Chapter Twenty Six

She spent every morning for the next week at the stable with her new friend.  She discovered he had a very smooth gate and a fondness for apples. By the end of the week, he would come to the fence to greet her, waiting for his treat. He pranced around the paddock tossing his mane until she produced the apple. His impatience reminded her of Alex. He was beautiful. He had a long, graceful neck and powerful shoulders and he looked at Sophie with the same kind of intensity that Alex did, though his eyes were a deep dark brown.  She watched him interact with the other horses.  He was friendly enough, but held his head high. It seemed clear to her that he thought he was in charge.

Alex joined her at the fence and watched the horse stomp his feet and snort.

“You no ride today?”

“No, I was just enjoying watching him.” 

Alex watched as the horse tossed his head and snorted again.

“He do not like me,” he observed.

“That’s not really true. You haven’t been around much. You are still a stranger to him. He will like you after he gets to know you,” she smiled. “I did.”

He grinned at her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, kissing her forehead.

“Have you chosen a name?”

“Yes, I think so.”

“Want to tell me?” he said raising his eyebrows.

“Tsar.  I think he is a Tsar.”

“Tsar? What make you think this?”

“Watch him for a little while. He thinks he is.”

Alex watched the gelding trot around the enclosure, tossing his head and whinnying to a couple of other horses in the pasture behind his.  Alex smiled and looked at Sophie.

“Okay, you may be right.”

“He’s just wonderful Alex. I can never thank you enough for him.” She wrapped her arms around him and held him close.  He looked down at her.

“I’m sure I could think of something,” he said raising his eyebrows.  He leaned down and kissed her softly. Suddenly, there was a snort right next to them. Alex jumped and Sophie stifled a laugh.  Tsar had come back to investigate.  Alex eyed the horse suspiciously.

“She mine. You step back. I make you glue,” he said to the horse.

“Alex!” Sophie swatted at him and followed as he led her back to the car.

Tsar snorted again as they walked away.

Alex smiled at her in the car and she eyed him suspiciously. 

“What are you up to?” she asked.

“Who me?”

“You are the only other person in the car, Alex,” she grinned.

He smiled but was silent and she couldn’t get any more information out of him.  She walked into the house to find the kitchen table set with a white table cloth, china and tall candles. There was a bouquet of roses on the counter.

“Alex,” was all she could muster as she caught her breath.  He pulled her hand to his lips and gently kissed her knuckles.

“Dinner will be served soon. Go upstairs and change,” he said softly. Her jaw dropped slightly and she moved toward the stairs speechless. She looked back over her shoulder at him and he grinned that devilish smile that never failed to melt her resolved.  She dashed excitedly upstairs to find a beautiful white dress lain out on the bed.  It was a sleeveless sheath dress with a white, embroidered lace overlay. She slipped into it and admired her look in the mirror.  She sorted through her jewelry box and found a crystal clip that had been her mother’s and pulled back the front of her hair to better show her features.  Her eyes were her best feature, in her opinion, and her mother always said that wearing her hair this way brought out her eyes.  She found herself wishing that her mother was still around. She would want her to meet Alex.  She’d missed her so much since the accident. Maybe her grief played a part in why she was so blind to who Dave really was. Losing her both parents in the car crash had sent her reeling into a whirlwind of turmoil that she never thought she’d recover from. Now, with Alex, she was the girl her mother knew again. She was happy. Her mother would have loved Alex. Sophie took a deep breath, remembering that her Prince Charming was waiting downstairs and hurried with a touch of lipstick before heading for the door.

He was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs. He had changed clothes himself, into a pair of black slacks and a blue dress shirt.   He was smiling at her. She could tell he was pleased at how she looked in the dress.  She stood in front of him, looking into his eyes.  He touched her hair, smiling.

“I like it this way. You look so beautiful, Sophia.”

He took her hand and led her to the table. The candles were lit. There was soft music playing over the speakers. Alex brought out two large bowls and placed them on the table.  Sophie quickly realized what he had done.

“You cooked for me?  Borscht?”

He smiled at her.  She looked down at the bowl. It looked beautiful. He’d dropped a bit of sour cream and dill on top of the red of the beets to make a lovely presentation. 

 “I can’t believe you cooked for me,” she kept her sweet, happy face on trying to disguise her skeptism.

“You trust me. You like it. I promise,” he said, not fooled by her smile.

She raised the spoon to her lips and tasted. She smiled at him. He grinned a satisfied smile.

“What I say?  You like it.”

“It’s not as bad as I thought,” she said grinning. “I’m overwhelmed Alex. Why did you do all of this?”

“I want to have special night,” he said. “Very special night.”