The Stranger I Married

Chapter 13: The Outing

They drove for another hour.

The landscape changed—fields gave way to scattered houses, then to the outskirts of a city larger than Bellhaven but still small enough to feel welcoming. Alex found a spot near the centre and parked.

"Where to first?" Eve asked as they stepped out.

He looked down the street, then back at her. "I don't know. I didn't plan this."

"That's the point."

"Right." He smiled. "That's the point."

He reached for her hand before she could take a step—his fingers finding hers, warm and sure. Eve felt the surprise of it, the way his palm fit against hers.

They walked that way for a while, hand in hand, through the busy streets. The rhythm of it was easy—their strides matching, their arms swinging together.

They passed a bookshop with a display of old hardcovers in the window. Alex told her about the library at Beaumont Manor, the one he hadn't finished restoring yet.

"It sounds beautiful," she said.

"It will be. When it's finished."

She tilted her head. "When will that be?"

He shrugged, a rueful smile tugging at his mouth. "I keep meaning to get back to it. But the wedding planning took over my life for months."

Eve glanced at him. "That bad?"

He laughed. "You have no idea. Victoria changed the venue three times. Three different venues, Eve. Each one required new contracts, new deposits, new everything."

She winced. "That sounds exhausting."

"It was. And the cake—" He shook his head. "I lost count of how many cake designs we went through. She'd find something she loved, then a week later she'd find something else she loved more."

Eve laughed softly. "And you survived?"

"Barely." He glanced at her, a wry smile on his face. "I kept telling myself it would all be worth it on the day. That once we were married, things would settle down."

"But they didn't."

"No." He shook his head slowly. "They didn't."

They walked a few steps in silence. The street was busy around them, but the noise seemed to fade.

Eve squeezed his hand. "I'm sorry."

He looked at her. "For what?"

"For all of it. The stress. The chaos. The way she made you feel like you had to keep up with something that was never going to be enough."

He was quiet for a moment. Then he stopped walking.

Eve stopped with him.

He turned to face her. "If I'd gone through with that wedding—" He shook his head. "I would have stood at that altar on Saturday, promising forever to someone who never really saw me."

Eve was quiet.

"I don't think she loved me. Not really. She loved what I could give her." His voice was steady, but there was something underneath it—not anger, not bitterness. Just recognition. "I was just the person who made her future possible."

He paused, looking down at their joined hands.

"I had suspicions, you know. For a while." He shook his head slowly. "Little things. The way she'd light up talking about events we were invited to. The way she'd push for certain connections. The way she'd look past me when she was talking about our future—like I was just the person who made it happen."

Eve waited.

"I put it down to nerves." A rueful smile touched his mouth. "Committing to one person for the rest of your life—that's a big thing. I told myself she was just anxious. That once we were married, she'd settle. That I was being paranoid."

He looked at Eve.

"Then I walked into The Lantern, and you looked at me like I was just a person. Not a transaction. Not a stepping stone." His voice dropped. "That was enough."

He lifted her hand and pressed a soft kiss to her knuckles.

"You rescued me, Eve. You have no idea."

She stared at him. The warmth of his lips still lingered on her skin.

"I didn't rescue you," she said softly. "I just—"

"You just saw me." He smiled. "That was enough."

She didn't know what to say. So she didn't say anything. She just squeezed his hand and started walking again, pulling him gently along with her.

They passed a small café with tables spilling out onto the pavement. A street musician was playing something slow and unfamiliar on a guitar. Eve's fingers tightened around Alex's when the music caught her attention.

"You like to dance," he said.

She glanced at him, a smile playing at her lips. "I do."

"How did I not know that?"

"Because it hasn't come up yet." She shrugged. "Years of dance classes. My grandmother insisted."

"All of it?"

"Most of it." She laughed. "She said every woman should know how to move like she belongs in a room."

"That sounds like good advice."

"It was."

He studied her. "Ballroom?"

"Among other things."

"How many other things?"

She glanced at him, a teasing glint in her eyes. "Why do you want to know?"

"Because I'm curious about my wife."

The word landed between them—wife. She looked away, but the smile remained.

"Enough to keep up with you," she said.

"Are you sure about that?"

She looked at him, her smile deepening. "You'll have to wait and see."

He raised an eyebrow. "Will I?"

She nodded slowly. "You'll have to discover everything about me in time. All the layers."

He stopped walking.

She stopped with him.

"Discover," he repeated.

"Mm-hmm."

"That sounds like a challenge."

She tilted her head. "It is."

"And you're giving it to me?"

"I'm inviting you. There's a difference."

He studied her for a moment. The morning light caught her face, and something in his expression shifted—softer, more serious.

"And what do I get when I discover everything?"

She held his gaze. "You get me. All of me. The parts I don't show anyone else."

He was quiet for a moment. Then he lifted her hand and pressed a soft kiss to her knuckles.

"Then I guess I have my work cut out for me."