Free Making Me Believe by Kirsten Osbourne

showed him the picture.”
    Sarah sighed. “I wish I knew the answer to that. I think he probably needs time to think about how he wants to talk about it. No matter what she was, he loved her. And Alex doesn’t do anything halfway.”
    *****
    Tax season was finally over and Rose was able to cut back her obscene hours at work. They’d been married four weeks, and Rose felt like they were drifting further and further apart. She was sure that Alex felt like he’d made a mistake to rush into marriage with her, but she felt just the opposite. She loved him more every day.
    As she started spending more time at home, she realized just how much time he was spending locked away in the home office they’d set up.
    Finally, she asked him what he was doing in there.
    He looked startled. “I’m planning our house. I thought you knew.” He’d worked hard every night to get it just perfect. They’d be ready to look for a home site soon.
    “Really? May I see what you’ve done so far?” she asked tentatively.
    “Of course!” He grabbed her hand and pulled her into the office. “Have you ever looked at a blue print?” he asked.
    “Not really.”
    He pointed out the features that would interest her most. “The master bedroom is here. There are two large walk-in closets. I’ve drawn the bathroom with a separate bath tub and shower. I’ve drawn a separate alcove for the toilet with its own door so that we don’t have to worry about walking in on each other.”
    She nodded. “That bathroom looks huge!” She loved big bathrooms.
    “I thought you’d like that. If you want me to change something, just let me know.”
    “So far so good. How many bedrooms are there total?”
    “Five bedrooms and three baths. I put one bedroom right next to the master. I thought we could use it for a nursery. Then the other bedrooms are across the house for when the kids get older.”
    “So you’re still willing to have five kids?” she asked with a grin. She’d been unsure what he wanted from her for a while.
    “Why wouldn’t I be?” he asked surprised.
    She studied him for a moment wondering if this was the time to bring up how she’d been feeling. “You’ve just seemed a little distant since we got back from Vegas.”
    He pulled her down into his lap. “I’m sorry I’ve seemed that way. I don’t mean to be distant.” She was his whole world. He didn’t want to give any woman the kind of power over him that saying that would, though, so he remained silent.
    “I was starting to worry that you regret our marriage,” she said softly.
    He sighed. “I don’t regret our marriage at all. We got married fast, and need to take time to get to know one another a lot better, but I don’t regret our marriage. I’m sorry that I made you think that.” He hadn’t meant to make her feel insecure. He wanted to kick himself for hurting her that way.
    She snuggled into him, burying her face into his shoulder. She felt like he knew everything in the world about her, but he’d completely closed off a couple years of his life from her. The years with Jill in them. She didn’t want to bring that up now, though. It was too nice to just sit with him and talk about their future.
    “We only really had those two days alone together when we went to Vegas. Since we got back, I feel like all we’ve done is work. How would you feel about taking a long weekend somewhere?” he asked. “I don’t feel like we’ve had the time we need to truly talk. And spend entire days making love of course. We need that.”
    She smiled. “That sounds nice. Where are you thinking about going?”
    “Maybe a cabin on a lake somewhere? I’d rather go in May, before school is out and the family traffic gets in. And before the oppressive Texas heat makes actually being outside not much fun. Unless you’d prefer to go somewhere like Vegas or Branson?”
    “No, a lake sounds great. I like the idea of actually having some time alone. Of course, it means I’ll have