Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 27214 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 136(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27214 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 136(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
One was a small wooden figurine of an eagle. The intricate detail struck her and she loved it the moment she had seen it. An eagle was a predator, exactly like Elias. Strong, resilient. The next gift was a chain. A single gold chain—sturdy, strong—and it had felt silly to have gotten it. Each time she passed something that made her think of Elias around their anniversary, she would get it.
Then, last year, she got him a vintage gun. She didn’t know exactly what it was, but it was in a boxed case, the kind you saw in historical movies, that sometimes looked like wood. It looked so real. She also knew he loved historical weapons. There were always things he picked up in each place they lived. In several of his apartments, there were different guns, and in his country home, there was even a set of swords.
This time, she had purchased him a set of whiskey glasses, along with the crystal bottle to match. He had a beverage cabinet, and a set of glasses. Usually, he only had a bottle of whiskey.
She didn’t know if he was going to like anything she had gotten him. Carrying them through to the dining room, she found Elias already there and waiting.
He looked down at her gifts.
“I might have gotten you some things over the last few years.” Now the nerves started to set in.
She didn’t know what else he liked, and taking the time to potentially make a kill sheet seemed tacky. As it turned out, Elias loved the gifts she had gotten him, and he admired each one. He even put on the gold necklace she had gotten him. It didn’t look garish or tacky, it just suited him.
Winnie was shocked to see the gifts he had gotten for her. One of them was a set of jewelry, including a pair of earrings and a necklace, along with a matching bracelet. There was a single diamond in each, and they were breathtakingly beautiful.
The next was a designer handbag, from a limited-edition collection. She had admired it a few Christmases ago, and by the time she tried to order one, it was sold out. Elias had insisted she order it. Once it was sold out, there was no way to find one.
“How did you get this?” she asked.
“I have my ways.”
She knew what that meant, and was not going to complain. Elias did have many ways of getting what he wanted.
The next gift was another set of jewelry, and the last one was a photograph album. This was a surprise.
“You’ve mentioned that you don’t have a lot of memories,” Elias said. “I figured it is now time to start creating some.”
She frowned and opened the album to see there were some photographs already inside. There was the one on their wedding day, taken by someone at the chapel. She wore the same clothes she had been in during the attack. Her hair was down, at the time, to her shoulders. Now, she had grown it out so it fell close to her butt. There were other random pictures, ones she didn’t even realize had been taken.
There was a picture of her on a ladder, putting an angel on top of the Christmas tree. It was their first Christmas together at his country home. There was even one of her dressed up as an elf, and then for Halloween, she attempted to dress as a ghost.
It was rare for them to get trick-or-treaters where they lived. In one apartment building, there had been a notice posted that kids would be visiting, which was strange, as the previous year, in the same building, that hadn’t happened. Winnie couldn’t even remember seeing any kids as she came and went.
There were ten pages of pictures. Some taken of the two of them. Others of her, and a couple of him.
“You’re helping me create memories.”
“Yes.”
“You didn’t have to do this,” she said, but she was so touched.
“Well, if you didn’t like it, I also purchased these.” He held up lingerie that was very skimpy.
“Lingerie?”
“Yes, after all, it is our anniversary.”
She couldn’t help but laugh, and she took the lingerie from him. “I’ll be right back.”
****
If his enemies could see him now, they would all know he had a weakness, and that was his wife. Elias would give anything to her. All she had to do was snap her fingers, and it would be hers. No questions asked. That kind of power a woman had over a man was dangerous.
Winnie was not a dangerous woman. She was sweet and kind. Being married to him hadn’t changed her one bit.
He sat at the head of the table, and the items she had gotten for him were all beautiful. As it happened, he loved artwork, collecting pieces, or seeing something he liked, regardless of the cost. It didn’t need to be expensive for him to like it. It just needed to be good. If he had to choose a least favorite, it would be the gold necklace, but he wasn’t going to upset Winnie by taking it off.