When Did You Know, Too?

Warm and content, Shelagh sighed deeply. Languidly, she turned and wrapped herself around her husband; her head resting on his chest, smiling as she felt his heart rate finally slow down. Patrick pressed a kiss into her hair and they drowsed, listening to the rain patter against their bedroom window.

Smiling, Shelagh lifted her face to his, her forearms sliding up to rest on his chest. “Can you guess?” she asked. Her fingers glanced along the contours of his collarbone.

Patrick laughed, his arms tightening around her. “Shelagh, love, you are lying naked in my arms and I still can’t believe you love me. How could I possibly have known when we were both trying so hard to hide it?”

She smiled and settled back against his chest. “It was the button,” she told him.

Patrick’s face showed his confusion. “The button?” he asked. He tilted his head, hoping to see her face, but Shelagh hid it in her shyness.

“You lost a button on your lab coat last spring. It was missing for weeks, and you never replaced it.”

Patrick tried to think back, frowning in concentration. “I remember, now. I would think of it when I put it on, but then it would slip my mind as soon as the coat was off. I didn’t even notice it was replaced until, oh, summer, maybe? Was that you?” He tipped her chin up, coaxing her eyes to meet his.

“Yes,” she whispered.

He smiled. “So that’s when you knew,” he said, satisfied.

“No.”

“No?”

“No. That’s when I knew I would never change my feelings.” He smiled a sigh as she continued, “But I’d known for months that I loved you. Before Christmas, I realized I became nervous whenever you came into a room. By winter, I was praying for God to help relieve me of my growing devotion.” She breathed deeply. “I sewed the new button on when I finally admitted to myself that my feelings would never go away. I couldn’t act on them, but I could try to make your life easier in small ways.”

Patrick gazed at his wife, his expression thoughtful, as if he were remembering something. “I am so very lucky to have you, my love,” he said. “I don’t deserve you.”

“Silly man, of course you do. But you could try to make it up to me. Go and put the kettle on. I’m gasping for a cup of tea.”