I was starting to think that everything was going to be okay again. Jeanine was curled up on her side and she hadn’t had too many questions and that was a good thing. With the way my life was going right now, less questions were better. I knew that I still had to come clean to Jeanine, but I still didn’t think she was ready for that. This was usually not how I was, I didn't worry about anything, but dealing with Jeanine was different. She wasn't from here and I could just stronger-arm her like I could someone else.

She woke up after a few minutes of me looking at her and she smiled at me. My heart melted a little bit and again I wanted to give her a kiss and tell her good morning as my wife. I wanted to shout it from the rooftops, tell everyone, but I couldn't even tell her. So how could I tell anybody else?

I thought about the ring that was burning a hole in my pocket, and how the hell I was going to bring that up. I didn't know how I was going to do it and it never seemed like the right time. I knew that I was just going to have to let things go and see how it worked out, but I really wasn't that sort of person. I like to be in control. I liked to control things so that they worked out the way I wanted. If I had my hands in something, it just always seemed to work out better for me.

“Good morning Craig.”

“Good morning baby. Did you sleep well?”

She told me that she did, but I could see that there was still something missing in her eyes. Ever since we had that conversation yesterday, things have been a little bit different between us.

“So, what do you want to do today Jeanine?”

She shrugged and told me that she didn't care. I think that it had a lot to do with her outburst yesterday, because she had been a lot more mellow ever sense. Jeanine was embarrassed by the way she acted, whereas, I was still wondering what that meant for us. If she wasn't thinking about marriage, children, or moving here, where was this all supposed to go?

“I know a few places that would be nice. It has been a long time since I've been out to the southern coast, and it might be nice for us to go together. There aren’t as many people, and we would have some time together, so that we could talk.”

She agreed, but didn’t say anymore. I was starting to think that Jeanine was holding a lot in, and I wanted to know what. Whether she knew it or not, she was my life now and I wanted her to be happy.

The ring that had been burning a hole in my pocket, I decided to take with me. I don't know why, but for some reason I was convinced that today was the day to give it to her. I was going to give it to her under false pretense, so that she wouldn't get his irritated about it.

Lisbeth had already noticed that she didn’t have her wedding ring on and I knew that others would as well. We had church in the morning and I didn't want to have to explain it not on her finger like with the maid. I didn't want to have to explain anything, but I knew that if you didn't answer questions, they were going to think whatever they want to do and sometimes it was worse. I had a reputation to withhold in this town.

We got dressed and it wasn’t like yesterday morning. We didn't have sex and even though I wanted to come out about the marriage and say it, I wanted to put it off at the same time. There was so much up in the air now but every time I touched her, every time I made love to her, I just made it worse. What if she really was going to go home and we weren’t going to see each other again? The idea of it, made my throat close up a little bit.

She got out of the shower and got dressed. She did so right in front of me and I think in a way, she was teasing me. I wasn't going to take the bait though. There was a lot on my mind and sex was only going to cloud it up even more. I needed a clear head, so that I could get myself a clear conscience.

“What do you want to do with breakfast?”

She barely touched her plate in front of her and I asked if she wasn’t hungry. She’d been quiet and Jeanine was acting different than what I was used to.

“I'm done Craig. I never was much of a big breakfast person.”

I told her that I didn't know that, and I made a mental note to tell Lisbeth that she didn’t need to make the effort any more. If all she wanted was coffee and some toast, it was good that Lisbeth got used to what the woman of the house wanted. I know that she wasn't sure about the situation, but at the end of day, she was my maid. I know that her family knew my family, but I couldn't let her step over bounds this time.

We left out of the house and instead of walking everywhere like I usually do, I wanted to go a little bit further and we got in my car. She hadn't seen it before, because it was parked in the back and she smiled at me.

“As much as I love the weather here, I am glad to see something with some air conditioning, I'm not going to lie.”

“It has been so long since I've been in America and witnessed air conditioning. I guess you just, get used to it after a while, because when I visit America now, everything seems cold. You go into a gas station and you think you're going to freeze to death.”

She agreed, but I had a feeling that she would rather freeze to death, than bake alive like we did sometimes. But instead of saying anything about it, Jeanine just smiled as I turned it up and let the air blow in her face. It was the first smile I'd had seen since last night and it was one that I was going to treasure.

We went to the coast and it took about an hour to get there. I had a place out there, that had plenty of vineyards and just beautiful sceneries, that I hoped she would find as compelling as I did. I was trying to get her to stay here, which meant that I had to show her all the reasons that she should.

I could've gone anywhere, especially with education that I had, but I came back home. This was the only place I wanted to be, and there were more reasons than my job and what that entailed. It was the water, the air, the color of everything. I wanted her to see it the same way.

“So where are we Craig?”

“This is my second house, I guess what you Americans would call a summer house. Really, I come out here when the weather is good, and I want to get away for a little bit. It is extra helpful when my phone doesn’t work because then I don’t get pulled away all the time.”

“What happens to your clients?”

“They find someone else, or they wait. It’s just that simple.”

“Oh.”

There was no telling what was going on in her mind, but I pulled it away from the subject and tried to connect her to the land, if that meant later, connecting with me. I was willing to try anything at the moment. I didn’t want to say that I was desperate, but it wouldn’t be too far off.

“You have a very strange life Craig. You know, that right?”

“I wouldn't say that Jeanine. Maybe it seems strange from where you come from, but here it is normal. You would not believe how many times I got to go in the middle of the night to take care of something.”

“Like last night?”

I pressed my lips together and turned away. Jeanine wanted to know everything, but in reality, she really didn't need to. The things that she was thinking of, the thoughts going through her head, were not at all correct. She needed to understand that I kept certain things from here because it was for her safety, not mine.

“Just trust me when I tell you that you don't have to ever worry about it.”

I can tell that Jeanine did not like that answer at all, but there was nothing else I could say. She hadn't even thought about staying here, so how could I bring her into my world? I didn't even know if she was going to stay now.