No Deal Breakers (3 page)

"I haven’t been for a long time." She
mumbled, her words barely decipherable as she continued to stare at
her lap. He felt a stab to his heart, and immediately knew that
whatever made her so fearful of him also separated her from God. He
felt the added responsibility of her faith life land on his
shoulders.

For some reason, he was less concerned with
the state of her faith life before he knew that she had had one at
some point in her life. At that moment, he knew that even more so
than before, every action, every word mattered even more. Not only
did he need to show her that he could be her husband, and grow to
love her, he needed to show her that God loved her too.

"Aria, please look at me." She hesitatingly
raised her head and barely met his gaze under her lashes.

"It’s okay. I was just curious. That doesn’t
change anything between us. I understand that not everyone shares
my beliefs." He gave her his best smile, and saw her face soften,
and a bit of the hesitation fade away.

"Thanks, I was kind of afraid that might be a
deal breaker…I can tell how important it is to you." He chuckled,
"Honey, in this odd marriage that we have, nothing is a deal
breaker." Her laugh was light and musical, with only a hint of
uncertainty. They finished their breakfast in relative silence,
occasionally asking a question, or talking about the journey home.
Aria changed and they made their way to the airport, getting
checked in and settled in the lounge area in plenty of time. Aria
radiated nervousness; it came off her in nearly tangible waves.

"First flight?" He asked.

"That obvious? I’ve never gone, well,
anywhere." She shrugged, bouncing both legs nervously, glancing all
around the room, and out the large windows as the planes took off
and landed.

He laughed, "A little bit, yeah. It’ll be
fine; I’ve flown plenty of times. It’s just a three hour flight,
it’ll be no big deal, just relax." He wanted to reach over and
squeeze her shoulder, or hold her hand for reassurance, his fingers
itched to offer comfort, but he knew that would only add to her
tension. He tucked his hands under his legs instead, and said a
silent prayer for traveling mercies.

Brian watched Aria sleeping peacefully, he
was partially relieved that she was finally getting some sleep, but
also disappointed that she found it easier to sleep on a crowded
airplane, surrounded by two crying toddlers, and three giggling
teenaged girls than in the same room with him.

She had continued to radiate nervous energy
throughout takeoff, and until the seatbelt sign was turned off, she
gradually relaxed after that, and was now sleeping soundly. He knew
they’d be landing soon, and he hated to have to wake her, she
looked at peace for the first time since they’d met.

He took one more lingering look at his
beautiful new bride; her chestnut locks fanned out around her face
and across her shoulders, her full lips were slightly parted with
her deep, steady breathing. He noticed one lone, attractive freckle
on the left side of her face, directly in between her bottom lip
and chin. He took in the rest of her, she was unnaturally thin, he
hadn’t noticed before just how skinny she really was, he knew she
was small, but for the first time he noticed just how tiny she
really was, she looked almost ill. His stomach turned at the
thought of her ever going hungry, or worse; making herself this
way. He said a prayer for her health, and her future, and continued
examining her. She was truly a beautiful woman, a beautiful, broken
woman. He would do everything in his power to help fix her.

*~*~*

She heard her name whispered gently near her
ear, her eyes fluttered open to see a man leaning close to her,
telling her it was time to wake up. She sat bolt upright, it took
her several long moments to recall where she was and why. The man
was Brian, and she was on an airplane headed to her new home, it
wasn’t Jack, she was safe. She struggled to get her breathing under
control, everything was okay.

"You alright? I didn’t mean to scare you, but
we’re about ready to land." His eyes were full of concern, his face
showed nothing but kindness. She was afraid she had dreamt
everything, her escape, Brian, the airplane, his kindness and
generosity, but she hadn’t. He was real, she was on a plane landing
in Iowa, far from the monsters and nightmares of Las Vegas.

"Yeah, fine, just took me a minute to get my
bearings. A lot has happened in the last day, it’s a lot to take
in, you know?"

"I do, but we’ll get there. It’ll just take
time and commitment." He offered her a reassuring smile.

