Free Of Body And Soul by L. J. Valentine

we can plan your trip and by then, we’ll have a wedding date.”
    Grayson embraced Andrea. "You won't be sorry, dear."
    “ I know,” she said.
     
    CHAPTER EIGHT
    When Kurt and Andrea boarded the plane, this time they sat together.  
    "It's extraordinary, isn't it?" He laughed as he massaged the palm of her hand.                
    "Extraordinary isn't the word. I never dreamed I could be so happy."                            
    “ When we're married, every day will be like this."   
    "Promise me?"    
    "Yes, I promise you," he replied. Now, tell me why this sudden change of heart?"
    “We ll," she hedged. "You remember last night, when I went to the powder room, claiming I had had too much champagne. I used that as an excuse to get away from you."
    "Get away from me?" he frowned. "Why? What did I do or say to offend you?"
    "It wasn't about you. It was me. I couldn't control my feelings for you and it frightened me."
    "But I noticed a big change in you, when you returned to the table."
    " I met . . . ." Just then the steward arrived with their lunch trays. They looked around the plane and realized everyone was busy pulling their trays down and placing their seats erect.
    "See what we do to each other!" he teased. "We don't know anyone else exists."
    They lifted their glasses of Diet Coke and toasted each other.
    "Getting back to my story, I met Grayson, and she helped me with my decision."
    "I don't understand. What decision?"
    "Well, to make a long story short, she made me realize, that if we're in love, why waste time! A year can be a lifetime. Even six months is too long when you're separated from the one you love."
    "I fully agree with this wonderful lady. When do I meet her?"
    "If possible, the weekend after next. And then, she'll fly back as soon as we give her an exact wedding date."
    "Why bother waiting? Why don't we get married the weekend after next? Is that too soon?" He looked at her with such intensity; she found it hard to speak.
                  “I’d like that but. . . . .”
                  “But what? You’re not backing out are you?” he asked.
                  “No of course not. It’s just . . . we don’t even know where we’re going to live. And don’t you have to get a job?"
    "With my background, I'll get a job in no time flat. And I have a beautiful home in a small village about twenty miles southeast of Albany."
    “It’s in Kinderhook, New York, isn’t it?”
    "Yes. How did you know that?"
    "You told me the first time we met. At the time, I couldn’t believe it. As a child, I dreamed of living there. My favorite street faces the park and the gazebo. I dreamed I’d sit on my porch and listen to the music and a handsome boy would walk past my house and ask to sit and talk with me."
    "You are such a romantic." He put his arm around her and kissed her soundly.
    "When we get to my house, I'll show you the paintings I have of the village. Two of my paintings have received recognition. One is of Chatham Street, with the mansions and the oak trees. The oak trees hammock over the street to the other side, as if they held hands in order to join the village together.                           
    "The other painting is of the park and gazebo. I've painted the village in the dead of wi nter and also in the summer with the geraniums, daffodils, and roses in full bloom. I captured the red maples, white birch, and oak trees spreading their branches like they were eager to embrace anyone who walked down the streets of their village. You can almost hear the village speak to you.
    "As I painted, I sometimes felt as if the ghosts of Benedict Arnold and President Martin Van Buren peered over my shoulder. I felt they needed to make sure I captured their village in its splendor. I knew then that someday I’d live in their village.
    “You may want to redecorate. I have a lot of antiques.”
    "I have