The Marriage Counselor

28. The Lawyer.

Samantha

Turns out it's actually pretty easy not to give a shit about a whole city hating you. The house serves in its familiar role; that of a safe haven, a private sanctuary, a secret oasis, somewhere away from all the noise and negativity. It's their own world with just Henry and Red and her. They decide who they let in. They spend their days taking long walks, swimming, cooking, watching their shows, reading together from Henry's large library of books. It's the simple things she enjoys most like cleaning up after dinner and doing the dishes together, folding laundry, drinking coffee in silence in those early morning hours. She doesn't go online or look at her phone unless it's Agent Hansen, Rebecca, or Paul.

She tries to do things to calm her anxiety whenever it creeps in. Breathing exercises and grounding techniques Henry suggested. She's started painting and while she's not good at it, she enjoys doing it. She's journaling a lot too, trying to work things out in her head and process what's happened. Most of all, she falls more and more in love with Henry by the day, which feels impossible given how much she already loves him. The way he snores in his sleep, his mess of curls in the morning, how he's always misplacing things like his keys and wallet, the patience he has with her, the wealth of knowledge he has about so many things, the way he asks her questions and remembers the smallest of details.

"Can I be honest with you about something?" She asks one night. They're coming to the end of another day. He's in his white tshirt and pajamas and she's in one of his shirts as well.

"Always." He says with that gentle smile of his.

They pull the sheets back in unison and climb into either side of the bed. They sit up and face each other.

She swallows. "I don't know if I'm ready for doing a wedding party yet. At least not right now. And it's not that I don't love you because I hope you know I do. If things weren't so crazy, I'd say let's do it. Why wait? But... I don't want to be wedding planning and still dealing with my ex husband. Stephen for that matter too. I want to put this all behind us. And based on what Hansen says, the trial might take a year at most. Then we can think about leaving New York too. I hope that doesn't upset you."

He reaches to stroke the back of her hair. His gaze is thoughtful as he looks over her face. "Thank you for letting me know that. It doesn't upset me at all. I'm on the same page as you. Let's take things one step at a time instead of rushing to the next moment. All I care is that you're here and you're happy. That you feel safe."

Her hands move to take his. They're so much bigger and stronger than hers, she recognizes the small scars on his fingers from injuries working in the steel factory. "I am happy. And I want you to be happy too."

"Of course I'm happy. I love the life I've started with you, Samantha." His voice is sincere and his blue eyes are tender behind his glasses. "We have plenty of time, don't we?"

She nods eagerly. "Definitely we do."

What could possibly get in their way?

***

She wasn't invited to her father's funeral. She knew she wouldn't be. She had told her mother she'd be going to Bora Bora for a few weeks after she made her decision but that she'd hold off on going if they could arrange the funeral together. And Mom did what Sam expected, but still hoped she wouldn't. She  ignored her and arranged the funeral, not inviting Sam. Another time she didn't get to tell him goodbye. At least Mom had the courtesy to text her the address to the cemetery he was buried in.

It starts to get to her. She misses her father and mourns him. It's not like anything's really changed though. Maybe it's simply that she finally has time and safety to heal. To process all that's happened. When she was with Cody and the Chambers, it was all about surviving and to keep going.