owners were very nice. They surprised us with a picnic that I would later learn my husband had ordered before we got here. We ate on top of a lush green hill that looked out over all their beautiful acres of land.
As we ate, Gabe watched me. The look on his face caused me to fidget. It made me nervous because he was studying me.
“What are you looking at?” I asked with nervous laughter in my voice, all the time thinking to myself how handsome he was.
He sat in a reclined position. His long muscled body stretched out on the blanket with his ankles crossed. He supported his upper body with his elbow, holding a little tea cup that just looked foreign in hands so big, rough and covered in bruises.
He had taken the braids out of his hair and now wore it pulled to the back of his head in a ponytail. His long hair fell to the center of his back.
“I've never met a woman like you before.” He said quietly.
I frowned confused at what that meant. Even with my limited experience I knew that this man has had his fair share of women.
“What do you mean?” He chuckled at my confused frown.
“I know you've been feeling down, so I searched my head to think what I could do to make you feel better. I settled on a shopping spree.” He looked off into the distance, taking in the beautiful hills of green in front of us.
“But then my egg donor, who was pretending to dust my office bookshelf, suggested this place.” He shook his head. “At first, I waved away her suggestion. What girl would pick a farm over a shopping spree? But then I thought, my girl.”
He turned back to look at me. “And sure enough, here you sit barefoot with your toes buried in the grass, as happy and as beautiful as I've ever seen you.”
The grin that came across my face then was grade ‘A’ cheesy. But I couldn't stop it from happening any more than I could stop a speeding bullet with my hand.
“Thank you Gabe, this is the best gift anybody could have ever given me.”
And I meant it too. That was by far the best day of my life.
When it was time for us to leave, I remembered we rode on a motorcycle and I started to panic about not being able to bring all my berries back with me. But Gabe worked something out with the owners, who agreed to deliver them to the house for us.
And so you see? How was I supposed to remember that my husband was vicious when he did things like that? And it didn't stop there. He had even agreed to be cordial with his mom. Now, don't get me wrong, he didn't go out his way to converse with her. But for me, he said he would at least stop mean mugging her—which was a perfect start.
It began to feel as if we were turning into a little family. Slightly dysfunctional, but whose family wasn’t.
I had taken over the cooking, mainly because Gabriel and his friends had become my biggest fans. Mac and Kenny always looked for ways to invite themselves to dinner, to Gabriel’s great irritation. Having them over did relieve some of the tension at the table. When it was just us, I found myself doing most of the talking because of course, Gabe wouldn't say a thing. And Gabrielle was too afraid to say anything; which left me to fill in the silence.
But with Kenny at the table, there was no such thing as tension. The man didn't have a serious bone in his body. I wondered what kind of boss he was down at Calhoun Investments. Gabriel said he was a damn good one, said everybody was loyal to him cause they loved him. And I guess I could see that.
Anyway, Gabrielle refused to live here for free, so she insisted on continuing to clean the house. And of course, I was not letting her do it alone. I would roll up my sleeves and jump in there as well. Gabriel was not a happy camper about that. And got to spouting off about how his wife didn't have to clean. I put my hand on my hip.
“Brotha, I've had to clean my whole life!”
He frowned. “Now you have a different life, you don't have to clean anymore.”
“Gabe, I am so bored. I need to do something!” I whined those words.
He grinned. “Well, we got a freezer full of berries, why don't you—”
“You had scones for breakfast, no more sweets for the day!” I cut him off.
Saying this man had a sweet tooth was an understatement. He had abandoned his Apple Jack's for morning pastries. I ate mine with coffee. He ate his with a half a gallon of almond milk. And yes, he drank the whole
