After the holidays, Gideon went back to work with a vengeance. He had an important case coming up that he had to prepare for. He spent long hours at the office. Taryn tried hard to be understanding. She found it difficult to paint all the time because the light coming into her studio was winter quality and not very bright.
Gideon's phone calls were sporadic. Taryn was lucky if he called her once a day. She had plenty of housework to keep her busy, but that's not why she moved in with Gideon.
Luckily, Kim started to give Taryn more stuff to do for the wedding. She asked Taryn to paint the vases for the center pieces which would be at all the banquet tables at the reception hall. She needed thirty of them. Taryn was glad to have something to do.
Taryn discovered that being a maid of honour was a huge job. She hoped she wouldn't end up disappointing Kim. Gideon was Charlie's best man, but he didn't seem to have as much to do as Taryn did.
Wedding dress shopping was fun. Kim liked a lot of different styles and Taryn tried to help her narrow it down. It was hard because Kim looked good in everything.
They finally found the gown on their third shopping trip. The style suited Kim perfectly. She was ecstatic and cried when she saw herself in the mirror, especially after the sales clerk put a sample veil on her head.
"Do you think Charlie will like it?" Kim asked, twirling in front of the mirror.
"He'll love it for sure," Taryn replied heartily. "You're going to take his breath away."
Kim couldn't stop smiling. She was so excited. Taryn was happy for her.
"I can't wait to get married now that I've found the dress," Kim continued.
"Don't you still need to send out the invitations?" Taryn asked, smirking.
Kim sighed.
"You're right," she said. "I need your artistic eye to help me pick them out. Are you free tomorrow?"
Taryn sighed inwardly. Kim's wedding was taking up more and more of her time, but she wanted to be available for her friend.
"Sure," she replied, smiling.
"I have the samples at the gallery," Kim noted. "It should take long for us to narrow down our choices."
Taryn nodded. Planning a wedding was sure time consuming. She hoped she wouldn't have to go through the same thing if she ever got married. Not that she was expecting Gideon to ask her, or anything.
As if reading her mind, Kim said, "Just think, you'll be an expert at this by the time it's your turn."
Taryn blushed.
"Let's not get ahead or ourselves," Taryn said demurely. "Gideon and I just moved in together."
"I know," Kim said. "But there's nothing wrong with imagining your wedding day."
Taryn honestly hadn't given it that much thought. She was just happy to be with Gideon that she wasn't thinking of the next step. Besides, she didn't want to put any pressure on him. He was under enough already.
As they were leaving the bridal shop, Kim asked Taryn if she wanted to go for coffee.
"No thanks," Taryn replied. "I have to get home to cook dinner for Gideon."
"Oh," Kim replied. "Maybe some other time, then."
"Sure," Taryn said. "I'll see you at the gallery tomorrow."
Taryn was starting to feel frustrated at the lack of progress with her painting. At the rate she was going, she wouldn't be able to put a show together for the late spring. She'd been too tied up with other obligations. But at least she didn't need to rely on her income to pay her living expenses. Gideon gave her plenty of money to buy groceries and household supplies. Still, it would be nice if she could supplement her own income a bit.
That night, Gideon invited a client over for dinner and Taryn tried hard to make the meal a success. She could tell Gideon was pleased because he smiled a lot and complimented her efforts. She was glad her domestic skills were improving. She wanted Gideon to feel proud of her and comfortable with having guests over.
After their guest went home, Gideon asked Taryn if she was okay.
"Sure. Why?" she asked, picking up some dirty dishes.
Gideon helped her fill the dishwasher.
"I don't know. You seemed a bit quiet tonight," Gideon said.
"I'm probably just tired. It was a busy day for me," she replied.
"Is Kim taking up a lot of your time?" Gideon asked. He knew about the shopping expeditions she'd been on.
"I don't think she means to, but I haven't been able to get much work done lately. I'm not used to being so unproductive."
"Do you want me to talk to Charlie? Maybe he can get Kim to stop monopolizing your time."
"No. Please don't do that. Once the wedding is over, everything will go back to normal."
After Taryn started the dishwasher, Gideon pulled her toward him. She loved being in his arms.
"Weddings aren't much fun if all they do is stress you out," he said.
Taryn denied being stressed.
"I'm trying to help Kim have a stress-free day."
Gideon rubbed her back. It felt relaxing.
