Page 59 of The Pakhan's Arranged Bride
I’m wearing comfortable walking shoes, a bright pink summer dress, and a soft blue jacket as we walk into the Pike Place Market, a farmer’s market, light with bright, colorful lights, buzzing with atmosphere. Music is playing from a live band somewhere and there are crowds of people enjoying the fresh evening air.
Benedikt slips his hand into mine and we roam the stalls, tasting various street foods, enjoying the flavors and each other’s company.
After exploring for a while, Benedikt and I find a spot to sit with our feet hanging over the edge of a high wall as we enjoy a cup of hot chocolate and watch the people move back and forth, enjoying their night.
It’s late when we get back to the hotel, and the full day of activities and adventures has me exhausted.
We climb into bed and my heart is full and the smile on my face doesn’t want to fade.
Benedikt wraps his arm around me and pulls me close to his side. I snuggle against him, enjoying his warmth.
“Why didn’t you ever take anyone else to see the waterfall?” I ask.
“Because I knew it was special,” he shrugs.
“I don’t understand.”
His eyes drift to my face. “There are some things in your life that you know are special. Too special to waste or ruin by sharing them with just anyone. I knew that one day I would want to have a special memory with someone who was close to my heart—and that would be the person I take to see the waterfall.”
My throat tightens and I can’t find words to answer him.
That person was me.
I was that special person.
“Don’t you have a place like that?” he asks. “A place or something you’d only want to share with a specific person?”
I bite my lip, thinking, but the last few years of my life have been hell—all because of a certain monster.
“I haven’t had time to think about meeting someone special or what I’d want to share with them.”
“I guess you’re still young, thinking about adventures, not love,” he muses.
“It’s not that. I always wanted love. I wanted to know what it felt like—but there have been things stopping me from being able to let go enough to—to let my walls down. Um,” I start stammering, panicking because I’m saying way too much. I’m not the type of person to spill my heart like this.
I huff out a sharp breath and change the subject. “That lobster roll we had tonight was amazing. I wonder if the chef can make the same thing at home.”
Benedikt goes quiet for a moment and I tense, waiting for him to demand to know what I was talking about before. But instead, he lets me distract him.
“I’ll message him tomorrow and tell him to start looking for a recipe. It can be our Friday night tradition,” he laughs.
I smile in relief, grateful that he’s allowed me the space to feel safe with him.
Although he’s holding me very close and I’m sure after spoiling me the entire time since we arrived in Seattle, he’s going to want something in return. Again, I stiffen, tense, wondering if he expects that of me now.
His hand drifts up and down my back, gently brushing over my T-shirt.
“It’s been an incredible day, Ulyana. I’m really happy I got to spend it with you.”
“Me too,” I smile, waiting for the demands.
But they don’t come.
Instead, he starts chatting about how his sister used to love Pike Market when they came here together. And how we should probably invite her for dinner when the chef makes those lobster rolls.
We chat until it’s late, and then he kisses the top of my head and whispers, “Good night, little fox. I’ll see you in the morning.”
I watch him close his eyes and drift easily to sleep.
