Robert was finishing the preparations for tomorrow. It was finally the day of Rosamund's wedding. He was anxious to see what she would look like. She had kept her mouth shut about her dress, he didn't even know what Marmaduke was wearing.
The last week had gone by in a blur. He had thought a lot about Cora. But the evening of her last attack Adeline had come by and took over the care for Cora. He wasn't needed and felt he was pushing in.
His heart was with her and he wanted to know how she felt. But at the same time, he didn't want to push in. Cora didn't owe him anything. He tried to focus on his work again, but he kept trailing off. The events of that evening came to mind and he felt anger again.
He knew Anthony wasn't allowed to be close to Cora, but would he follow the restraining order? Robert blood boiled thinking of Anthony. He desperately wanted to know why he treated Cora this way. What was their history together? What had Cora done to make him act like this? Or was he just a psychopath who wanted things to go his way?
Anna was working in the dining area putting out the last decorations. She loved Rosamund's taste and felt honoured to be the one organizing the decorations. She looked at John, who was helping her. He was standing on a ladder and looked at her.
"Young lady, what are you looking at?" He asked her.
Anna coloured. "Now I have to admit it. I was looking at you."
John got down. Anna didn't like it when he was working on a ladder. A couple of years back he had a motorbike accident and had hurt his knee badly.
"Please, be careful." She said.
John looked at her with a cheeky grin. "And what is it to you if I am careful or not?"
Anna put her hand on his arm. She felt butterflies in her stomach. "You know I care about you."
John pulled her close. "I care about you two. Why don't we drop the act." He looked down at Anne. John was a head bigger than her, she smiled up.
"You want to go for it?" She raised her eyebrows, her butterflies going all over her stomach.
John softly kissed her. "I think this is my answer."
Anna kissed him back. They were interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Ignore it, we are closed." John said.
"I will tell them to go away." Anna walked towards the door and opened it. "I am sorry, we are clo….." she recognised Cora and let her in. "Robert is in the kitchen. Is he expecting you?"
Cora shook her head. "No, he doesn't know I am here." She looked around. "Am I interrupting something?" She asked.
"Not tonight. Tomorrow we will have the dinner for Rosamund's wedding." Anna said.
Cora frowned, she recognised the name Rosamund. "That's Robert's sister, right?" She remembered the woman who stayed with her the night she lost the baby. She felt a fist close around her heart thinking of that little one. According to the doctors she had been pregnant for about 2 months. She always had an irregular period, so she hadn't noticed. She and Anthony didn't even try. The sex they had was mostly for his lust and not for her pleasure and currently not to become pregnant. She was using the pill to prevent that.
"Cora?" Robert popped his head around the corner. "What a lovely surprise to see you. Come into my office." He said.
Cora followed him. "I am sorry for disturbing you, you are busy."
"Don't be silly, I always have time for you." Robert felt his stomach jumping. He was so happy to see her. She even had her glittering back in her eyes. Although it was faint, he saw it again. He remembered the first time he saw her at Silver Linings, she had that same sparkle in her eyes. "How are you feeling?"
"I am alright. The bruises are healing and Anthony hasn't been near me since the restraining order."
"And mentally?" Robert realized he asked a personal question. "I am sorry that is none of my business."
"I owe a lot to you." Cora said with a smile on her face. "I am ashamed I didn't let you hear anything from me last week. I can't thank you enough for being at my house that evening. First you bring me to AE and then you save me from his fists."
Robert lowered his eyes. "That was nothing. I was just happy I went to your house when I felt like it. I don't want to think about what would have happened this time."
"Me neither. I wish I knew why he did this. He was so possessive over me. If I only looked at somebody else, he got mad. But the events of the last months were new. It still scares me that I let it go this far." She sighed.
"It happened, and you are not to blame. Don't beat yourself up over it."
Cora looked up at Robert. "I am sorry. I shouldn't bother you with it right now. You have a very important day tomorrow. I will leave you to it."
"You can also help me. I am missing John, he is helping Anna." Robert suggested. He didn't know exactly why, but he didn't want Cora to go already.
"I never worked a day of my life in a kitchen. I can't even hold a knife properly."
"I don't believe that." He got up and got into the kitchen. Cora followed him a bit unsure.
He took a knife. "The parsley needs to be cut, you could do that."
Cora picked up the knife and started working on the parsley. Robert saw her struggle and stepped next to her. "Look, like this." He took the knife and showed Cora how to hold the knife.
He gave the knife back, but Cora was still using a strange technique. He stepped behind her and put his arms around her, his hands on hers. The moment his chest touched her shoulder blades he felt an electric shock. "Follow my movements." He said. He felt Cora tremble and stepped back, letting her hands go. "I am sorry, I should not have done that." He said with bright red cheeks.
Cora turned around, her cheeks were also red. "I didn't mind." She lowered her eyes.
Robert stepped closer, he was drawn to her. He looked into her eyes. He got lost in the blue of her eyes, her small face surrounded by her curls. She had her hair in an up do, but several curls had escaped the hair clip. He felt her hands in his and then her lips touched his. Very quick and brief.
He quickly stepped back. "I am sorry. I don't want to force you to do anything."
Cora shook her head. "You didn't force anything. I quite liked it."
"Robert?" It was Anna who walked into the kitchen. "I am heading home, John is also going. We finished the decorating, we will see you tomorrow. We will be here, making sure dinner is ready when you all arrive."
Robert scraped his throat. "Thank you, see you tomorrow."
He looked at Cora. She had taken off the apron. "I should leave you, you have a long day tomorrow. Thank you." Before Robert could say anything, she left.