"Do you want me to run you a hot bath?" he murmured, his lips close to her ear.
"No thanks," she replied. "I'm going to paint a few vases before I go to bed."
"Are you sure?" he asked suggestively. "I could join you."
"I'd love that, but I bet you have work to do," she replied.
Gideon sighed in disappointment.
"You're right," he said, pulling away from her reluctantly. "I have some notes to make for tomorrow."
Taryn smiled, hating that she was right. Gideon was working too hard. She wished they could go away for the weekend. Valentine's Day was coming up. She wondered if Gideon had made any plans for it. He'd probably end up working that night or something.
Taryn tried to paint a few vases in her studio, but she soon realized how tired she was and gave up. She got ready for bed and said "Goodnight" to Gideon, who said he'd join her shortly. Shortly turned out to be too long because she fell asleep before Gideon got into bed beside her.
*******************************************
Taryn met with Kim at the gallery the following day. They went over the invitation samples and Kim finally chose one that was simple and elegant at the same time. Kim and Charlie had already figured out their guest list, so they could send out the invitations as soon as they were ready.
Once Kim set up the order for her invitations, she asked Taryn how her work was going.
"Very slowly," Taryn replied. "I've lost some of my momentum and I don't know how to get it back."
"Don't lose heart," Kim replied. "I know you've been busy helping me and I really appreciate it."
Taryn shrugged.
"I'll be glad when winter is over," she said.
"And I'll be ecstatic when tax season is finished," Kim countered. "I'm lucky if I see Charlie before I go to bed at night. At least Gideon is home for dinner, right?"
"Most of the time he is," Taryn answered. "He does a lot of work after dinner, though."
"Aren't we lucky we have such hard working men?" Kim joked, rolling her eyes.
Taryn laughed.
"I guess we wouldn't love them if they were any different," Taryn said.
"Probably not," Kim replied. "Charlie better take me on an amazing honeymoon, that's all I can say."
They spent some time talking about the wedding before Taryn left the gallery. At least the wedding plans were coming together smoothly.
That afternoon, Gideon called Taryn to tell her he would be working late and to not make any dinner for him.
"Okay," she said, trying hard not to sound disappointed. "I'll see you later."
There was a pause.
"I'll try not to be too late," Gideon said curtly. "I'm sorry."
"It's no big deal," Taryn insisted. "I was just going to heat up leftovers, anyway."
"Oh. Okay."
They said "Goodbye" then hung up.
Taryn felt sad as she went to her studio to try to get some work done. Who was she becoming? Where was the independent woman she used to be proud of? She had to stop relying on Gideon to give her life purpose. But she missed him terribly when he wasn't home. He had become an important part of her life. She only wished he would say the same thing about her. She wondered if he would ever love her the way she loved him. It felt awful not knowing that.
Taryn started a new painting that was different from her usual theme. Instead of eyes she tried painting Gideon's hands. But that just made her miss him more.
Taryn didn't want to go to bed alone so she fell asleep on the couch in the studio. Gideon found her there and kissed her awake.
"Honey, I'm home," he said playfully, hugging her.
"I can see that," she replied sleepily. "How was your day?"
"It's great now that I'm here with you," he replied, pulling her up so he could hug her harder.
"That's nice of you to say," she answered, hugging him back. Gideon told her about his day while she finished cleaning up her studio. It sounded like his court case was going well so far. That was good.
"I'm glad your hard work is paying off," she said as she covered her painting on the easel. She didn't want Gideon to see it yet.
"Well, it's just the beginning, but it never hurts to be optimistic," he replied, smiling at her in a way that made her blush.
"I don't want to talk about work anymore," he said softly, pulling her toward him. "I want to talk about us."
"Us?" she echoed, feeling his arms go around her again.
"Yeah," he said, nuzzling her ear. "Let's do something fun next weekend."
"Sure," she answered. "Like what?"
She was pleased that he wanted to spend some time with her. She'd been coming in second to his work for the past little while.
"Why don't you let me plan something. It will be a surprise, okay?"
"I like surprises," she said softly.
"I know you do," he replied, sucking on her ear lobe.
She sighed and melted in his arms. He kissed her hungrily and picked her up easily. She giggled as he carried her up to their bedroom. He surprised her with his energy and enthusiastic lovemaking. It more than made up for her previous loneliness.