(Cole)
Lena had been asleep for most of the afternoon.
I had checked on her twice without making it obvious and both times she had been out, the blanket pulled up, her breathing even. The soreness was easing according to her but I knew she was managing more than she was letting on. She did that. Carried things quietly and reported back only what she thought was necessary.
I was learning to read the gaps.
By early evening she was up, moving carefully around the kitchen while I finished the dishes, and I watched her from the corner of my eye and thought about something I had been turning over since the hospital.
We hadn't talked about the wedding.
Not properly. Not beyond the brief mentions in passing since the proposal. There had been too much happening for it to go anywhere real.
I