"Here, you’d better put this on, looks like
we got more snow, I know it’s too big, we’ll get you one of your
own as soon as we get out of here." He said, handing her his coat
as they got off the plane. She slipped it on as they walked.

"What about you?" He just shrugged. "I’ll be
fine, how hungry are you? Do you want to eat first, or hit the mall
first? It’s only a little after ten here, but we had a pretty early
breakfast, it’s up to you." He asked as they headed to collect his
bag. At the mention of food her stomach growled, she didn’t realize
how hungry she was until he had asked.

"I’m pretty hungry, let’s eat first. How
far—whoa that’s a lot of snow!" He let out a low chuckle as they
made their way to the parking garage; he raised one shoulder and
let it fall as he continued to lead the way.

"Not really, I’ve seen a lot more. This time
of year, it falls heavy and melts quickly. You’ll get used to it."
She wasn’t sure she wanted to get used to all the snow and the
cold, maybe when she was better equipped for it. Her thin tennis
shoes, jeans, and lightweight shirt weren’t exactly what you’d call
‘winter gear’ she tightened Brian’s coat around her shoulders; he
seemed perfectly comfortable in just his khakis and sweater. She
looked around at the others walking to and from their vehicles in
the garage, many of them were dressed like Brian, sweaters but no
coats. A few of them had on thin jackets, one woman even had on a
skirt with no nylons or socks.

"How are they not freezing?" She wondered
aloud, silently chiding herself for again speaking whatever came to
mind, she hadn’t talked out of turn this much with a man since her
dad. Brian didn’t seem to notice, or care.

"We’re used to it, people bundle up for the
first few weeks of winter, but by the end of December we’re used to
the cold, and days like today are considered heat waves."

"But, it’s only forty degrees!"

"It’s been a cold winter; the day I left it
was ten below. We’re almost there." Ten below! Why couldn’t she
have married someone from a warmer clime? It looked like she had
better get used to it, this was home now.

She thought about what kind of a car he would
drive, he was a bachelor and a lawyer, and in her experience, they
tended to drive sports cars, the flashier, the better. He was also
very down to earth and modest; she could also see him in a sedan,
maybe even a pick up truck. She was completely surprised when he
pointed his key fob at a deep blue SUV. It looked like something a
soccer mom would drive, she had to stifle a laugh as he opened the
back hatch to put his bags in.

"Go ahead and get in." She did as he said and
slid into the passenger seat, she looked around, it was really nice
with plush leather seating, and a large computer screen type
control above the heat controls. She noticed a small silver cross
and a miniature football with a green and white "G" on it hanging
from the rearview mirror. The door opened and Brian climbed into
the driver’s seat.

"Is this your favorite team or something?"
She asked, pointing the football.

"Yeah, the Packers, I’m a big fan, my whole
family is. Do you like football?" He pulled out of the spot and
started winding through the garage. The heat kicked in and it felt
good on her chilled skin.

"I’ve never seen it, are the Packers an Iowa
team? I don’t really know how all of that works." He must find her
chatter amusing rather than infuriating, because he laughed
again.

"No, Iowa doesn’t have an NFL team. They’re
the Wisconsin team."

"Oh, I see. I’m a little surprised you drive
an SUV, I pegged you for more of a sedan or a sports car kind of
guy, maybe even a pick up truck, but definitely not an SUV guy."
Yet again, speaking her thoughts as they came to her, Jack would
have slapped her already for her incessant questioning, but Brian
seemed to enjoy their conversation.

He flashed her a smile; "Truck’s at home, and
I traded in the sports car and bought both the truck and the
Durango when I moved back. I like this, it gets decent gas mileage,
has plenty of room for hauling things, enough seats for passengers,
and it’s a Dodge."

"You prefer Dodges?"

"Yup, you can blame my grand-dad for that
one. What kind of food are you in the mood for?"

"Waffles? Is that okay?" She hadn’t had them
since she was a little girl, and nothing sounded more delicious at
that moment, though he’d asked the question, she was still afraid
he may not like her answer.

