“Your ribs?”
“Fine.”
“Shoulder?”
“Fine.”
“Are you lying?”
“Yes.”
She laughed.
“Inside.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Their marriage changed quietly after that.
Gideon moved his belongings from bedroom.
Adelaide refused to move immediately.
“What?”
he asked.
“You assumed.”
His face fell.
“You're right.”
“I’m sorry.”
She smiled.
“I want to.”
He blinked.
“But I want another bed.”
He looked confused.
“What’s wrong with mine?”
“It was built for one narrow man.”
Gideon glanced toward frame.
Then at Adelaide.
Understanding.
“I’ll build.”
“Together.”
“Your shoulder—”
“You tell me what to lift.”
“I’ll tell you what to stop lifting.”
They built a new bed.
Wide.
Heavy.
Reinforced beneath with thick cedar beams.
Adelaide sanded headboard.
Gideon assembled frame.
When completed, it occupied most of bedroom.
Gideon stared.
“We built a barn.”
Adelaide sat on mattress.
It held.
She bounced once deliberately.
Gideon looked alarmed.
She laughed.
“Coward.”
Their first night sharing that bed was tender, awkward, sometimes funny.
Adelaide’s confidence disappeared when clothing did.
She turned away.
Gideon noticed.
“Adelaide.”
“Don't.”
“I wasn't going to say anything.”
“That is worse.”
He waited.
She sat on edge of bed in a thin cotton nightdress.
The fabric traced every curve she usually tried to disguise.
Her enormous thighs.
Her stomach.
Her arms.
Her breasts.
She looked down.
“You've seen me.”
“Yes.”
“Not like this.”
“No.”
“And?”
Gideon frowned.
“And what?”
She hated asking.
“Do you regret wanting me?”
His face changed.
He crouched in front of her despite healing ribs.
“Look at me.”
She did.
“No.”
“That fast?”
“Yes.”
“You don't have to pretend.”
“I spent months pretending I didn't want you.”
“I am tired of pretending.”
Adelaide’s throat tightened.
Gideon touched her hand.
“May I tell you something?”
“Yes.”
“I like that you're soft.”
She closed eyes.
“Gideon.”
“I like your face.”
“Your arms.”
“Your hips.”
“The way you fill the bed.”
She opened eyes.
His expression held no joke.
No pity.
“I like you.”
“All of you.”
Adelaide whispered:
“I don't know how to believe that.”