Mrs. Matched | Complete

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chris somehow took away the awkwardness, filling our drive with chatter about our childhoods. He told me about his siblings and cooking with his mom and I told him all about prep school and the time I was in a parade.

"Wait so you really pushed her off the float?" Chris's jaw slackened and he turned to face me.

"Eyes on the road, Mister. But yes, I actually did. What else could I do? She pushed her gum into my dress!"

"I mean, you could have just... not pushed her off a moving vehicle."

"In my defense, I was six and it was barely moving."

"Who did I marry?" He placed his hand to his chest in mock despair.

"Aubrey, remember?" I couldn't wipe the smile off my face, despite my best efforts.

"Right. Aubrey, violent parade lady."

"I was six."

He poked fun at me and for some reason it didn't bother me how it usually did when dates made fun of me. Is it because we're married and we're uncomfortable or because we're married and I'm getting comfortable? Either way it was a nice change from my usual self-conscious rock in my stomach. I genuinely enjoyed the journey and it seemed he did too. I was glad I'd agreed to go camping.

The drive grew quiet a second time as we entered the wooded area of the mountains. The low fog encompassed the car, but I could still see the thick pine trees that lined the narrowing road.

"Is this where you take me to die? Because if it is, I feel I should tell you that Mel knows where I am."

"No," he chuckled and narrowed his eyes, looking along the left side of the trees. "No, this is where I take you to the cabin, if I can find the driveway."

"Was that it?" I pointed to a road on the left.

"No."

"Are you sure?"

The car had crawled almost to a stop. "No." He sighed. "I'm sorry. This was supposed to be fun and now we aren't even there and I'm already lost."

"You're kinda cute when you're nervous."

He shoots me a glare and then turns back to the road.

"Seriously, dude. It's fine. Do you have a map?" I reached across the console and gave his shoulder a small squeeze when he didn't answer me.

"I do. In the glove compartment." The fog thickened and the car sped up. "But there's no need. I see it."

When we finally rounded the last bend and pulled up in front of the 'cabin,' I thought it must have been a joke he was pulling or a stop along the way. Because it was in no way something I would call a cabin. First, it was almost as big as our house and second, it looked even fancier than my parents' place.

I was in the car staring at it and saying nothing, waiting for Chris to hit me with the punch line to the joke. It wasn't until he started unpacking the car that I realized we must have actually arrived.

"This is the cabin?" I slammed the car door behind me with more force than I intended. "You have to be joking, right?"

Chris shook his head and reached for my hand. "Yes, this is the cabin. Do you want to see it?"

"Uh, yes!" I couldn't have kept the excitement out of my voice if I tried. That, mixed with the fact that my hand had found his, was pulling my heart right out of my chest. Maybe I can just stay in this for a little longer. I mean, I don't have to give it up right away. I could just enjoy the ride.

He gently pulled my hand to lead me to the small front porch and carved wooden door. I carefully inhaled the scent of fresh pine and recent rain while he unlocked the door and deftly turned on the lights, allowing me to step inside.

The interior is spacious and bright, despite the trees and fog lining the mountainside. "This is not a cabin. This is a full-blown house."

"Well, it is made of wood, so I get to call it a cabin."

"Well, there's marble on the counters, so I get to call it a house."

"That's fair." His laugh fills the cabin and echoes back to us off the ceilings which must be twice as high as a normal house. I wandered the room, still holding onto his hand as he told me about the giant logs which looked at least as large as I was and how his grandfather had built it from trees he cleared from the land. Or maybe it was his great-grandfather. I was too preoccupied with the fireplace surrounded by stones carrying all the way up until where the chimney met the roof.

"No way someone made that fireplace with just his hands."

"I'm pretty sure he also had a ladder."

"Well, aren't you a funny one." I ran my hand along the smooth marble of the kitchen countertops, admiring the double oven and abundance of fancy appliances. "It looks like a chef lives here." I said aloud, looking back at Chris. I guess one sort of does.

Once we rounded the corner into the large open family room, everything else seemed like a minor detail as I came face to face with a wall made entirely of windows. I could see everything just as clearly as I could if I were standing outside the house.

"Wow," I gasped as the light peeked up over the foothills and shone through the window, casting shadows on my face.

"Yeah, it's really something, isn't it?"

"Was that there from the beginning?" I asked him, pointing to the wall. "Or did you add that?"

"That was actually added by a nice old man I bought it from."

My face must have shown my confusion because he explained without my having to ask.

"My grandfather had to sell it when he fell into some money troubles. A story for another day. The nice man who bought it liked to paint and he said this is where he created his best work. So he added the wall of windows. I think it's a good addition."

"It's an amazing addition," I said, still admiring every part of the rugged landscape just beyond our walls. "But how did you end up getting it back? Did your dad?"

"No, that was me," he said. "I've always liked the mountains so when I found out this house used to be in the family, I made that nice painter an offer he couldn't refuse."

"You sound like you're in the mob," I laughed out loud. "Or maybe just like you massively overpaid."

"Definitely the first one."

"Oh, I hope not. I've always wanted a quiet life."

"Me, too." He paused and I almost filled the silence with more commentary, but something told me to wait, so I let the silence fill the room up like a balloon.

"I didn't mean to show this to you, actually. This was meant to be just kept in the family for me to visit every once in a while when you wanted a girl's weekend or something." His lip pulls up in a smile. "But it seemed like an adventure worth having. Once I met you, that is."

The weight of what was coming weighed heavy on my heart. Deciding what to do with this marriage I didn't ask for was growing harder and harder with each passing day and I was starting to believe my parents knew what they were doing when they set these tasks and this time frame.

That sounds just like them.