Finding Eden (A Sign of Love Novel)(100)

An hour later, we were dressed and hand in hand as we looked through the shops in the lobby. Eden had her bangs brushed back, held by a wide, pale pink scarf tied in a knot at the back of her neck and sunglasses on. People still glanced her way, but I realized it was only because she was so pretty, not because anyone recognized her.
I had the same baseball cap on, but not much else in the way of a disguise. It seemed like enough. No one looked twice at me.
The weather was cool and crisp and we'd both brought jackets, but on that particular day, the sun was shining and it was warm enough to stroll to the casino a little ways away and eat lunch on the porch of a local restaurant.
My body relaxed, and so did my soul, finding peace and serenity in just being with Eden, enjoying our freedom. It'd taken all this time, and we finally had a small measure of it. Despite everything we'd lost, despite all the ways in which we'd both been stripped bare, we had each other and we could finally celebrate that. I could finally start letting myself believe that life held promise—for me, for her, for us.
That entire week we relaxed. We walked around enjoying the small town sites, we picked through tourist shops surprising each other with small trinkets we thought the other would like, we went horseback riding once, we made love whenever we wanted to, and we woke up every morning tangled in each other. It was heaven. Eden went to the spa once, and we swam in the large, picturesque indoor pool. As we lounged at the side, Eden pulled out a book and I squinted over at her, looking at the cover.
"His Rockin' Heart?" I asked, raising one brow.
Eden giggled, putting the book down on her stomach for a minute and looking over at me, her cheeks taking on a pink tinge. "It might sound like a silly title, but it's so good. And I haven't been able to read romance books all this time." Her expression took on a brief hint of sadness. "I just couldn't." She shook her head. "It hurt too much. That one I read at Kristi's, it was the last time I remember having hope." She paused for so long I wondered if she'd go on. "But now," she laid her head back on the lounger and bit her lip, "I can, and I enjoyed that first one. A lot." She smiled a flirty smile at me.
I thought back to that day at Kristi's apartment, to the sweet look of hope on Eden's face . . . our last truly happy moment before we were dragged back to hell. Looking at the same gentle, hopeful expression on her face now, caused gratitude to slam into my heart with such sudden force, I almost jolted. Somehow . . . somehow, we had found our way back. And I never, ever wanted that look to disappear from her beautiful face. I smiled back at her. "Oh I remember that book," I said. "It was a masterpiece."
Eden laughed. "Actually, after reading quite a bit these last few years, I've come to realize that was actually a really bad book." She brought her voice to a dramatic whisper on the last three words.
I cocked one eyebrow. "Who says? Not me, that's for sure. Whatever the highest rating is, that's what I give that work of art."
"Five stars." She grinned.
"Five life-changing, extremely satisfied stars," I said, smirking and raising both brows.
Eden laughed. "We'll have to hope this one measures up, then." She smiled flirtatiously at me again and went back to reading.
Later, we strolled the grounds and talked about where we saw our life going. I would call a couple galleries when we got back and Eden would pick up her piano lessons. We'd buy a new Bed of Healing and we'd hire someone to clean up and repair my trashed apartment so I could hand it back over to the guy who'd rented it to me. Then we'd find a new one in a better part of town, one we both picked out together. I'd buy the most high-tech alarm system on the market. And I'd marry my girl. I didn't mention that part to her again, but in my mind, it was my first priority when we got back. I wouldn't be able to afford a very fancy ring right away, but I didn't think Eden would mind.