Words Just So

The Blue Door...continued (part 10)

There was a silence wrapped around the two as they strode around the park towards the tavern. Marta locked her arm around Richard’s. They each took turns ducking under low hanging branches while traversing random pieces of sidewalk forced skyward by ancient tree roots.

“It’s so quiet. I love it like this.” Marta whispered.

Richard looked at his watch. “Just think, tomorrow at this time we’ll be at the shore.”

“That trumps city quiet any day.” Marta said.

It was a handsome crock of assorted olives and a crusty baguette, shared and consumed greedily, that fueled Richard and Marta’s appetites. Then, duck confit with pommes puree for Richard and whole branzino with fingerlings and sautéed spinach for Marta. But, it was a shared bottle of Malbec that finally brought color back to his wife’s cheeks.

“No rush.” The waiter said as he placed the check on the table.

Marta looked at Richard and smiled. “I’m going to use the restroom before we head out.”

“Oh, I see.” Richard winked.

Marta felt flushed, full and happy. Dabbing cool water on her cheeks in the bathroom she finally recognized the face she saw. It was the lighting, she happily noted.

Richard was ready when Marta arrived back at the table. The check had been taken care of. Most customers had cleared out except for a few holding out at the bar. By all accounts it was still early, but being a Sunday, the rush had already come and gone.

The couple waved to the owner as they slipped out the door. Richard put his arm around Marta and they made their way down the hill towards home in silence.

Marta focused on her to do list. The endless chores and food shopping while Richard would caretake the yard and let the neighbors know that they were back in town. Rebel would be under foot, running from room to room, sniffing and poking around. It would be almost perfect, she thought.