Page 59 of Cinnamon Strudel
“I’d love that very much.”
Morgan
“So, I need honest feedback. How did you feel about today?” Ruby asked once they drove off.
“Good.” He threw her the sweetest of smiles, hand on her thigh and his thumb softly caressing her tights. “Really good.”
“I know it was a lot to take in, but you also looked comfortable. I just wanted to make sure I didn’t push you too hard.”
“Itwasa lot, but you and your family took a lot of the pressure away. First with the video and then smaller things like reminding Jude to use her voice. You created an atmosphere where I didn’t feel like a bother.”
Ruby dropped her hand to his and laced their fingers together. “I hope I—we—never make you feel that way.”
He let his head roll back, shut his eyes, and let it all sink in. “Funny how things turned out. When you asked me out, I told you not to pity me. Now look at how wonderfully you and your family have accepted me.”
“And I was so scared. I’ve never been the one to take the first step.”
“I’m glad you did. I couldn’t ask for more in a partner than what you have shown me so far.”
“Just wait until we have our first fight,” she giggled.
“You mean when we take off our rose-tinted glasses and return to brutal honest reality?” He rotated his hand, palm up, and accepted the way Ruby’s fit right into it. “How do you want us to handle disagreements?”
“Good question, give me a moment.” He did, taking advantage of the silence to drum up his own response. “I guess I’ve never had a healthy way of having a disagreement. In the past we both screamed and said hurtful things, but none of that ended in a solution. It would always get thrown back in our faces the next time we argued.”
“So, how about when that happens, we take a step back and cool down. Then we can come back to the conversation with clear heads.”
“Maybe even try a way to figure it out before it even gets heated?”
“Do you have a suggestion?”
“Well, now that I think about it, I always let smaller things slide that I didn’t agree with or that made me feel invalidated. It would pile up and then one tiny thing would snowball into something much bigger. I want to work on addressing things right away.”
“I think that’s a wonderful goal. If you have something on your chest, I’ll promise to listen and work on it. I’m pretty straight forward.”
“Maybe seeing you do it will help me get better at it.”
“Ah, so I’ll be your role model. No pressure there. Would it make it easier if we sat down every now and then to touch base with each other? I mean it doesn’t have to be big but maybe the way I cook your favourite dish isn’t to your liking or you would prefer if we matched outfits more.”
“I like that, but only under the condition that we don’t have to find something negative if there isn’t any.”
His heart fluttered in a way he never wanted to miss again. “Perfect.”
“I also have a question concerning Blue.”
“Shoot.”
“You usually do all the things to take care of him, and I know he isyourservice dog, but if you ever need me to, am I allowed to do things like walk him or feed him?”
“Of course. I’m sure he’ll enjoy the break from me.”
“I didn’t want to interfere with anything.”
“You won’t and if I feel that you are, we’ll sit down and talk about it without judgement or fear.”
“God, this sounds so dreamy. It makes me realise how toxic everything truly was with Rick.”
“We—what we have—won’t always run smoothly. There will be times we might take a step back and need a break because we annoy each other. But I truly hope that even in those days, we return and see eye-to-eye. It’s hard to always agree, and disagreement doesn’t mean we like each other less. It’s just an opportunity for us to grow.”
