Wildflowers (21 page)

He waited.

“I love you.” The corners of her mouth curled into a generous smile. She held out the wildflower to him. “I love you. With all my heart, I love you.”

Steven didn’t move.

Genevieve knew it had been years since she had said those words to him. She had run their household with perfection while exhibiting indifference to her husband. Her small gesture of holding out the single wildflower was the widest, most loving thing she had done for him in a long time.

In that moment, Genevieve knew her heart was open to him. As open as it had ever been.

Steven took the flower from her. His expression softened. “I love you, too. I always have. I always will.”

She tilted her chin toward him and drew close, inviting him to kiss her. Steven wrapped his arms around her and
kissed her mouth as passionately as he had during the first weeks after they had met at Lake Zurich.

Genevieve returned the kiss with equal passion. In her mind’s eye she stood on the edge of her towel on the grass at Lake Zurich, shivering slightly as the summer breeze dried the glistening droplets of water that clung to her skin. Before her stood Steven, fumbling for the right French word, pulling off his sunglasses and inviting Genevieve to soar into the endless blue of his admiring eyes.

They drew back. She opened her eyes and looked into the face of the first and only man she had ever loved.

“You meant that, didn’t you?” Steven asked.

Genevieve nodded. “Yes, I meant it with all my heart. I love you.”

Steven kissed her again, wrapping his arms around her and holding her as close as possible. “Gena,” he whispered into her thick, brown-sugar hair. “My Genevieve.”

What happened next was not planned. Steven and Genevieve locked up the café, returned to the car, and hit the open road with the top down. They communicated with loving expressions, snuggly hand holding, and spontaneous kisses at the stop signs.

They didn’t talk about where they were going, but Genevieve guessed as soon as they roared under the curious gaze of the towering, friendly giants that lined the road to the coast. The trees weren’t dripping with spring showers like they were the last time Steven and Genevieve drove past them. They didn’t appear to be the solemn guardians of an enchanted forest. Today they were giddy bridesmaids, gathered
in a row, waving and calling out for the bouquet to be tossed in their direction.

Genevieve laughed. Steven winked at her.

When they checked into the New Brighton Lodge, the clerk raised a knowing eyebrow when Steven signed the registration form and answered his question with, “No, we don’t need a bellman to help with our luggage. Thanks anyway.”

Steven and Genevieve walked away from the registration desk with their arms around each other, suppressing the laughter that Genevieve knew was gurgling up inside both of them.

As soon as they were alone in the elevator, Steven laughed. “Did you see his expression? He looked at us like we were a couple of middle-aged lovers sneaking off to start an affair.”

Genevieve tilted her head and gave Steven’s hand a squeeze. “Maybe we are.”

He pulled her close and kissed her. Their lips stayed locked until the elevator door opened. Two young boys who looked like they were on their way to the pool, elbowed each other and smirked when they saw Steven and Genevieve wrapped in each other’s arms.

Genevieve held in her surfacing giggles all the way to their room. Steven opened the door; Genevieve stepped inside. As soon as he put out the “Do not disturb” sign and closed the door, Genevieve laughed. Steven grinned broadly.

She felt young. Young and blissfully free.

Later that evening as they were driving home, Steven
summarized their spontaneous afternoon with simple words that made Genevieve cry. “I didn’t think it would ever be like this for us again. You have no idea how much I love you, Gena.”

The rest of the way home she rubbed his neck and hummed softly. The wildflower she had handed him earlier that afternoon was clipped to the underside of the visor. The fragile blue flower was protected from the wind as they roared past the row of now silent evergreens. Their gracious boughs seemed to be lifted heavenward in an attitude of reverence for evening prayers.

Genevieve found it easy to fill her thoughts with evening prayers and much thanksgiving.

When she and Steven pulled into the garage, the sun had just set. Mallory and Anna were sprawled on the sofa munching popcorn and watching a video.

“Did everything go okay while we were gone?” Genevieve asked.

