Anne with an E The Next Chapter

Discovering you

Anne watched as Gilbert struggled with the latch to the cottage. She hadn't been to their little sanctuary in the woods in a week or so and felt a little strange walking in there again as a married woman. She thought back to the first time she and Gilbert had sat on this front step together and a fleeting moment had passed between them where she knew she loved him and had to let him go to Winnifred. Now she stood there in her white dress, waiting to enter the house as his wife. The latch finally gave way and he held the door for her as she crossed the threshold.

Inside, the table in the kitchen was set just like a real wedding table and more elaborate than the one they'd just left.

"What's this?" she asked looking shocked at the amazing set up.

Gilbert laughed "Diana and Jerry again. They were here this morning setting this up. Diana said this is our wedding gift- we get to keep it all".
"My word" she said going around the table and looking at all the little details. A large candelabra sat as a center piece over a new white linen table cloth with intricate flower embroideries and matching napkins. There was a place setting for 2, of fine china, silverware and beautiful wine glasses. The table was adorned with a magnificent floral arrangement, several candles and a bottle of sparkling wine. Gilbert lit the candles and a romantic glow filled the room.

"This is magnificent" she said "Isn't this too much Gilbert? I could never afford to give Diana and Jerry anything like this for their wedding".

"I told her the same this morning but she insisted. It's all from her family. Her parents, Aunt Jo, everyone. She told me that Aunt Jo and her mother worked the whole thing out themselves". He walked over to her and held her close "They insisted you should have all the finest things you could ever want and I couldn't argue with that. So, we will eat and drink and enjoy it". He pulled the chair out for Anne and she took a seat like she was royalty. Her eyes sparkled at the beautiful table.

He popped the bottle of sparking wine imported from France by aunt Jo and poured them each a glass. As they sat together, they clinked glasses and explored all the food they had been left with. A fancy cheese plate with cured meat sat over a tray of ice in the middle of the table. Gilbert unfolded the napkins that covered a basket of fresh bread and crackers, while Anne picked from a plate of fruit. Fancy pastries and candied fruit filled another platter. Like most brides and grooms, they had been too nervous to eat the morning of the weeding and had barely eaten a thing at their reception because they had gone from table to table to chat with their guests.

"How did Diana know we would be starving by now, isn't this just perfect!" Anne exclaimed, feeling thrilled with the way things had played out. She and Gilbert sat in their cozy home with the cool night air blowing in from the window. They ate, drank and talked for an hour, recounting all the events of the day, filling each other in on things they had each missed. They didn't want to forget a single moment and played it over and over, imprinting their memories of the day.  When the sparkling wine started to take effect, they started to laugh hysterically at everything. Anne stretched her legs out in front of her and rested her feet on Gilbert's legs. She was sore from standing most of the day and he leaned back against his chair and rubbed her feet with expert precision. She was looking relaxed and happy.

"Everything was so lovely and so perfect, I can't believe it's already over" she said, thinking back to all the preparation. "But I'm kind of happy about that too. Now we don't have to rush around and organize anything, we can just be bored together and start our life" she said looking at him with a dreamy far off look.

He laughed at her expression and her comment. "Well are you sure you're ready for all this boredom" he said pointing to himself. She nudged him with her foot affectionately "you know what I mean!" she said.  She stood up to pour them each another glass of wine and a tall glass of water.