Page 61 of Tart
I frowned at his words. “I hope you didn’t pay a lot extra for the safety factor,” I said. “Eventually, this won’t be my house anymore.”
He stood and held out his hand, helping me up. “Don’t worry about what I paid for it. It’s a wedding gift.”
“Wedding gift?”
He nodded. “Two, actually. They’re outside. Come on.”
I followed him out the patio door, which now had a gently sloping ramp from the doors to the first tier of the deck. I gasped when I took the whole thing in from the angle where I stood. “Bishop, this is beautiful.”
“I’m glad you like it,” he said grinning. “I tiered it so we could keep the grill separate from the eating area. Check this out,” he said, holding up his finger for me to wait. He walked up the ramp to the larger seating area and grabbed a crank that opened a large umbrella and dropped it down over the table, creating lovely shade even during the hottest part of the day.
“We’re going to use the heck out of that all summer,” I said, leaning on my crutches. “Great forethought on your part.”
“It breaks down in the winter, which means we can store it away, and it won’t be damaged by snow and ice,” he explained, walking back toward me.
“What’s over there?” I asked, pointing to the last tier of the deck covered with a tarp.
He helped me up the ramp and across to the covered tier that looked out over the lake. “Close your eyes.”
“Bishop,” I said, exasperated, but he waited until I followed his orders. I heard rustling, and then he told me to open. When I did, I gasped, tears instantly filling my eyes. “This is so gorgeous.”
He helped me up the ramp to the separated deck that was not only perfectly placed to gaze over the lake, but it had a brick fire pit in the center. New Adirondack chairs sat around the pit that was already set up with the wood for the next fire.
“Is this safe?” I asked in a whisper as I inspected the beautiful brick fireplace.
“Absolutely,” he said, patting the inside of the firepit. “Chris purchased the kit to meet the standards. As you can see, it’s sitting on a base, so it doesn’t damage the new decking either.”
“What possessed you to put the firepit up here?” I asked in surprise, running my hand over the brick.
“It’s higher, so we can see the lake better over the crest of the hill, each corner of the deck has a spot for citronella candles to fight off the bugs, and since we aren’t on the grass, they’ll bother us less. It’s also easier for you to navigate than the uneven terrain of the yard. I want you to find solace and happiness here without worrying about falling or hurting yourself on your crutches.”
I dropped my crutches and put my arms around him, loving the way he picked me up around the waist and buried his nose in my neck. “Thank you,” I whispered, my voice choked. “It’s moments like these when I don’t want to think about not being part of your life and your home. I know eventually, I will have to leave, but between last night and today, you’ve made that exponentially harder.”
He laughed into my neck, raising goosebumps on my skin. “My evil plan is working then.” He set me back on my feet, and before I could object, he captured my lips with his and suckled, teased, licked, and kissed until I was wet with desire and pressed against him to feel his own need between us.
“We should go take a nap,” I murmured around his lips. “I’ll give you a proper thank-you.”
He laughed against my lips and then kissed my nose. “We aren’t done with wedding gifts, and we have plans.”
I shook my head a bit at him. “You shouldn’t be buying me gifts, Bishop. I didn’t know wedding gifts was a thing.”
“Well, in your defense, you didn’t have much notice that you were getting married, so you’re exempt.” He grinned and picked up my crutches, handing them back to me. “We’ll have a fire later, but for now, we have somewhere to be.”
“We do?” I asked, and he nodded, motioning me back to the house. I crutched up to the patio doors and inside. “The ramps make it much easier on the crutches,” I said, lowering myself to the chair. “I don’t know if I can do much more moving around, Bishop. My arm is sore from using the crutches again. Normally, I only use one under the right arm to avoid the pressure on my left one, but that’s impossible right now.”
He nodded and kissed my cheek. “I know and that brings me to your final wedding present. They came yesterday while we were gone, and I found them in the garage this morning. Hang tight.”
He disappeared, and I wondered what on earth he was talking about now. I rubbed my forehead and sighed. I didn’t want to go anywhere other than to bed. I was exhausted, and the idea of crutching around for another few hours was almost too much to bear. I could handle a night out around the campfire, but I wasn’t sure I could force my body to move much further than that. I had a busy week coming up with work, interviews, and finishing the office at the bakery. I had to rest a little bit, and something told me I’d find myself in his bed again tonight.
My mind raced to the package being delivered from Amazon tomorrow, and I smiled. Maybe I had a wedding gift for him after all. Time would tell. I heard the door close again, and then he was walking back into the room with a long rectangular cardboard box. He set it on end and held it out for me to take.
“What’s this?”
“Open it and find out,” he said, holding the box, so I could stand up and balance while popping the tucked in flaps open. I peeked inside, but I still couldn’t tell what they were as I pulled them out of the box. The white sticks were confusing until he pulled out the rest and put them together.
“What am I looking at?” I asked in confusion. “They look like forearm crutches, but they can’t be.”
“They aren’t,” he assured me, holding them out for me. “They’re a new crutch designed out of the UK. They use your elbows and forearms to balance your weight rather than under your arms. Haylee told me you might have fewer problems with these since the injury to your arm ended above your elbow.”
