He reaches across the table and takes my hand, giving it a gentle squeeze before he manages to ground out, “I…will…make…you…happy.”
His words cause my breath to catch in my throat because I know that Andrew never would have worried about my happiness or my comfort. Yet Brennon has done nothing but show concern for me.
We finish our meal together in silence and when we’re done, I reach for the dishes. He cooked so it’s only fair I help clean up. But before I can load the dishwasher, Brennon takes my hand and tugs me out of the kitchen. I love the feel of his hand wrapping around mine, the way he touches me gently. Like I’m delicate and precious.
I follow after him, curious about what he wants to show me. He leads me down a set of stairs into the basement. I gasp when he pushes through the double doors made of mahogany.
Leather chairs are arranged across from a sofa on an expensive Persian rug that covers the floor. A fireplace in the center of the room has a large impressionist painting hung above it. I don’t recognize the piece, but I’d bet good money it’s an original. This is the only room in the cabin that’s opulent. It speaks to a man who has come from money.
But what I love about the space are the bookshelves. They’re built-in against the walls, the same deep mahogany as the doors. Half of the shelves are empty while the other half are filled with books. He must easily own several hundred books, and I can’t help wondering if he’s read them all.
“This place is beautiful,” I breathe.
I step forward and reach for the books. Then I stop myself and turn to Brennon, silently asking for permission. After all, a personal library is something sacred. The fact that he shared his with me means something.
When he nods his approval, I run my fingertips along the spines of a few books. As I do, I note that he’s a big fan of mysteries and thrillers. There’s some sci-fi mixed in here, too. Space opera books, I suspect.
A small part of me is disappointed to find we don’t have any similar tastes. Then again, if Brennon were reading blue alien smut, I’d probably have some questions for him, just like he would have questions for me.
Brennon beams at me, pride clearly written on his face. It’s strange to me the way he seems so focused on pleasing me and making me happy.
“You like to read a lot,” I say. A pang of sadness hits me in my chest as I wonder if these are the only conversations he’s able to have. Brennon lives alone. He has no one to talk with him or ask him about his day. He’s alone in the world.
His phone buzzes, and he grins at it. He gestures for me to follow him, and even though I’m hesitant to leave the library with its collection of books, I do follow him.
He moves to the front door where two men in uniform are bringing in heavy boxes. Brennon nods toward one and indicates he wants me to open it.
Curious, I drop to my knees and gently pull apart the flaps. What I see has me breaking into a grin. There are books in here. But not just any books. These are my favorite books. Books I enjoyed in childhood. Books I loved as a teenager. Even my favorite blue alien smut books.
I move to the second box and find more of the same, boxes and boxes of my favorites. Some are even signed author copies while others are first editions. I glance at Brennon to see he’s smiling too.
“You got all these for me.” I say quietly. He nods and my heart feels too big for my body. This man has swept me off my feet in one gesture, especially when I open another box and find it filled with books from my to be read pile.
“How did you know?” I ask.
He pulls his phone from his pocket and shoves it toward me. I look at the screen and see my profile on a popular book tracking website. I use it to rank the books I read and keep track of the ones I haven’t read yet.
“Thank you.” Before I can stop myself, I lean up and press a soft kiss to his bearded cheek.
He grumbles something, but I can’t hear it because I’m already following the uniformed worker down to the library where he’s adding my boxes to the room. My new husband bought me books, and I’m pretty sure I could fall in love with him just for that.
Brennon
She hums. Cadence hums as she works. I didn’t think I would like to have another person in my space and hear them hum. But being here with Cadence in my library today, I don’t mind it.