“Um-hmm.” Anna didn’t take her eyes off the television.

“Were there any calls?” Steven asked.

“Fina called, and she wants you to call her back, Dad.”

“And Leah called for Mom,” Mallory added. “Remember?”

“Oh, yeah, Leah wants you to call her tonight. And we’re out of milk.”

Genevieve glanced at Steven. She wondered if he thought this reentry into everyday life seemed as out of place to him as it did to her.

How can it be that my life has changed so dramatically, and yet everything here is exactly as we left it?

But things weren’t exactly the same. The first thing Steven did was to volunteer to buy milk for the girls for breakfast. It wasn’t up to Genevieve to make life run smoothly.

“The grocery store will be closed,” Genevieve said. “We can have eggs for breakfast.”

“I’ll make the eggs in the morning,” Steven volunteered.

“Okay.” Genevieve leaned over and gave her lover a kiss on the cheek. “I love you.”

“I know.” He took her in his arms and hugged her close.

Genevieve caught a glimpse of Anna and Mallory out of the corner of her eye. Both the girls had stopped watching the video and were watching Steven and Genevieve, as if caught in a moment of wonder to see their parents so snuggly.

Steven didn’t let go and neither did Genevieve. They swayed slightly, moving to a gentle strain of music that no one could hear but the two of them.

“I’m going to miss you when I leave tomorrow,” Steven whispered.

“I’m going to miss you, too.”

“I wish I didn’t have to go.”

Genevieve could hardly believe her ears. Steven had never said that to her. “I wish you didn’t have to go, either.”

He kissed her neck. Shivers ran up her spine.

The phone rang, and Anna jumped to answer it. “I’ve got it!”

Steven and Genevieve slowly drew apart.

“It’s for you, Dad. It’s Fina.”

Steven took the remote phone and headed for the living room.

Anna was staring with wide eyes at her mother. “Did you and Dad have a nice drive?”

“It was wonderful.” Genevieve let her face take on the full smile that it wanted to carry at that moment.

“Where did you guys go?” Anna asked. “You were gone a long time.”

“We went to the coast.”

“Aww!” Mallory piped up. “I wish we could have gone. When do we get to go back to those tide pools?”

“I could take you girls sometime this week. We could take a picnic.”

“I wish Dad could go with us,” Anna said.

“So do I.” Genevieve’s words were honest yet they didn’t carry any of the old barbs. “Maybe we can all go together in a couple of weeks when he gets back.”

Anna seemed to still be examining her mother with her trademark scrutiny. “Mom, how come your shirt is inside out?”

Genevieve felt her face turn red. “It’s not inside out, is it?” She pulled at the side of her sleeveless, blue knit top to have a look. Sure enough. The seam was on the outside. “How embarrassing. I must have worn it this way to church.”

“It wasn’t inside out at church,” Anna said. “I would have noticed if it was.”

Genevieve couldn’t hide her blushing face from her daughters another minute. “I better turn it around.” She
hurried to the downstairs bathroom.

Closing the door, Genevieve looked at her red face in the mirror. She pressed her hands against her warm cheeks and looked into her sparkling gray eyes. Her hair was windblown from the ride. Dozens of wavy, sun-kissed strands had liberated themselves from the ponytail at the nape of her neck. They had positioned themselves around her face like a tangled cord of twinkle lights still hanging in there two weeks after Christmas.

Genevieve pursed her full, red lips together and commanded the surge of embarrassed, delighted laughter to go back down. She swallowed it like ball of caramel taffy and felt the sweetness go inside her.

Oh, this is rich!

Genevieve slipped off her shirt and turned it around. She smoothed back her hair and smiled at her enlivened reflection.

This is so rich. Anna caught us!

A tiny giggle escaped from her mouth.

I am in love! Completely, wildly in love! And the man I’m falling in love with is my husband!

O
n Monday morning, Steven was late getting out the door.