He had been nice since she met him…too nice,
no one had ever done that much, given that much and not expected
anything in return from her. She kept waiting for the other shoe to
drop, for her to do or say something out of line, and for him to
lose his control. She knew that in some men that took next to
nothing. She’d have to keep her guard up, but for some reason that
was hard to do around Brian.

"Of course, why wouldn’t that be okay? I love
Waffles. There’s a diner up here on the corner."

After an amicable and filling breakfast of
fresh fruit and the most delicious waffles she had ever tasted they
headed toward the mall.

"Oh, you know what? We need to make a stop
before we get to the mall, you need a cell phone." A phone? Why on
earth did she need a phone? Who did she have to call?

"No, thanks, I don’t need one, you’ve already
done so much for me, I couldn’t ask for—" He cut her off with a
stern look and a tone that was more serious than she had heard him
use yet, a tone that said he wasn’t to be argued with.

"Enough of that, I’m your husband, it’s my
job to provide for you, I’m doing it because I want to. Please let
me do things for you, it makes me feel useful. Besides, I have a
couple of errands to run while we’re at the mall, so I’m going to
leave you to do some shopping on your own, we’ll need to be able to
get in touch with each other." He had a point, she would use it
just to get in touch with him, and she wouldn’t feel so bad about
it-it was for his benefit. She sighed and nodded.

Half an hour later they were headed back in
the direction of the mall. He had insisted she get a smart phone,
she had no idea how to use it, she’d never had a cell phone of her
own, she’d never had any real possessions at all.

"I know you’re going to want to fight me on
this, so while you were sleeping this morning I made a list of the
things you’ll need to get. I tried to think of everything, but I’m
sure I missed something; this isn’t all you can buy, of course, get
whatever else you want; this is just the minimum that you need to
get. No arguments, please. I want you to be comfortable, and if you
think of anything else you need or want, please don’t hesitate to
get it." He handed her a folded piece of paper, she opened it
cautiously, her eyes popped open at the length of his list, he was
right, she would fight him on this. She took a deep breath and read
the list.

There were at least thirty items on the list,
most of them she expected: shirts, pants, shoes, coats, hair and
toothbrushes, but some of the things he thought to add to the list
surprised her. He had thought of everything from deodorant to
underwear. He was so thoughtful, she looked back down at the list
and smiled at how hard he tried. Though he clearly didn’t know what
to call some of them, he had written things like "fancy body
scrubbers women use" and "lotions and other smelly things" but the
one that touched her the most was, "makeup, if you like to wear it,
you certainly don’t need it." His kindness seemed to be never
ending, but experience told her that it would end, at some point.
The reminder brought her back to reality and her anger started
anew.

"I do not need all of that! A coat, a couple
of pairs of jeans, a few shirts, the underwear, and some of the
personal care items you listed, and that’s it." She crossed her
arms over her chest and lifted her chin indignantly. He found a
parking spot, shut the car off, and turned to face her.

Her blood heated as he studied her face, she
was not going down without a fight on this. What was it about this
man that made her so comfortable expressing herself? Three days ago
she never would have allowed her anger to show like that toward a
man. For some reason, with Brian everything was different, easier
somehow.

She didn’t know what to think or feel when he
just smiled and shrugged. He turned to open his door and over his
shoulder said; "That’s fine, I’ll just pick up everything you
refuse to."

Before she could form a retort he was out of
the car on his way to her door. She was fuming. Why couldn’t he
just put a roof over her head and leave it at that? She hated being
so indebted to him knowing she could never repay him, or live up to
his wants and needs in a wife. He opened the door and stood back,
giving her space, as he always did.

"Why do you have to be so stubborn? I don’t
want to have to owe you any more than I already do!" She was on the
verge of tears, she knew she should stop arguing and pushing him,
but she just couldn’t.

"You owe me nothing! You are my wife!
Everything that’s mine is yours, I just want to take care of you; I
know you don’t trust me, but at least allow me to try to prove
myself. I’m not out to get anything, I’m not keeping a tally, I
just want to buy you some clothes and make you comfortable, that’s
all." She kept waiting for his generosity to run out, she was sure
it would soon, but he kept insisting that he wanted to do all of
these things because they were married.