Page 54 of Sugarplum Dreams
“I sure do, and I’m looking forward to it, because I know you’re gonna love it. And that’s all you’re going to get me to say,” he said, giving her a nod and a smile before he shut the door.
She wasn’t going to try to get it out of him. But she had a whole month to look forward to it, which was kind of nice.
“And just so you’re aware, it’s a lot of fun for me to do fun things for you, and I don’t need anything in return, just your laughter and your smile and getting to spend the day with you and be in your company is more than enough. Not to say that to be sappy, I mean it.” He sat down, closing the door and putting his seat belt on.
“You know what I mean?” he asked as he started the truck.
“I do. But you made me feel spoiled. In a really good way.”
“Good. That’s how I want you to feel. Like you have a husband who thinks the world of you.”
That’s exactly how she felt.
Chapter Twenty-Three
April 25
“How’s married life treating you?” Kyra said as Charity walked around the kitchen getting breakfast ready. The post office had called at six o’clock that morning to let them know there was a package in for them, and for some reason, Wilson had taken the three older kids with him. Charity had no idea what the package was, probably a tractor part or a piece for the barn addition he had been building all winter.
“It’s great. I mean, better than I ever dreamed. I am so glad I didn’t let myself be influenced by my first marriage. Or I would have never got married again.”
“What’s it been? Almost four months?”
Charity’s eyes widened. “Is it the twenty-fifth?”
“It is. Of April.”
“Yeah. Exactly four months.” She had almost forgotten their anniversary! But Wilson must’ve forgotten too, since he hadn’ttalked about doing anything that day, and they always greeted each other with “happy anniversary” on their anniversary, but he’d been so busy gathering up the kids to take them into the post office with him that he hadn’t even said anything. It was the first anniversary that they’d almost forgotten, although Charity laughed at herself. It wasn’t even seven o’clock in the morning. She wasn’t close to forgetting it.
“Congratulations. You know there are some marriages that don’t even last that long.”
“I know. That’s sad.” She shuddered. Her first marriage had lasted longer than that, but it hadn’t been a good one. Now that she knew what a good marriage was, she couldn’t believe how long she’d been in a miserable one. But she had her children, and God had blessed her with a really great man.
“Are you ready for your spring program?” Kyra was involved in the new playhouse that had just opened in Mistletoe Meadows. She was part of the orchestra, and she loved it.
“I am. I can’t wait. It’s going to be so much fun. I think everyone feels that way. No one really cares that we’re not getting paid a whole lot, you know?”
“In a small town like this, you really can’t expect that there’s going to be much of a crowd for everyone to make a killing, but who knows, maybe word will spread, and people will come.”
“That’s my dream. I mean, it’s one of those dreams that I’m not afraid to dream even though I know it’s probably not going to come true.”
“You can see what happened to me, a single mom of five children who ended up with the most wonderful man in the world, and it is nothing short of a miracle. If that happened to me, anything could happen to anybody. You never know what God will do.”
“You are an inspiration to me. No offense.”
Charity laughed. She didn’t take offense. She knew that it was true. Her situation had looked hopeless and had gotten completely turned around. If that was inspiration for people, then so be it. And she was glad of it.
“All right, I better go. I want to get some practice in before work.”
“All right. Thanks for calling.”
“Happy anniversary.”
They hung up, and Charity hummed as she moved about the kitchen, thinking that she would have breakfast ready before they got home. She had been going to make eggs, but they only had six left, and that wasn’t nearly enough to feed her family. Maybe someday she’d have hens of her own. Wilson had told her she could, but she figured that that probably got pushed aside because of all the other things he was doing, like putting the addition onto the barn, and today they were going to go to the sale barn.
She really couldn’t be happier, unless she thought about how much she wanted her husband to want her, as a person, not just as a wife and mother. She couldn’t explain it exactly. She just wanted him to be attracted to her, to give her little touches during the day, or hold her close at night, rather than escaping to the couch, while she felt stuck upstairs like that was his alone time and she didn’t dare intrude upon it.
Not that he had ever said that, that was just the way she felt when they parted at the top of the stairs each night. That he was going to have time for himself, while she went to her lonely bedroom and slept alone. But she had determined that she would follow his lead, and she wasn’t going to push him into something that he didn’t want. If that was the kind of relationship that he wanted, then that would be what she would give him. Because he had given her so much more.