He and Genevieve had fallen asleep in each other’s arms, and when the alarm went off at 5
A
.
M
., he had awakened his wife with kisses on her bare shoulder.

Steven was determined to make eggs for breakfast because he had said he would. Genevieve worked beside him in the kitchen, brewing a pot of his special coffee blend. This morning she added extra cinnamon just because everything about this man was extra spicy.

The girls weren’t up yet when Steven reached for his travel coffee mug and kissed Genevieve good-bye. He kissed her and kissed her again. The expression on his face was one of agony as he touched her cheek with his free hand and gazed at her intently.

“I don’t know what you’ve done to me,” he said in a
deep voice. “But I hope I never recover.”

Genevieve kissed his cheek and then his earlobe. She was about to whisper, “I forgave you. I released you. I untied you and let you go.” But then she remembered how well those phrases had gone over the day before in the café.

Instead, she said simply, “God cleaned up my heart and flooded it with light.” She kissed his neck. “And that’s where I found something I thought I lost a long time ago …”

Steven pulled back and examined her expression.

“I found my love for you, and I’m not going to lose it again,” she said.

Steven smiled at Genevieve. “I’ll be back two weeks from tomorrow unless I can adjust my schedule.”

“I’ll be here waiting.” Genevieve handed him his captain’s hat. “Hurry home, my love.”

“I will.” He kissed her again before glancing at the clock on the wall. “Oh boy, I’ve got to fly.”

Genevieve smiled at the pun. “Yes, you do. Bye.”

“Bye.
Ciao, mon ami
.”

She stood in the middle of the kitchen wearing only her yellow fleece robe. Her skin still tingled from where his kisses had touched her that morning. Floating in the air was the subtle scent of his leather-toned aftershave mixed with cinnamon and French roast.

Instead of the old, sickening fears about their relationship as she drew in these mixed fragrances, a new, satisfying hope rose in her.
He’ll be back. We’ll have more wonderfully romantic times together. I have only begun to love my husband
.

Genevieve poured herself a cup of coffee and added
cream and sugar. She made herself comfortable in the rocking chair by the window that looked out on the backyard. Next to the rocker was her Bible. She opened to John 11 and read all the way through to the end of the book before she forced herself to pull away and take a shower. Leah was coming for breakfast at eight.

Dozens of questions, thoughts, and insights from what she had just read swam through her mind. She was glad that Leah was coming over. Genevieve didn’t want to wait until Wednesday to discuss these questions with the other women at the Bible study, and Leah was always open to talking about God.

The part Genevieve wanted to discuss was in John 20 after Jesus was resurrected from the dead. He told His disciples that if they forgave anyone’s sins, they would be forgiven, but if they retained anyone’s sins they would be retained. Those were powerful words. Genevieve wanted to know more about what Jesus meant.

However, the discussion of spiritual matters didn’t happen. The girls were both up and dressed by the time Leah arrived. Alissa had come a few minutes before Leah and was about to take Anna and Mallory swimming at the waterfalls near Camp Heather Brook. The girls had to go on a morning swim because the campers filled the lake area in the afternoon.

After Alissa and the girls left, Genevieve stuck a plate of the scrambled eggs Steven had made into the microwave and asked Leah if she wanted any toast.

“No, thanks. I’ll get myself some juice, if that’s okay.”

“Sure, help yourself.”

Leah placed a fat file folder on the kitchen table next to her plate of eggs, and as soon as Genevieve sat down, Leah jumped in. “This is what I wanted to show you—the plans for Glenbrooke Days.” Leah’s apple red cheeks glowed with excitement. “I’ve been talking to some of the older people around town, and you wouldn’t believe how much they want to see this happen.”

Leah pulled out a hand-written flyer and showed it to Genevieve. “We’ll have a flyer like this made up professionally, of course, but this will give you an idea. The first Saturday in October looks like the best day. We’ll close Main Street and bring back as many of the original events and booths as we can. It’s going to be great!”