Marriage Reunited

Chapter Six

Lilly couldn't believe what Connor had planned for them. He had told her that he intended to spend the day with her and Melissa but she hadn't realised the extent he was willing to go to. She'd thought he would do something simple like take them out to lunch. She should have realised that things weren't the same as they used to be.

When they'd first got married and even when they'd been dating everything had been so simple and easy. She'd known that Connor had money but he hadn't flaunted it and she hadn't wanted him to. Unlike the other girls that swarmed around him she hadn't wanted his money or his gifts, she'd only wanted him. They'd had the traditional expensive dinners out where he'd paid but her favourite dates had been the ones where they'd simply packed up a cheap picnic and sat in a park on a beautiful day enjoying each others company as they talked about anything and everything. It had been so easy between them and they had never felt awkward or felt like they had to make a giant effort to please each other, instead they had simply relaxed and let things flow between them.

Lilly wasn't sure exactly what she'd been expecting but when Connor had said they were going on a picnic she had envisioned a park and some sandwiches. She hadn't imagined that there would be a great stinking yacht involved. Connor must have noticed her look because he smiled as he urged her forward.

"I know this probably isn't what you were expecting but you said you wanted a fresh start with new memories. I didn't want to taint the old ones," he said and she came back to herself with a thump then.

"The old memories are already ruined," she informed him before she strode on to the yacht with Melissa. She didn't look back to see how he'd taken her response. She wasn't even sure it was true. Everything he'd done to her had broken her heart and destroyed her faith in them but those memories of the earlier days still bought a smile to her face.

"You always said you wanted to go travelling. This is our day version of that," he said as he caught up to her. Lilly hid her surprise as best she could. She couldn't believe that he still remembered that. It had been a throwaway comment on one of their lazy picnics when they'd been laid next to each other on the blanket as they watched the clouds float by. They'd been discussing futures and she'd asked him what he would have wanted to do if he hadn't been working at his father's hotels. He'd shocked her by telling her that he'd never wanted to do anything else. He'd been raised around the family business and it was all he'd ever wanted to do. When he'd asked her the same question she'd thought for a moment and then told him how much she would have liked to just leave one day and go travelling. It was a dream that she would never live because she was too responsible to just take off but it was something she'd always wanted to do. She'd never been anywhere but she'd seen pictures and heard all about the famous places that she'd like to visit. Connor had listened as she'd told him about him all the places she wanted to see from the Eiffel tower to the Trevi fountain, from Buckingham palace to the pyramids. Then she'd told him that it was doubtful she'd even get to travel across water because she'd never been anywhere. They hadn't mentioned it again.

"You remember that?" she said in surprise while he gave her a sad smile.

"I remember everything about you. Now I know this isn't technically travelling the world but we are travelling a small piece of it," he told her as he led her on to the deck.

The yacht was magnificent; there was no other word for it. She certainly hadn't been expecting this at all. If it had been anyone else then she would have thought that they were trying to impress her with their wealth but Connor knew that she didn't care about any of that. It was one of the things that she had loved most about him. Unlike most of his friends he hadn't wanted to win a girl's heart with his wealth but had instead enjoyed the simpler things in life. Like one night when they had been at his and the power had gone off and left them in complete darkness. Lilly had half expected him to do what she had seen her father do several times. He would have called whomever it took to get the power back on and would have ensured that an expensive dinner was all ready for them. Connor hadn't done any of that. Instead he had gotten some candles out and lit a fire in the fireplace. They had turned what could have been a disastrous evening in to one of the most romantic ones she had ever experienced. They had made s'mores in front of the fire and talked and had made love on the thick rug in front of the fire. Lilly's love had deepened that night as she had laid nestled in his arms and watched the flicker of the flames and listened to the crackle of the logs burning. It had been the perfect evening for Lilly who had only ever wanted a man who loved her.