To Have And To Hold 201 -

Chapter 251

They walked down the street, looking at the places around them and Lucas smiled as he looked at his wife and asked:

“Grace, have you ever eaten macarons?”

Grace looked up at him, her eyebrows slightly creasing in confusion.

“No, I don’t even know what it is”, she replied.

Lucas wrapped his arm around her shoulders and gently kissed her hair.

“How do you feel about a little break with one of the best treats in Paris?”, he murmured gently, his heart singing at the feeling of having his love so close to him.

She smiled softly.

“How can I say no to that?”, she whispered and her smile grew as Lucas kissed her forehead.

“Come on then”, he whispered as he took her across the street toward The Laduree pastry shop. As they entered, Lucas led her upstairs in the tea room.

Grace inhaled the sweet scent as she looked around and smiled. The place was adorable. Windows were decorated with light pink flowers and lights from the ceiling kissed the golden beige chairs and settees, giving them a warm glow of home.

Lucas pulled out an armchair for Grace before sitting down himself. As they reached for the Menu, Grace looked up at him.

“So, what are the macarons?”, she asked, smiling warmly.

He opened the Menu and flipped through pages to show a photo of macarons to Grace as he replied:

“Macarons are small cookies with two shells made with egg whites and almond powder, filled with a tasty ganache. They come in more than twenty flavors.”

Grace’s eyes widened.

“Twenty flavors?”, she gasped quietly and looked down at the Menu “How will I ever choose?!”, she giggled, warming Lucas’ heart “What do you recommend?”

Lucas smiled as he watched her scan the Menu.

“Chocolate is one of their best, but you should order different ones to share and taste. I would say six or eight, depending how hungry you are. I know where we’ll have lunch, no booking request, so we can always have lunch a bit late if we want to.”

Grace nodded.

“Sounds good”, she said “I’m not that hungry, but I may eat something sweet. Soooo, I’ll take chocolate, vanilla…uhmmm…pistachio…”, she focused hard on the Menu as she tried to decide and huffed as she flipped the pages.

Lucas’ heart swelled with love at her concentration and he couldn’t resist not to lean in toward her. As she looked up at him, he cupped her cheek and kissed her determined little frown between her eyebrows, causing her to close her eyes and smile.

“You are beyond adorable”, he whispered.

She pressed her lips tightly together.

“I am in a dilemma here”, she murmured quietly “Help me, please?”

Lucas kissed her cheek ever so gently before he turned the page of her Menu.

“Here, try this - nougat hazelnut. It is delicious. And you may add some orange, lemon and strawberry, fruity ones are very tasty”, he suggested.

Grace smiled as she inched closer to his lips.

“And you will get some stwabwis kisses for your help, my Lucas”, she whispered and as he smiled, his eyes softening, she kissed his lips gently, slowly, lovingly.

As they pulled away, she smiled at him.

“I love you, my Lucas”, she whispered.

He took her palm and bringing it closer to his lips, he gently kissed her knuckles and whispered: