Chapter 44

                                    

                                              
Sunlight broke through the delicate wisps of clouds above, the gentle heat caressing my skin and I closed my eyes for a moment, enjoying the warmth and still tasting strawberries and champagne on my tongue. 
                          
Lying next to me on the red checkered blanket, Brandon linked his fingers with mine, the remnants of our picnic scattered all around us. There was a small white daisy still in his hair from where I'd made a daisy chain crown and tried to make him wear it, laughing hysterically when he'd resisted my efforts and wrestled me to the ground, covering my face with kisses as he'd mock-growled like an animal. I'd decided not to tell him about the daisy yet but was struggling not to giggle at the sight of the tiny flower nestling in his dark curls. 
                          
He sighed a deep contented sigh and ran his thumb over my brand-new wedding band. 

                          
"We should do this every Saturday," I said finally. "Grab the champers, fill the picnic hamper and just watch the clouds go by, away from the city, away from all the noise." 
                          
He chuckled. "And there was me thinking you were a true city girl at heart. Maybe you were born in the country? You seem much more at home here, where it's all quiet and peaceful."
                          
"Maybe I was, but I guess I'll never know. But don't you love it here too? You can't say it's not beautiful." 
                          
"I think you're beautiful," he said, raising my hand to his mouth and kissing my fingertips. 
                          
"Stay on subject please Mr. Walden," I chided playfully. 
                          
"As you wish, Mrs. Walden," he said, turning onto his front to rest on his elbows. He stared into the thick knot of woodland behind us, his deep hazel eyes scanning the tree-line. 
                          
"You want go for that hike in the woods later? See if we can find ourselves some forest fairies?" I picked at the daisy, untangling it from his unruly locks and tickling his cheek with the soft petals. 
                          
He said nothing for a moment, just continued to stare into the wood, a strange look upon his face. I suddenly wondered whether I'd done something wrong, said something wrong. Sometimes I just never knew with him. His mood could change so fast, as if there was always some dark shadow waiting to take over. 
                          
When he turned to look at me, the darkness was gone, but there was a pinched tightness around his eyes. "Nah," he said, softly. "No hiking today. And besides, there's no fairies in the woods, only monsters. Don't you remember what happened to Little Red Riding Hood?"
                          
I laughed. "Didn't she kill the big bad wolf?" 
                          
"Actually I think that was the woodcutter." 
                          
"Oh." 
                          
I grinned, my eyes running over his handsome face and feeling the warm embers nestle in my stomach as I looked at him. He really was beautiful for a guy. Sometimes I wondered how on earth I'd managed to land such a catch. One day I'd wake up and find out it was all nothing but a lie, some horrible nasty joke to play on the care-home kid. Just another in a long line of horrible nasty jokes. 
                          
"Anyway," I said with a pout as I leant over to kiss his face, loving the roughness of his stubble on my lips. "I'm not afraid of monsters in the woods. I've got you after all." 
                          
He smiled, that little crooked smile that I loved so much, the one that made him look so young. 
                          
"Yes and I've got you," he said, pulling me against him. "You're mine. Always." 
                          
*******
                          
There were no clouds. No sunlight. Just endless indigo stretching far above and the moon watching over us like a sentinel in the night sky.